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09-04-2010, 04:33 PM
|  | Esteemed Nitpicker | | Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: A Galaxy Far, Far Away | | | A Question For Brits
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Why are television series so short in Britain? An American television season (what we call a series) tends to have 20+ episodes while yours have closer to ten.
Any thoughts why? |
09-04-2010, 04:39 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Manchester, UK | | | Fewer advert breaks?
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09-04-2010, 05:11 PM
|  | No need to ask, he's a smooth... Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Midlands UK | | Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisisnotevil  Fewer advert breaks? | Bingo.
Or at least, *shorter* breaks. A 10 episode UK series probably lasts as long as a 16 or 20 episode US series in terms of actual screen time.
On our commercial channels, ads are maybe on for 15-20% of the time. Watching TV over there, some stations seem like 40-50% (subjective impression, but it's certainly way more than ours).
On BBC channels, of course - no advertising. So the difference is even greater.
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Last edited by bassybill : 09-04-2010 at 05:16 PM.
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09-04-2010, 07:34 PM
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09-04-2010, 07:39 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2007 Location: Clarkston, MI | | | OK, new question. Why are you TV shows so much better than ours?
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09-04-2010, 08:29 PM
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Originally Posted by username n/a OK, new question. Why are you TV shows so much better than ours? | I wouldn't necessarily say they were - there are still plenty of lemons.
I do think that programming has shifted towards 'lowest common denominator' shows like Talent/Idol/Big Brother etc etc. Back in the day there was some great (if low-budget) drama & some superb documentaries that have now fallen by the wayside.
Thankfully comedy is still buoyant (Gods Bless BBC3 & all who sail in her)... but there's still a bit of a stranglehold from the old guard like Jimmy Perry & David Croft, & the seeming inability to realise that things come to an end - for e.g. 7 series of 'Only Fools & Horses' plus two dire spin-offs and the seemingly perpetual 'Last of the Summer Wine' vs only two series of Fawlty Towers. Even Python went on one series too far.
P.
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09-04-2010, 08:34 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Winnipeg,Siberia | | Quote:
Originally Posted by username n/a OK, new question. Why are you TV shows so much better than ours? | i believe it's the hollyweird star system.....brit actors seem to be less inclined to view productions as showcase vehicles for their own career goals,even if the part casts them in a bad light,they seem to just soldier on.....hollywood players with enough clout will have scripts rewritten to enhance their images,often at the expense of the project.....movies like "the player"have even been made about that particular custom....
as well state funding,and state tv stations,(at least they used to) ensure that more highbrow programs will air and find audiences.....
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Last edited by Jim Campbell : 09-04-2010 at 08:53 PM.
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09-04-2010, 08:35 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Minneapolis | | | Because Brits know when to wrap it up before it goes into open-ended b.s. Therefore, their shows are superior.
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09-04-2010, 08:58 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Winnipeg,Siberia | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Deathblade Eric I wouldn't necessarily say they were - there are still plenty of lemons.
I do think that programming has shifted towards 'lowest common denominator' shows like Talent/Idol/Big Brother etc etc. Back in the day there was some great (if low-budget) drama & some superb documentaries that have now fallen by the wayside.
Thankfully comedy is still buoyant (Gods Bless BBC3 & all who sail in her)... but there's still a bit of a stranglehold from the old guard like Jimmy Perry & David Croft, & the seeming inability to realise that things come to an end - for e.g. 7 series of 'Only Fools & Horses' plus two dire spin-offs and the seemingly perpetual 'Last of the Summer Wine' vs only two series of Fawlty Towers. Even Python went on one series too far.
P. | it's very hard to imagine something like "the prisoner",or python being successfully pitched here,or i claudius type dramas.....a lot of the pbs type stuff seems to be co-produced with the brits,and i know " the tudors" is a canook/brit co-production
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09-04-2010, 09:35 PM
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09-04-2010, 10:09 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Kolkata (Calcutta), India | | Quote:
Originally Posted by colcifer Why are television series so short in Britain? An American television season (what we call a series) tends to have 20+ episodes while yours have closer to ten.
| Meh. Many of our (rather intolerable) soaps have upwards of a 1000 episodes  This one, for example, had 1830.
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09-05-2010, 03:26 AM
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Originally Posted by chrisisnotevil Fewer advert breaks? | +1. I watched Flash Forward series and counldnt believe how many ads there were. I know its sad but I timed them. 8 mins of program to 5 mins of ads inbetween! I sky+ it and forwarded through the crap.
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09-05-2010, 04:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Jim Campbell it's very hard to imagine something like "the prisoner",or python being successfully pitched here,or i claudius type dramas.....a lot of the pbs type stuff seems to be co-produced with the brits,and i know " the tudors" is a canook/brit co-production | But there is a US re-make of The Prisoner. Utterly horrendous.
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09-05-2010, 05:40 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Edinburgh & Dundee, Scotland | | Quote:
Originally Posted by champbassist Meh. Many of our (rather intolerable) soaps have upwards of a 1000 episodes This one, for example, had 1830. | We have that over here too . . .
Eastenders - 4064 episodes
Emerdale - 5700 episodes
Coronation Street - 7416 episodes
(wikipedia)
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Last edited by i_got_a_mohawk : 09-05-2010 at 06:14 AM.
Reason: (numbers were the wrong way around)
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09-05-2010, 05:47 AM
| | | | I still cant believe they dropped flash forward! Over here it would have been shorter, and therefor less dragged out and would have been less expensive to make, making it more likely to get a second series.
Gavin and stacey was cancelled after its third series when it was a massive success for various reasons, all of them creative by the sound of it, like giving up when ahead, and wanting to be known for more than just one show. Better than milking it for another 3 average series... |
09-05-2010, 10:02 AM
|  | Friends, Romans, Bass Players... | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Spencer, MA, USA | | | I remember several years ago talking to a Brit couple on holiday (as they call vacation) visiting a local festival. I told them how much I enjoyed British comedies like Are You Being Served and As Time Goes By. I was surprised when they told me they much preferred American comedies like Seinfeld and Friends, saying they found American comedies more sophisticated than British comedies.
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09-05-2010, 10:25 PM
|  | *******er Emeritus(does anyone remember that? No?) | | Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Houston, Texas | | Quote:
Originally Posted by bassybill On BBC channels, of course - no advertising. So the difference is even greater. |
That's why I buy DVDs of Top Gear instead of catching it on BBC America...they cut out a good portion for commercials. Same goes for any programming on BBC America.
Can't say I watch too much of that station anyway...I'm not exactly a huge fan of the "Cash In The Attic" marathons which they seem to run weekly, or Footballers Wives. 
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09-05-2010, 11:37 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Kolkata (Calcutta), India | | Quote:
Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk We have that over here too . . .
Eastenders - 4064 episodes
Emerdale - 5700 episodes
Coronation Street - 7416 episodes
(wikipedia) | YEEEOWCH. But I bet they aren't as painful to watch 
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Originally Posted by elavate7 people walk up to me and say "play some Joni hindrix" | Acoustic Bass Club #128, Zoom Owners' Club Founder, Vegetarian Club #54
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09-05-2010, 11:54 PM
| | No need to ask, he's a smooth... Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Midlands UK | | Quote:
Originally Posted by champbassist YEEEOWCH. But I bet they aren't as painful to watch | Oh yes they are. Total garbage.
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Originally Posted by SBassman | |
09-06-2010, 02:05 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: QLD, Australia | | Quote:
Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk We have that over here too . . .
Eastenders - 4064 episodes
Emerdale - 5700 episodes
Coronation Street - 7416 episodes
(wikipedia) | Yeah I was going to say, Neighbours just topped 6000, and Home and Away has 5155 according to Wiki.
Some of the characters have been the same since the beginning in the mid 80's 
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