How does British TV compare to American TV?
thedarklord
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In terms of the amount of channels available and the quality of programmes how does British telly fare up to American television?
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thedarklord
Posts: 2,162
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Shows made shorter to fit in extra ads and breaks in an hour time slot.
Showing seasons in halves or new episodes mixed in with re-runs rather than start to finish.
Mid-season breaks.
Shows cancelled before all a season has been made and cliff hangers resolved.
Seasons having to many filler episodes to pad them out.
We tend to treat TV as more of an art form, whereas the US stretch it as far as they can for commercial gain (see post #3).
Yar...ok!
American tv series at their best are works of art. And there are a good few brilliant american tv series going back in recent history.
I don't believe i've had the same grand work of art, well structured feeling with british tv compared with american.
Some brit work is interesting but when america get is it right, it's quite...'Wow!' for me anyways
I don't understand why people can't give them the credit they deserve?
We both produce works of brilliance; LoM, A2A, Waking the Dead, Cracker, Prime Suspect, The West Wing, The Shield, Lost. And we both produce some absolute drivel; X-Factor, I'm a (z-list) Celebrity, Extreme Makeover, America's Next Top Model etc.
Don't see the point in marginalising one over the other.
compared to fringe 24 lost smallville simpson dexter big bang theory supernatural xfiles buffy and lots more.
I have to say american tv dose
Can't really speak on the quality, but here are some numbers for quantity.
I digital cable, and have 145 channels, plus 86 HD channels (there's duplication, where I have both HD and SD versions of the same channel, but there are also HD only channels and SD only channels).
I pay $110/mo for that plus high speed (20mbps) internet. Which is roughly 70 pounds.
I think Britain -- for reasons of culture and history -- makes some shows that would simply never get made in America, and I would think the world of TV a poorer place without them, but the US still has a HUGE advantage over Britain in what it can and does make. As a fight, one versus the other, US TV vs. UK TV, the American TV industry has wealth and resources impossible to conceive in a country with one-fifth the population of the US.
Your Right. I live in the US And some of your Shows would never be made here! They would not make the Ratings or Money for us to make them. Our TV is all about Money...
For your Resources and Budget. Compared to ours you make Some high Quality TV shows. My first introduction to Dr Who, Was on our 1 little PBS station. And our PBS imports allot of UK shows. Because we don't make the quality of shows like you do.
Yes we do make some Great TV show. and Yes we do have more Shows and more Channels. But after watching Cable for the last few Days at my Daughters for the Holidays (She has more channels then I can count!) I've had my fill of Shows like several versions of The Real Housewives. -Toddlers and Tiaras. -Pawn Stars.-My Big Friggen Wedding,-What not to Wear,-16 and Pregnant,-BridalPlasty,-Hardcore Pawn,-, I could go on. The channels are just of Glut of Reality Garbage. Shows about Pawn Shops? Really. We pay for Cable tv for this Garbage. And even our Network Shows. Are 41 min. long. So we can watch 19 min. of Ads. I will take your BBC anyday.
I'm not British. I'm Canadian.:)
Or you could voluntarily subscribe to the US channels that have no ads -- like HBO, Showtime, and Starz. I think a lot of Brits would like a choice of either paying their "licence fee" or saying no and not receiving the BBC, but still be able to receive the British channels that are ad-supported and receive nothing from the licence fee.
And what American shows have you seen? I get the impression you have seen very little, thus are in no position to compare.
And frankly "cheesy" and "tacky" are things that go hand-in-hand with UNDER-produced. It is funny how shows having no money spent on them somehow gets twisted into a virtue in the minds of defensive people. Like the fans of the old Doctor Who: "Oooh, look at the sets wobble! Isn't it wonderful!"
How would know what shows I have or havn't seen ? how about just for starters:
Buffy
True Blood
24
Lost
Fringe
Angel
Friends
Glee
Stargate
And that is just a handful I could mention it is MY opinion that it is over produced that is why I highlighted the word IMO and I am fully entitled to feel that way and prefer British TV.
I don't mean to offend anybody and I just came on here to say which I preferred and not have a huge deabte ,so now I have had to explain myself in futher detail I will leave this thread in peace .
Just to add I love Doctor Who and have never seen the sets wobble and it is a great show .
What makes you think I presume to know what you have seen? I asked you this question: "And what American shows have you seen?" It was a request for more information.
I think every one of those shows is worth watching, with some better than others. Are those shows you have in mind when you use words like "cheesy" and "tacky?" If so, I certainly disagree. But anyway, what strikes me about that list is that apart from the very mainstream Friends that is a list of cult shows appealing very much to the "geek crowd" and neither they nor Friends would be offered as examples of "up-market" TV in America. Not award-winning, or for the most part even nominated, stuff there, is what I'm saying. Still entertaining, though.
Sure, everybody is entitled to their opinion, but this is a discussion board where we talk about, and question, opinions, right?
This is just the thing: I don't understand people posting on a discussion board who don't want to actually DISCUSS anything, and feel violated if they are questioned or asked to explain something.
You should probably try more cable output; The Shield, The Wire, Deadwood, Carnivale, The Sopranos, The Pacific, Band of Brothers - HBO's and to a lesser extent Showtime's output is as good as anything that we put out.
BTW, I'm a huge fan of classic Who. I don't think the wobbly sets are "wonderful" More like an extra amusement during what can quite often be a fantastic Who episode.;)
How can you slate some of these great US shows and then say you love Doctor who, now that is cheesy.
There is not one UK show that could touch anything the yanks do, but its depends on a persons TV viewing habits I suppose.
US drama is far superior, there's no debate on that as far as I'm concerned. It's a fairer fight to compare comedy, because budget is less of an issue and the writer's room system in the US means the quality of shows does fluctuate.
That's true, but those shows don't get made at all over here. I'd rather get one season of Rubicon than none.
US adverts were jolly annoying, though.
Less money is spent on drama in the Uk now and prime time is largely taken up by lowest denominator shows,which are ok but should be curtailed a bit more to balance it out.
I can't think of a single instance of a set wobbling in old Doctor Who. Well, except maybe once, when Ingrid Pitt kicked a wall a bit too hard. The whole wobbly sets thing is an urban myth propogated by lazy journalists.
Speaking for myself, I've seen a lot of British TV and a lot of American TV, and in terms of quality i'd say British leads almost every time. The only current US drama I can think of that I'd voluntarily watch is House. Canada comes out with some good stuff, though.
Rubicon, Terriers, Breaking Bad (season 3), Party Down, Parks and Recreation, Men of a Certain Age, United States of Tara, Louie, The Colbert Report... nobody has picked those up. And without Sky Atlantic, would anyone have bought Treme or Bored to Death?
On top of that, shows that are picked up are often treated horribly. Seinfeld was famously mishandled, The Office and Friday Night Lights were stuck on ITV3 and ITV4, Veronica Mars was relegated to Trouble, Community has only just been picked up...by VIVA of all channels.
Strangely enough, my all time favourite American TV show is not a recent one, but one that goes right back to the 1950's, i.e. "The Phil Silvers Show" (aka "Bilko"). Repeats of this show were shown on British TV for decades, but unfortunately no longer are.