Thursday 9 August 2012

The box in the room - TV comparisons

That box in the corner, the box of entertainment is universally loved regardless of the country. Yet the attitudes that are attached to the TV and shows on it do differ. Going from having freeview to hundreds of cable channels was a shock in itself although admittedly the first time I properly got to watch American TV was in our hotel room in Chicago and that is when I feel in love with American Pickers and Pawn Stars previously to this we just had netflix. 

In the US TV shows all seem to end or start at the same time. Within two weeks most of the programs we constantly watched finished their latest series - from NCIS, Best Ink, The Big Bang Theory. They all take four months off and they'll all restart at the same time. Which is a bit of a bummer because you find you have nothing really to watch.

In the UK a new show will start and unless there's no major events [say sports and or holidays] a show will run every week without fail. In America it is so stop start. You'll get two weeks of new episodes and then a month without. Another episode and then some more reruns. It makes it hard to keep up with new and repeated episodes.  

American TV shows have HUGE budgets so they all seem like mini films with huge plots and special effects - I know Joe finds some English shows to be very limited in their wow OTT factor. I prefer the British shows because of their quirky low budgets.

The Big Bang Theory - one of America's most watched shows <3 . Source
Compared to the UK where soaps are huge. I haven't seen EastEnders [image source] since left the UK seven months ago but I know if I was to start watching again [somehow] I'd still be able to catch up. They don't tend to move that quickly in their plot line and are often rather repeating.

With regards to the news - although there's many many news channels on cable they are all very limited and bias in their broadcasting.  Especially in regards to world news. American news stations are pretty much politically run, so the news stories you hear come from a political standpoint. MSNBC is very liberal minded [that's the one I watch] whereas FOX News is in bed with the Republican party. This isn't to say the news in the UK is wholly objective but it's more so then what news we get here.

America shows tend to travel better then UK ones. We all grew up in the UK with Friends, Saved by the Bell and say Sabina The Teenage Witch. We all grew up with American TV in our lives and that's continued well into our adulthood especially with all the HBO shows that migrate eastwards. In comparison most UK shows don't really tend to get transferred over to the US, and if they do then they are remade. 

The shows that do cross and get redone is funny at times - from the UK - The Antiques Roadshow, Being Human, America's Got Talent, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, The Jeremey Kyle Show, Life on Mars, Junkyard Wards [taken off from Scrapheap Challenge], Secret Millionaire, Shark Tank [from Dragons' Den], Family Feud [USA version of Family Fortune] are all on TV today. They are even making an American version of the latest BBC adaptation of Sherlock called Elementary - we're going to refuse to watch it - how could you ever top Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman with Johnny Lee Miller [as Holmes] and Lucy Lu [as Watson]?! You just can't!

Have you ever found any differences between your own country and another? What shows would you miss if you left your home country?

17 comments:

  1. I didn't grow up with any American series other than Starsky and Hutch & The Monkees! I do enjoy the odd British drama and love Law & Order but other than that I can't say there's anything I'd miss, in fact I love being in India for a month at a time and not having a telly! x

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    1. Yeah at university I went without a telly which in reflection i'm not really sure how I did that. But then again I don't really "watch" that much tv - it's mainly for me background noise especially when i'm home alone all day.

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  2. I hardly ever actually watch TV so I don't think I'd miss it to be honest.. It's weird how different things can be though!

    xo

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    1. That it is, I don't really miss that many shows but I think i'd miss the tv if we didn't have one!

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  3. In Mexico it's all about the novelas which I loved when I was growing up, I definitely miss those, although I do have access I just don't have enough time to watch it on a daily basis :) great post!

    ~Pau
    www.lilbitsofchic.com

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    1. Thank you! It's great how different countries seem to have a certain trend for a type of show.

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  4. One thing I noticed about the TV in America is the amount of advertisement breaks, there's so many! Come to think of it, most of the TV shows I watch are actually from America. I think I'd miss BBC3 as a channel because I love all their documentaries! I love reading your UK/USA comparisons, they're so interesting to read.

    Charlotte xo

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    1. Oh lord, don't start me on advertisements - especially how many they are in the Olympics. Normal shows it's fine, because you kind of get use to them and when they will appear - but during the Olympics you seem to see more ads then you sport!

      I use to really like BBC 3 especially for the comedies and I miss BBC news and their shows. Shame BBC iplayer doesn't work outside the UK.

      Glad you like the comparison posts - always good to know people like reading them!

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  5. We mainly watch sports on TV. All the news channels are crap. If you listen to the TV news you will never know for sure what is going on at home or in the world.
    We get our news from blogs we trust. If you want to know what is really going on in the US, the UK does a great job. Their reporters find out stories here that our reporters find days later and then get it wrong.lol.

    Interesting post.
    Love Joann
    xxxx

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    1. Yeah being British I've grown up with the UK news.

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  6. Wow i love how you characterize your experience.

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  7. I really love these posts, Rachael. I am and never have been a fan of American TV. I own a TV but don't even have it connected so I can watch national TV. Weird, right? There are some series that I've watched on DVD after the season/s have ended, but that's it, and I'm pretty selective about what I watch, too. That said, when I do watch DVDs of TV series, I tend to gravitate towards BBC stuff. I hate long, drawn-out series that span 5, 6, or 7 seasons! CRAZY!

    ♥ laura
    the blog of worldly delights
    the shop of worldly delights

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    1. See I went through university without really using a TV, I went without one for a whole year and surprising really didn't miss it. Although i really got into music that year.

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  8. Most American major network TV is pretty awful (a few shows like Parks & Rec and 30 Rock are exceptions); the best shows seem to be on cable networks like HBO or AMC. I've been into British TV since I was young and my mom got me into watching Masterpiece Theatre (which I still love). I've noticed that British sitcoms (one of my favorites, Gavin & Stacey, comes to mind) tend to be a lot saltier than in the US. Lots of foul language, drinking, and smoking, and no laugh track--all good things, in my book!

    BBC Radio 6 is far superior to anything you'll hear over American radio, with the possible exception of a few college stations.

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    1. See we don't have HBO and AMC because they cost too much. Track laughter really annoys me! I still listen to BBC Radio 2 - I can't stand US radios lol

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  9. Me and my BF watch a good mix of British/American TV, and while the US tends to have bigger budgets and more of a "wow" factor, I still think I prefer British TV. It tends to feel more "real" - like Gavin and Stacey and The Inbetweeners.

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