Quote: Godot Taxis @ April 11 2008, 7:34 PM BST

As a fucking olive branch to all the miserable fuckers who think I'm a disagreeable, bellicose twat, here's an ad hoc list of some things I rate.

Cop Show - Murphy's Law series 4 (not any other series, only 4)
Sitcom - Porridge, Phoenix Nights, Mighty Boosh, Alan Partridge
Mainstream Hollywood Film - Wonderboys, Taxi Driver, American beauty, Summer of Sam
British Film - Debt Collector, The Servant, Loneliness of Long Distance Runner
Playwright - Edward Bond, Howard brenton
Poet - Miroslav Holub, Ted Hughes Peter Porter
Drink - Gin and Tonic
Toy - Lego
Innovation - Open crotch knickers

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'Taxis mate -- you are a genius! *LOL*



Dan
 

Taxi Driver is awesome!
 

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Sorry... NOT!
 

Quote: Godot Taxis @ April 11 2008, 7:18 PM BST

Sorry, Dan I like loads of things, but the best programme on British TV is never a foreign programme, because it doesn't speak accurately enough to British people.

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I'm afraid that I agree.

The only US programmes I can consistently enjoy are South Park and Family Guy.
 

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Quote: Rebecca Davies @ April 10 2008, 5:48 PM BST

Usually, I'm not the sort of person who finds killing a sick animal funny, call me a bore, but I love cats, and the idea of them dying painfully doesn't put me in an especially comical mood. HOWEVER, for some reason, I did find myself laughing. In shock mostly. They managed to portray relatable human reactions in an act and context which went so far beyond the realms of reality (for most of us), that it somehow worked for me.

Either way, it was bloody risky, surprised they let it on the air.

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I agree with you there Rebecca.
In Pulling, the cat had cancer & was going to die a slow lingering death. It was bleeding from its poor little, very own, arse. I do not really see it as being horrific. If it had been a healthy cat, now that is a whole different story. They should have taken it to the vets & paid the extortionate rates vets charge. (The money grabbing bastards). However this is a comedy & I found it funny. Not that a cat got bricked, but that they bricked it to end its suffering & save a few quid. No different to finishing a rabbit you have run over really.

BTW I am an animal lover. I have little pointless dogs & a cat. The cat hates my guts but I can live with that.
 

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Sorry... NOT!
 

The cat doesn't hate your guts. It's just jealous because you smell of fish all of the time.
 

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Aaron
BSG Forums & DVDs Editor
Half man, half Internet, half TV.
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Quote: Godot Taxis @ April 11 2008, 7:18 PM BST

Sorry, Dan I like loads of things, but the best programme on British TV is never a foreign programme, because it doesn't speak accurately enough to British people.

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(Raised as Chappers referred to it.)

Wouldn't this argument imply the very worst British TV programme is better than the very best American programme?

I can't see it myself and certainly can't agree with it! Certainly the best drama written in the last ten years has all been American: The Sopranos, The Shield, Six Feet Under to name but three and is continuing with shows such as Mad Men, Dexter, and Californication. British drama just doesn't compete at all. Arguably the best and most original British thing I've seen recently was probably Life on Mars, but given the choice of watching that or the above programmes it would be bottom of the list every time.

The best thing on British TV is surely the best thing *shown* on British TV, regardless of origin. If British drama writers argued that only the British stuff can be the best stuff on TV, the British writers would never aspire to American drama standards and thus be onto a losing battle...

Of course, your argument appears to be backed up by the hour upon hour of trite, ubiquitous soap opera on our screens, but I'm an idealist...

Dan
 

What I meant is that when I select what I watch I'd rather watch something I can relate to. I don't watch crap British shows. I watch Karen Taylor, Balls of Steel and Friday night Project.
 

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Playwrite extraordinaire.

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Quote: David Chapman @ April 13 2008, 12:46 AM BST

I don't watch crap British shows. I watch Karen Taylor, Balls of Steel and Friday night Project.

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. . .

Quote: swerytd @ April 13 2008, 12:21 AM BST

Wouldn't this argument imply the very worst British TV programme is better than the very best American programme?

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Not really, I don't think. Godot didn't state that all American TV shows are subservient to all British TV shows. But he makes a valid point. Homegrown shows have a level of familiarity and identifiability which one just can't get from overseas. There are different aspects of the general notion of identification though. I can see more to identify with in Desperate Housewives or Samantha Who? (which hasn't even made it to British TV yet) than I can with something like Coronation Street or Hollyoaks, for example. They may be set in Britain, but I'll be fucked if I can understand what they're saying half of the time.


One of my biggest problems with American drama personally (well, American TV in general) is that there are so many episodes in a season. I just don't have the willpower or strength to tune into something for half of the year, particularly when they all seem to be scheduled at times which clash with other shows, often long-running, and aren't repeated as much/at all. End.
 

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Aaron
BSG Forums & DVDs Editor
Half man, half Internet, half TV.
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Quote: Aaron @ April 13 2008, 9:49 AM BST

. . .



Not really, I don't think. Godot didn't state that all American TV shows are subservient to all British TV shows. But he makes a valid point. Homegrown shows have a level of familiarity and identifiability which one just can't get from overseas. There are different aspects of the general notion of identification though. I can see more to identify with in Desperate Housewives or Samantha Who? (which hasn't even made it to British TV yet) than I can with something like Coronation Street or Hollyoaks, for example. They may be set in Britain, but I'll be fucked if I can understand what they're saying half of the time.


One of my biggest problems with American drama personally (well, American TV in general) is that there are so many episodes in a season. I just don't have the willpower or strength to tune into something for half of the year, particularly when they all seem to be scheduled at times which clash with other shows, often long-running, and aren't repeated as much/at all. End.

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I agree. The principle of the 'novel/season' - don't know how to describe it – but a show unfolding like a novel over many, many weeks, with many episodes being incomplete and focussing on peripheral characters or events (supposedly like a novel) was devised to satisfy advertisers, not programme makers or audiences. They basically don't want you to touch that dial - ever. I don't blame them, but I can't acquiesce.

I also agree about shows like Hollyoaks and Corrie - they don't speak to me at all - but neither does the sopranos or Lost.

Quote: swerytd @ April 13 2008, 12:21 AM BST

I can't see it myself and certainly can't agree with it! Certainly the best drama written in the last ten years has all been American: The Sopranos, The Shield, Six Feet Under to name but three and is continuing with shows such as Mad Men, Dexter, and Californication. British drama just doesn't compete at all. Arguably the best and most original British thing I've seen recently was probably Life on Mars, but given the choice of watching that or the above programmes it would be bottom of the list every time.


Dan

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I don't agree with your comment that the best drama of the last ten years has been American at all. I haven't seen all of the shows you mention, but i have seen Sopranos, Six Feet Under and Mad Men. The Sopranos is marred for me by being principally about a thug, adulterer, murder and criminal. I don't believe the life of such a person should be celebrated. Six Feet Under was well made, but was undeniably walking on the grave of American Beauty and I stopped watching it because I was beginning to lose respect for Alan Ball, as it seemed he had so little to say. Mad Men is an attractive show, but even the episode about Don's son wasn't really very deep. It's essentially a style exercise. The gloss on the terrorism of the Stern Gang in the Babylon episode was shameful, even for out-of-touch New Yorkers, as was the reference to Israel 'also containing Arabs'!

I think 'Talk To Me' by Danny Brocklehurst which was shown last year was better than any of the shows you mentioned, and mercifully it was gone after four, sparkling, jaunty, emotionally drenching episodes. I also liked both series of The Street, Clocking Off and Conviction.

I have nothing against American drama. My girlfriend is American and it is an exciting place. I find much of the TV slick but shallow, and we know that there are far more no-go issues in their broadcasting than ours. British TV is frequently beneath toilet in quality, but much of the best stuff is just unknown, because it isn't celebrated in papers and journals like the yank stuff. Series four of Murphy's law is a case in point.
 

My opinion is that a foreign programme can be the best on british TV as a good sitcom (such as Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Friends, Curb) is about people and characters that exist everywhere in situations that reveal common human frailties. OK the technicalities like phrases, locations, subjects might differ but usually you can relate to it without being hand-held by making it British.

I think, as a nation, we are good like that as we are happy to show US sitcoms without feeling the to need to make our own. Unfortunately, it doesn't work the other way round as the US try and remake everything.

Its not my favourite sitcom, but the most common answer I get when I ask British people to name their favourite sitcom is Seinfeld. So I guess that proves that a foreign programme can be rated the best here.
 

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Some people may call me a genius but I haven't met any yet.
http://containsnuts.wordpress.com/
 

After last weeks disgraceful celebration of cat killing as entertainment, last nights episode was a welcome return to form. And is it just me, or do cockloleeze actually sound like quite a good business idea?
 

Surely they already exist? Charley?
 

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Some people may call me a genius but I haven't met any yet.
http://containsnuts.wordpress.com/
 

Quote: ContainsNuts @ April 14 2008, 11:10 AM BST

Surely they already exist? Charley?

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I have never had one in my mouth.
Maybe in some Ann Summers magazine they have them.

It was hilarious watching those geezers suck on them. I was shocked the cafe owner did'nt enjoy it. I thought he was into cock.

 

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Quote: ContainsNuts @ April 14 2008, 9:04 AM BST

Its not my favourite sitcom, but the most common answer I get when I ask British people to name their favourite sitcom is Seinfeld. So I guess that proves that a foreign programme can be rated the best here.

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I don't think that's really fair, as it depends heavily on what kinds of people you're asking.
 

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Aaron
BSG Forums & DVDs Editor
Half man, half Internet, half TV.
(Loyal follower of The Magical Aura of Laura.)

 

Quote: Godot Taxis @ April 14 2008, 2:31 AM BST

I stopped watching it because I was beginning to lose respect for Alan Ball, as it seemed he had so little to say.

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When was he in an American drama?


I agree with Aaron though. They do go on for soooooooooo long. I started watching Lost but lost interest.

I must admit though that I like Desperate Housewives although I've nor seen any of the latest SERIES.


Anyway - how has this developed when it started off about one of the best new British sitcoms on TV at the moment?
 

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Playwrite extraordinaire.

http://www.eols.org.uk/