U.S. class, U.K. crass
Ain’t this just a loverly turn:
This year’s Emmy Awards, to be held on August 27 in Los Angeles, prove that British television executives have become astonishingly good at selling Americans the shamelessly downmarket fare that we once imported from the US.In the reality competitions category, three of the five nominations are of British origin: American Idol, the creation of Simon Fuller, with Simon Cowell on the panel of judges; Dancing With The Stars, an overhauled version of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing; and Survivor, the brainchild of British expat Mark Burnett.
In contrast, the highbrow categories are full of American shows popular in Britain, such as The Sopranos, 24 and The West Wing. . . .
We’ve outclassed the cousins.
August 8th, 2006 at 7:40 am
Don’t kid yourself… British TV is streets ahead in news, children’s tv, documentaries, wildlife and much drama. When was the last time American TV did an adaptation of Dickens or Shakespeare?
The fact that the US buys mainly crap from the UK, says something about American TV, not about British TV.
August 8th, 2006 at 8:46 am
You beat me to it bittorent.
If we eat their garbage up, what does it say about us?
And Sopranos is highbrow? It’s masturbation material for sociopaths.
Sure, we make some good shows, but they’re few and far between. That’s just art. Not everything is good, not everyone is Monet.
The Office is theirs, and somehow the Americanized version actually works, though I don’t watch it.
We couldn’t do Couplings right because of our priggishness.
August 8th, 2006 at 9:55 am
One sec, “24″ is in a highbrow category? Please define highbrow!
And are the Emmys Awards a reliable barometer of what’s actually good on TV?
August 8th, 2006 at 10:38 am
And The Times is owned by? And this person dislikes BBC and ITV because? And the weriters in the RupCorp tow the great leaders line because?
‘Nuf said
August 8th, 2006 at 11:02 am
you’re the ones watching this stuff…
August 8th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
Jeff, have you seen the last 2 seasons of Dr Who, Hustle and Spooks/MI5?
If not, consider why you aren’t seeing the inventive drama from the UK
August 9th, 2006 at 11:49 am
Ah, we may be selling the Americans junk, but obviously it’s a superior class of junk.
In general, we seem to see some of the best American shows, they get to see some of the worst British shows - I’m not sure what the moral is.