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British tv from the view of British citizens

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  1. #1
    Vinland's Avatar
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    Default British tv from the view of British citizens

    My wife and I stream a lot of tv and are at the point where if the show is British we basically assume it will be good.
    Are you Brits the same?

    I can’t watch US reality shows but was glued to the tv for an emergency room trauma reality show, no bs drama, just realistic depictions of triage and trauma (lots of bike accidents and stabbings)

    detective shows are better, even comedy which I watch almost none if it’s from the US
    (I love IT Crowd, and Black Adder which is old but great)
  2. #2
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
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    Also a US American that watches a fair amount of British media on YouTube.

    Not reality shows, though. Mostly gamers on YouTube and a couple of actual TV shows.
    I wish more Taskmaster was available in the US. Prob one of my favorite shows of the past many years.
    You can find any pattern you want to any level of precision you want, if you're prepared to ignore enough data.
  3. #3
    I watch very little TV, and what I do watch tends to be American.

    Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Rick & Morty, Cobra Kai, Stranger Things, these are the most recent things I watched. All American.

    I don't even know how good or bad British TV is. I was at my sister's a couple of weeks ago and watched The Great British Bake Off. It was awful. I'll probably be force fed a whole load of shite Christmas TV as well during seasonal family time. I'll be too drunk to care.
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    ongies gonna ong
  4. #4
    Vinland's Avatar
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    Rick & Morty is very good - one of my all time favorites.

    Baking/cooking shows are shit no matter what culture makes it (other than the original Iron Chef from Japan)
    Last edited by Vinland; 11-08-2022 at 11:14 AM.
  5. #5
    Atlanta is one of the best shows ever. But it's been aptly described as African American Surrealism, and I'm not entirely sure how it would translate abroad.

    Andor is saving Star Wars rn.

    Alone is the best reality TV I've ever seen (I'm pretty averse to reality TV)-- your description of the British E.R. reality show makes me think you might like it. Very much anti-reality-tv reality tv
    You-- yes, you-- you're a cunt.
  6. #6
    My idea of reality TV would be a cross between Big Brother and Battle Royale.
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    ongies gonna ong
  7. #7
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OngBonga View Post
    Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul
    I see you are a fellow Bob Odenkirk appreciator. cool

    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland View Post
    Baking/cooking shows are shit no matter what culture makes it
    Depends on the format. Short videos where they show you how to cook something and post the recipe are amazing these days.
    You can basically learn to cook excellent food just by copy/pasting what looks good into your life.
    You can find any pattern you want to any level of precision you want, if you're prepared to ignore enough data.
  8. #8
    Vinland's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MadMojoMonkey View Post
    Depends on the format. Short videos where they show you how to cook something and post the recipe are amazing these days.
    You can basically learn to cook excellent food just by copy/pasting what looks good into your life.
    I agree with that - I was thinking cooking competition shows. But to watch a guy make a fire and smoke a brisket, yeah thats fun when its edited down
  9. #9
    When it comes to British comedy, you can't beat the Bean.


    I just think we should suspend judgment on Boris until we have all the facts through an inquiry, police investigation, and parliamentary commission...then we should explode him.
    also,
    I'd like to be called Lord Poopy His Most Gloriously Excellent.
  10. #10
    You probably only have access to popular British TV, rather than a lot of the shite that fills airtime here.

    Looking at your list, you might also like (if you can find them):
    Travel Man (Richard Ayode from IT Crowd)
    Never Mind The Buzzocks (music quiz/comedy show now hosted by Greg Davies)
    Family Tree (one series only with the Irish fella from IT Crowd)

    Old series like The Inbetweeners you've probably already tried. There are some good British comedians as well, but that depends on your taste. Francie Boyle and Jimmy Carr are more shock factor. You might like Bill Bailey.

    Otherwise, I don't watch a lot of British TV outside of documentaries and sport. I mostly watch box sets like BB, BCS, Mad Men, the US version of The Office. I'm also going to give The Sopranos and The X Files a watch soon.
  11. #11
    Vinland's Avatar
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    My wife ad I watched travel man and gadget man. I like his dry demeanour

    I might have to check out Family Tree.
    mist Canadians know who Mr Bean is, he was popular in the 90s here. But I love black adder, and own the series. Watching him and Hugh Laurie together is awesome

    best documentary series I ever saw was the BBCs Death of Yugoslavia. I loved it.
    my wife and I just think most British shows that make it onto a stream service is top notch. Only time I would disagree is the Office. It was good, but US version was better.

    if you can watch the show Letterkenny, give it a go. It’s a comedy that makes fun of life in small town Canada. It’s pretty clever but ridiculous at the same time
  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Vinland
    Only time I would disagree is the Office. It was good, but US version was better.
    Blasphemy.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
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  13. #13
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
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    It is widely agreed that the US Office was better than the original.

    Your opinion has been out-voted.
    You can find any pattern you want to any level of precision you want, if you're prepared to ignore enough data.
  14. #14
    Yeah but it's not. I can at least forgive an American for thinking so but a Brit? No no no no no.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  15. #15
    Oh wait Vinland is Canadian, I got him mixed up with Bean for a second.

    I'll forgive Vinland for preferring the American one too.

    If I ever hear a British person say it though they get a slap.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  16. #16
    UK Office > US Office

    The only annoying thing about great British shows is they tend to run out of steam really fast. Like, Mr. Bean and Fawlty Towers both lasted what, 12 episodes or something. Same with the Office.

    Whereas in the US when they have a winning formula, they just keep going with it for 200 episodes or more until eventually it jumps the shark (literally, in the case of Happy Days). MASH lasted what 12 years? Surely they could have written a few more Mr. Beans or FTs...
    I just think we should suspend judgment on Boris until we have all the facts through an inquiry, police investigation, and parliamentary commission...then we should explode him.
    also,
    I'd like to be called Lord Poopy His Most Gloriously Excellent.
  17. #17
    We get it right in that regard. If a show drags on for too long it loses its charm. Like, with the Office, I have never worked in an office but I feel like the TV show is like a memory of a job I used to have. If it was still going it would be like a job I still fucking have, I'm glad Gervais didn't drag that out. He did the right thing sending it to America, cash in on his big project without ruining the cult status of the original. Fair play to him, absolute genius and not an arsehole.

    I'm glad Fawlty Towers was left alone after 2 series or whatever it was.

    Mr Bean, I'm surprised there's only a handful of those. That seemed to be on TV for a decade. He certainly cashed in on that character. I never really liked it, I preferred Blackadder. Mr Bean was just a bit too silly for me. And not like Monty Python silly. I'm not a huge slapstick fan though. Python dabbled with slapstick but it wasn't their only gag.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  18. #18
    15 episodes and 2 films of Mr Bean. Not as much as I thought. A fuck ton of commercials and guest appearances, though. It's a hugely successful character, we all know who he is.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by OngBonga View Post
    We get it right in that regard.
    It's hard to know what other episodes would have been like. They might have gotten even better. Most shows start out ok and take time to develop, but it could be these shows were more like Meat Loaf than the Beatles. Either the shows peaked at the start (Meat Loaf) then went downhill fast, or they could have kept on putting out high quality for years (Beatles).

    All we know now is they stopped after a period of time and level of success equivalent to the Beatles stopping at a Hard Day's Night. They may not have gone on to make the TV equivalent of Sgt. Pepper's and all those other great albums then got a bit meh at the very end & then packed it in, but they never tried so we'll never know.


    Quote Originally Posted by OngBonga View Post
    15 episodes and 2 films of Mr Bean. Not as much as I thought. A fuck ton of commercials and guest appearances, though. It's a hugely successful character, we all know who he is.
    Those movies were pretty shit too imo. It's at that point where you say "this isn't funny any more, they know it isn't funny, and they're just milking it now." Like when they bring some old boxer out of retirement and people pay a shitload of money to see it like they expect to see the young version of the guy, and he ends up getting his ass kicked for $10million. It's always a downer when someone goes out that way.
    I just think we should suspend judgment on Boris until we have all the facts through an inquiry, police investigation, and parliamentary commission...then we should explode him.
    also,
    I'd like to be called Lord Poopy His Most Gloriously Excellent.
  20. #20
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
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    Meat Loaf peaked in Rocky Horror Picture Show.
    You can find any pattern you want to any level of precision you want, if you're prepared to ignore enough data.
  21. #21
    Meatloaf peaked in Fight Club.

    Poop your comments about Mr Bean's films no longer being funny, this is what happens when you drag it out. This is why I'm glad things like Fawlty Towers and the Office were short lived. They might have carried on being funny, but what if it wasn't? In Ricky Gervais' case, it's not like he put his feet up, he moved on to other hugely successful projects. In Cleese's case it was probably the last time he was legitimately funny, I'm glad he didn't ruin FT's legacy.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  22. #22
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OngBonga View Post
    Meatloaf peaked in Fight Club.
    Actually... Good point.
    You can find any pattern you want to any level of precision you want, if you're prepared to ignore enough data.
  23. #23
    His name is Robert Paulson!
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  24. #24
    Bitchtit Bob is one of the greatest characters in any film ever.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  25. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by OngBonga View Post
    Oh wait Vinland is Canadian, I got him mixed up with Bean for a second.

    I'll forgive Vinland for preferring the American one too.

    If I ever hear a British person say it though they get a slap.
    US and UK Office are just different shows. I like both a lot, but for different reasons. Once the US version stopped trying to be a bad copy of the UK version by the start of season two, I didn't even compare to the UK version.

    The US version is more obviously funny. The UK version can cut a bit close to the bone in terms of the monotony and stupidity of working life. It's dark and depressing in a lot of ways, but also a show with heart.

    Mr Bean is just weird. Loved it as a small kid. Now I just think it's people finding an autistic character funny and I don't care for it.

    Blackadder is obviously a great show.
  26. #26
    The UK Office is brilliantly funny, but it does demonstrate how we do humour differently to USA. You say it almost mimics the monotony and depression of working life... of course it does, that's the idea. We just also like to be able to relate to the characters, and that means they have human flaws and human emotions. It's not just comedy. Gervais gets the balance between comedy and drama absolutely perfect.

    I find American comedy difficult to watch, with obvious exceptions. It's not subtle, there's no real depth, it's not anything like real life, it's like the characters have only one personality trait - funny. Like I'm just watching the "Fire Drill" sketch in the USA office. "Everybody don't panic. DON'T FUCKING PANIC." I could write that line, jeez. And who actually sets a fire in the office and cuts the phones? In the UK office, pranks are like hiding staplers in jelly and gluing the phone down. That's real office culture.

    Comedy is much, much better when it's based on real life situations rather than make believe.

    Of course, cartoons like Rick & Morty and South Park don't have to be realistic, or sic-fi. It's not essential. But if it's supposed to be a commentary of office culture, then it does need to be real.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  27. #27
    oskar's Avatar
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    I'm not sure I've even gotten as far as the fire drill episode. For me it began falling off after the merger, but I loved the first couple of seasons. The american version was funnier to me, but I wouldn't say it's because the UK version is too subtle. Was Brent doing the crab dance all that subtle? Those characters were plenty over the top.
    What really worked for me was Extras. I had to pause that show many times becuase I was running out of air.
    The strengh of a hero is defined by the weakness of his villains.
  28. #28
    The crab dance is probably the least funny scene in the UK Office. It was hilarious the first time, but it's the "classic" scene that gets played over and over, like Del Boy falling off his chair, or Basil doing his silly Nazi walk. Although the latter one still gets me.

    I mean it's not easy to explain what I actually mean when I say "subtle". Like there's a scene where Brent plays a "joke" on Dawn by telling her she's fired. It's not even that funny but I start laughing when she's crying and there's an awkward silence as he prepares to tell her he's just joking. The silence is what's funny, not the joke. The atmosphere, not the delivery.

    It could just be cultural. The way the British actors perform is of such a high standard that I feel like I'm part of the team, these people are really my colleagues, I become friends with some and dislike others. Maybe if I were American it wouldn't seem so real because it wouldn't reflect my culture so accurately, and I'd appreciate the subtleties of American comedy more.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong

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