Is USA TV Far Superior To UK TV?

[TheProf]

British television is far,far superior and better written and paced then American IMHO

[Frankenhooker]

I don't know, I don't think the UK has ever produced something as brilliantly paced or written as The Wire for example, or at least not for the past twenty years. UK TV was the envy of the world at one point, those days have long gone.

I've not long finished Treme, the UK wouldn't dream of producing something so vibrant, the funding isn't there to be able to take the risk. HBO completely changed the game.

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by mr 420

Duncan Norvelle, now there's a blast from the past. I remember that lame "chase me" routine. Only you could come up with that, Ron.

I dont suppose you remember the TV comedy show he used to be on? The premise was they did their routine in front of a punter and had to make them laugh under a certain time. That's what I remember him from. The time line was the early eighties and it was on ITV at tea time.

Originally Posted by mr 420

Punchlines! That was the bugger.

I think you are wrong, Mr. 420

'Punchlines' was a Saturday night memory game, hosted by Lennie Bennett. It was a 'Celebrity Squares' type thing where the contestant was given the first part of a joke, and they had to choose a comedian to read the answer from a card s/he was holding, leading to much hilarity and innuendo

So, if the contestant was asked "A fisherman said to the seven-foot man...", the contestant would try to remember which of the eight boxes on the set would contain the punchline "...with legs like yours, you don't need a rod" but inevitably they would pick something like "...where do you keep your big tackle?" instead!

I think that the show that you are thinking of, where a comedian stood in front of a contest and tried to make them laugh within a minute, was actually called...'Make Me Laugh', although in all honesty, I don't remember Duncan Norvelle being on that. He was more of a '3-2-1' or 'Live At The Palladium' comedian!

[TheProf]

Originally Posted by Frankenhooker

I don't know, I don't think the UK has ever produced something as brilliantly paced or written as The Wire for example, or at least not for the past twenty years. UK TV was the envy of the world at one point, those days have long gone.

I've not long finished Treme, the UK wouldn't dream of producing something so vibrant, the funding isn't there to be able to take the risk. HBO completely changed the game.

I definitely get where you are coming from, but as part of North America, those shows really are the gems and not so much the more common place. Sure every country will have inane reality shows and just some badly written programming, but the average program in the UK just seems to treat its viewers like the actually have a decent intelligence.
There are some amazing shows being done in North America but I feel that when you take it as the larger expanse that the UK wins.
HBO and Showcase are both channels that produce some quality television but thats not what the usual regular channels get, the regular tv channels here can produce some pretty painful stuff. lol

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by TheProf

I definitely get where you are coming from, but as part of North America, those shows really are the gems and not so much the more common place. Sure every country will have inane reality shows and just some badly written programming, but the average program in the UK just seems to treat its viewers like the actually have a decent intelligence.
There are some amazing shows being done in North America but I feel that when you take it as the larger expanse that the UK wins.
HBO and Showcase are both channels that produce some quality television but thats not what the usual regular channels get, the regular tv channels here can produce some pretty painful stuff. lol

You make a great point, Prof.

We only get the best of the best from the States. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking every tv show America makes is the equivalent of The Walking Dead, West Wing Arrow or Game of Thrones.

Just as in a way you will think the British channels only produce the likes of Doctor Who, Sherlock, Downton Abbey and The Night Manager.

Both countries make great television and both countries make garbage, we only get to see the very best from each. Understandably the US produces more as you have more channels that actually make quality television such as HBO whereas we only have the BBC and occasionally ITV, Channel 4 and Sky.

[iank]

There's no need for all this arguing.

They both suck now.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by iank

There's no need for all this arguing.

They both suck now.

So what's Australian tv like?

We only get Home and Away and Neighbours. Used to get The Flying Doctors as well.

There must be something decent.

[iank]

Not really.

I quite liked the Aussie soaps back in the 80s. These days... not so much.

[gag]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

So what's Australian tv like?

We only get Home and Away and Neighbours. Used to get The Flying Doctors as well.

There must be something decent.

They dont half make some excellent films tho

Wolf Creek
Snowtown
Picnic at hanging rock
Midnite spares
Mad max
Cars that ate Paris
Dead calm
Romper stomper
Chopper
Red hill
Crocodile dundee
Long weekend

[gag]

Hello skippy
Tsk tsk tsk. (Dont know how to type a Kangaroo sounds)
Whats that mate?
Tsk tsk tsk
What goerge is hurt down by the bush, better go get help then eh! Skip