An American writer’s view of British TV

18 October 2006 Rob Buckley UK TV, US TV 3 Comments

Ooh. Someone from Madison, Wisconsin’s The Capital Times just got back from her vacation in Europe and found British television “interesting”. Always intrigued to see how others view our tele, but just to clarify once and for all, US readers: Pop Idol was not our idea – it was Australia’s (as was Deal or No Deal). That really shouldn’t be on our shoulders.

Incidentally, could somebody please explain why Americans and Brits alike think Spooks (aka MI-5) is worth watching? 24 has a firmer grip on reality and is a tad more exciting…

UPDATE: Just to prove I shouldn’t write before my third cup of coffee of the morning, my synapses have just kicked in to remind me that I was thinking of Popstars, not Pop Idol, which was indeed a UK original. Popstars was, of course, based on a show from New Zealand, not Australia. Other than that, I was right on the money. But Deal or No Deal is definitely Australian, albeit owned by the Dutch company Endemol.

Author

  • Rob Buckley

    I’m Rob Buckley, a journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of although you might have heard me on the podcast Lockdown Land or Radio 5 Live’s Saturday Edition or Afternoon Edition. I’ve edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for TV producers magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and was regularly sarcastic about television on the blink-and-you-missed-it “web site for urban hedonists” The Tribe. Since going freelance, I've contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly, Action Network, TV Scoop and The Custard TV.

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