Tuesday, October 4, 2011

British Television

Most of my impression of British television before coming here is BBC News and Doctor Who, neither of  which I actually watched. After watching a lot of TV in the common room, my image of British television as more refined and mature has been destroyed.


First of all, the system is set up bizarrely. Because it is a public good, you need a TV license to watch TV alone in your room. Every student got a threatening letter ordering them to register for a license online. It is only for live transmissions, but it's quite expensive. 


Luckily, the house has a license for the common room. The first thing I noticed is how much American sitcoms are. The Scottish impression of America seems to be a combination of The Big Bang Theory, South Park, and How I Met Your Mother. For some reason, The Big Bang Theory is on all the time.


The best British shows are obviously on BBC. Most people are huge fans of Doctor Who, which I have yet to get in to. I do highly recommend Sherlock, which I decided to watch since I am living in Holmes's birthplace. It's beautifully done and there only three ninety-minute episodes in the first season. Another great show is Merlin, which I'm watching right now. It's definitely better than Robin Hood and it's really fun to watch the show while visiting castles and places that make it come alive. 


I absolutely lost faith in British TV after seeing their reality shows. I realized they were just as bad as American shows after watching their version of Cops and The Jersey Shore (The Jordy Shore). A lot of it seems to be British versions of American shows. For example, they have their own version of The Hills. But some of it is worse, in my opinion. I was shocked to see Border Control, where government officials film immigration raids. While obviously immigration is a problem here, the dramatization of expelling undocumented workers seems like too much for public television. Another show centers around patients who have waited too long to get medical care and ended up in emergency situations. One episode was about a girl with a cyst in her ovary. The catch? She was only 17 years old, but her lack of money to treat it early on meant her case would be aired on national TV. 


My favorite program that I've watched live was Live at the Apollo, which is stand-up comedy. We watched a Scottish comedian Danny Bhoy on a rerun from last year. 



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