American TV

David McKinney · 500 Club Member

American TV

Man In Black · Anime Mod

Yes we have a lot of US imports over here. Some air on satellite TV channels and thus remain fairly unknown to the masses. Others make it to terrestrial TV but suffer from poor programme planning and if they don't succeed in early evening time slots they get shunted to late night slots. Seinfeld was one of those shows.

Friends is on all the friggin' time on Ch4/E4 despite having finished a few years back. I hated it when it was first and I like it even less now...Heroes and Ugly Betty are the current favourites getting the big hype treatment.

Personally I don't watch much US TV. In the 80's I watched all the action shows like Knight Rider, A-Team, Street Hawk etc. but since then I've only watched shows like Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama and Married With Children etc.

Actually, to be fair I don't watch much UK TV either these days.

Totoro101 · Movie Executive Producer

Not the biggest fan of US tv myself espicially comedies like friends or seinfield,which as popular as they are,hardly ever make me laugh or do a lot for me.The shows i watch from the US are obvioulsly the Simpsons which i love (though the older shows more),Heroes which im gradually getting into,Smallville (which is a fantastic show) and sometimes sex and the city (my gf introduced me to it and its not bad) and Futurama.I prefer asian tv shows which are full of great,funny stuff but sadly are not easily accessable which sucks.

GLOWlad · A List Star

With digital TV and the number of channels now running into the hundreds, its now posdible to find most of the US shows here. Years ago, It used to be flagship dramas and comedies, like Hill Street Blues and Cheers, but increasingly we get US reality shows too which is generalky less welcome...

Some things America does better than us...comedy is one. The Simpsons, is pound for pound the greatest show of all time. Family Guy is hilarious as is Curb Your Enthuiasm. Love the Daily Show with John Stewart, who should be president! Wish we got Stephen Colbert here.

Loved Lost early but have recently lost interest as I felt it was drawn out too much.

We get Fox News...which is horrible, constant right-wing propaganda, thats strangely compelling for an anglo-liberal like me! Sean Hannity is so endlessly hateable!

Honorable mention to 80's camp classic GLOW, Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, which is the weirdest, and most strangely wonderful programme ever!

Man In Black · Anime Mod

How could I have forgotten Curb Your Enthusiasm? Doh!

David McKinney · 500 Club Member

That's nice to know. Thanks everyone for your opinions. I really don't like US TV that much, but there are a few shows that I do like (I'm telling you, check out How I Met Your Mother if you can). Also, American TV is going to get much worse with all of the writer strikes out there.

As far as comedy, I agree that the US is solid. Anything that Larry David (producer of Seinfeld, star of Curb Your Enthusiasm) touches turns to gold. And good news: there is talk that Jerry Seinfeld and David are working on another sitcom for NBC. This is in the very early stages, but I heard that they got "Friends-like money" to even write a script (those f*ckers were making like 8 mil per episode at the end of that show).

I have to tell you, The Simpsons is amazing. I'm not sure what they can do, but they need to do something special for that show. Also, Seth McFarland (creator and voice contributor to Family Guy, Futurama, American Dad) is a genius. I just think that we have some really smart comedians over here in the States, and it's a wonder how we don't have MORE great TV.

As far as the past, I have to talk about Mitch Hedberg. He was one of the writers for The Norm McDonald Show (grossly underrated), and he was one of the most underrated comedians of all time. If you've ever seen any of his stuff, then you know what I'm talking about. Comedy is all about delivery, and he had that part down. Sadly, Mitch died a few years ago. He was barely 40, and there is talk that drugs had a lot to do with his death. What's even worse (for TV fans) is that Mitch was working on a TV show with Artie Lange (of Howard Stern Show fame) that was set to debut a few years back. But since Hedberg's death, Lange has not been able to touch that show, and nobody else wants to take on the challenge of trying to make Hedberg's brainchild work. Sorry that I rambled, I just wanted you guys to know that.