British vs American tv

[kags]

Which country produces the better tv programmes - Britain or the US? Has this changed over the years?

[IndieSinger]

Hmm would be difficult to provide an unbiased answer unless you've spent years watching both country's television stations. But I will say this: even though America has hundreds of channels and we have five (terrestrial) channels [and yes, I know that most people have access to a few hundred], I can honestly say that in my opinion, it's a matter of quality over quantity. I think the quality of our five channels far outweighs the quality of their several hundred combined.

[Caladon]

I totally agree with indie. There is nothing worse than watching the low grade rubbish majority coming from america, except perhaps for simpsons and the west wing, with the program starting for 2 minutes then an advert!

Their comedy shows, the non rude ones, are terrible...there is some american comedy family show on at about 2am on ITV with is the only time it should be shown and its awful. Compare that to what we have made i the past and what we make now and our programs are far better.

[BenDToy]

I just spent ages typing an answer which hasn't appeared. Oh well! I just wanted to put forward an alternative view. While I agree that the US stations churn out some cr@p, (and we don't see the worst believe me) so do we. There's no point in comparing their 2am shows with our prime time drama or classic comedy. Until recently, the pride of Saturday night was Blind Date for goodness sake! And as for reality stuff - we are starting to make the Japs look discerning. I reckon that the best current stuff, drama or comedy is American, but we can and often do make very good progammes (for British tastes), just not right now. I can't think of anything British which is currently better than for example, Six Feet Under.

[monty0703]

Britain without a doubt! Apart from The Simpsons, US TV programs are generally poorer than British ones. I agree with BenDToy that there is some pants stuff on telly but overall Britain wins hands down!!

[happysax]

USA produces better animated cartoon series - Family Guy or The Simpsons are infinitely funnier than Bob & Margaret or Stressed Eric. Britain produces far better comedy than USA, but America make better drama series. As for historical drama, the two countries are about even. So, all in all, it really depends on the type of programme. In answer to the second part of your question - yes, it has changed over the years. I can see influences of satirical British humour in some American TV, and I can see influences of family life/relationship American type humour in British series like My Family.

[Dave Potts]

It's largely a matter of taste, and no doubt this thread will have a strong pro-Brit bias, but as Indie points out this question is very difficult to answer, especially when trying to make a comparison over the years, unless you have been exposed to TV from both sides of the Atlantic for some time.

From my own experience (having lived in the US for an all-too-short 3 months) I would agree with Indie that the overall quality of American TV is inferior to ours, even taking into account the enormous volume of programmes that are churned out over there year on year. I would suggest, however, that the majority of US programmes that are imported to the UK are of an extremely high quality in terms of their entertainment value, and in many ways could be seen as being 'better' than the domestic products they are scheduled against -whether they are in fact 'better' perhaps being reflected in their popularity with the viewing public?

Whilst I'm sure that some of "their comedy shows, the non rude ones, are terrible", how about Friends, Will and Grace, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Married With Children and Scrubs, to name but a few popular shows that have successfully travelled the Atlantic? Whilst on the subject of popularity we could talk about The West Wing, Ally McBeal, Sex And The City, ER, Dallas (hugely popular in its day) - the list could go on but I'm boring myself now. I'm well aware that one could compile a list of equally popular Brit-produced shows but I'm just illustrating that the US produces a lot of high quality TV, much of it as good or "better" than anything produced over here.

I'm a big fan of home-grown programmes, but I can appreciate that the US is taking an ever-increasing slice of of our viewing pie, and as long as the quality holds up I think that can only be a good thing. Not that I ever get the chance to watch it these days (grumble, grumble...)

[Caladon]

Well in fairness the question did state "which country produces better tv programes" and my opinion is Britian and not just because i am English. Having houses in America and travelling there twice a year since i was born i have seen a lot of american tv in america and not their higher quality exports.

of course we have shows that stink, such as all soaps, songs of praise and bottle birch...i mean last of the summer wine.

but all in all, looking over the past 25 years of my life, i would say that we produce the best shows from documentrys to comedy.

[del_1690]

My first thought would be to say Britain. But the more I think of richard and judy, alright on the night part 52 and the entirity of channel 5 I'd say america. They gave us family guy (the best cartoon ever made), simpsons, six feet under and the list goes on. I know brits tease the yanks for not getting irony, but the best program ever to come out of the US must be seinfeld. The series was amazingly clever, quick witted and extremely ironic.