Page 1 of Great new TV programmes........

Rome - .. great British cast.. directed by Michael Apted.. it`s like deadwood .. but em.. in Rome.. some good naked scenes!!..

My name is Earl - really.. really.. funny .. Jason Lee comedy

everyone hates chris - .. promising.. some funny moments.. chris rock`s childhood story..

I`ve still got to watch Criminal Minds (CSI type thingy) and the first episode of ER`s new series...

anyone who thinks British TV is so much better.. is so much wrong

I saw some of Rome when I was in the US last week.. looked good, but the language was not very of the time.. but, do i look like a historian?
I missed my name is earl, which i was sorry about.. Jason Lee is great
did you hear/see any thing of Surface? i saw some trailers for that and that looked good also. would be interested to hear what you thought..

I think good British Programmes are, by and large, superior to American shows. But they are much more few and far between. Hens teeth, as it were.

But, again, it depends on what you are looking for. For nature programmes and documentaries, Britain tears America a new one. I cant stand american natural history shows.

Shows like Messiah can go toe to toe with the CSI`s of this world, but they dont have the budget or desire to go for 26 episodes. America excels at episodic drama. But we still make great shows. Have you seen the US version of Cracker?

And sitcoms too. We dont generally do lengthy, 20 odd show runs of a sitcom. We do short bursts of brilliance. League of Gentlemen, The Office, Little Britain, spaced et al can stand equal or above anything America can produce. But they burn brightly for 8 or so episodes.

So in summary...........uhm...... apples and oranges mate ;)

This item was edited on Friday, 23rd September 2005, 16:49

Haven`t watched surface yet.. will let you know..

as for language in Rome.. if it was going to be authentic.. it would be in Latin?..

not Latin, but... I think that in the bit I saw someone said that some one else should behave like: "helen of troy with her ass on fire"
anyway, it made me laugh, and I`d rather that than people swanning around going, "prithee me this..."

Surface includes one of `retired` cast of Boston Legal-no not Bill Shatner
one of the girls-Lake Bell (that`s a name?)
so instead of being on the surface of the lake...
tagline "there`s something in the water"
Hmm lots of Lost clones coming methinks?

Sue Davies

Quote:
tagline "there`s something in the water"
for some reason I am a big fan of anything underwater..
love the nemo films, Jaws obviously, and anything Nessie-like.. so, on the surface, Surface looks good..

a few others that have started....

Bones, seen 2 episodes so far, & boreanez (very sp) suits the role & it seems pretty good :)
Surface, only seen episode 1, & whilst it was "ok" it needed to do more, & there is loads of ropey cgi
Supernatural, hmm, i`ve watched 2 episodes, so far it`s not really impressed, but it`s early days :D
Invasion, got episode 1, & gonna watch it tonight :)
Threshold, directed by brandon bragga (sp) of next gen/voy/ds9/enterprise fame (infamy ? ;) ) 2 episodes so far, & it`s looking good, very x-files ish, + it`s got brent spiner in it :D allways a good thing.

anyone who thinks British TV is so much better.. is so much wrong

I absolutely agree. I was having this exact conversation with a friend some while ago. I personally think American TV is far superior to British TV now.

Much of British TV is bland, boring and amounts to poor quality trash and smut. There is much "TV for idiots" being spewed out by the likes of Channel 4, etc, with low broadcasting standards and a complete disregard for quality. A plague of `dumbing down` is running through the airwaves of British TV.

I find it insulting that many TV channels assume we only have the intelligence to be interested in cheap programming made only as an excuse to broadcast smut. I have absolutely nothing against sex on TV, but personally I find that seeing it almost every week night becomes just a little tedious and very, very boring.

It also seems that when British channels get their hands on quality U.S. programmes they either cut them or show them at silly times when most people are in bed! An example of this is "Arrested Development" and the BBC. May not be your cup of tea, but still...

Programmes like "Spooks" are all very well and good but they are just not of the same calibre as American equivalents or variations (24, perhaps...).

Where has the quality gone?

Regards,
Adam Walby

Not to question your obvious expertise in this matter, but have you ever been to America? They show at least as much mind numbing, degrading s*** as this country and in quite a lot of instances it is far, far worse.

Indeed, the last time I was out there an American was saying that he likes the quality of our TV as BBC America seems to be chock full of excellent telly. He seemed to think all we watch all day is Red Dwarf, Blackadder and The Office.

But just as The Office isnt reprasentative of our whole comedy output (my family, anyone?) CSI isnt representative of their Drama output.

We cherry pick all their best shows and vice versa.

***Unnecessary obscenity removed by Moderator***

This item was edited on Friday, 23rd September 2005, 22:57