How much British TV is shown in the US?

[anotherguyTN]

Remember, "PBS" really stands for "Primarily British Shows".

...baloney. It stands for "Petroleum Broadcasting Service"...

Maybe that explains why they're so oily!

 

[anotherguyTN]

...in the 1960s, you could find several British productions on the major networks -- The Saint on NBC, The Avengers and This is Tom Jones on ABC, Danger Man/Secret Agent and The Prisoner on CBS. I think the last time any of the networks ran a British-produced series in prime time was The Six Wives of Henry VIII on CBS and Alistair Cooke's America on NBC, both circa 1971. CBC has run the recent seasons of Doctor Who in Canada, but as far as the Stateside commercial networks, forget it...

This made me think, wasn't there a comedy show with Marty Feldman that was possibly a summer replacement on US TV some time in the 70's, probably at about the same time that he was starting to be in American movies? I vaguely remember seeing it a time or two. Also, wasn't Monty Python shown at some time on ABC late night in the 70's?

 

[Ultimajock]

...in the 1960s, you could find several British productions on the major networks -- The Saint on NBC, The Avengers and This is Tom Jones on ABC, Danger Man/Secret Agent and The Prisoner on CBS. I think the last time any of the networks ran a British-produced series in prime time was The Six Wives of Henry VIII on CBS and Alistair Cooke's America on NBC, both circa 1971. CBC has run the recent seasons of Doctor Who in Canada, but as far as the Stateside commercial networks, forget it...

This made me think, wasn't there a comedy show with Marty Feldman that was possibly a summer replacement on US TV some time in the 70's, probably at about the same time that he was starting to be in American movies? I vaguely remember seeing it a time or two. Also, wasn't Monty Python shown at some time on ABC late night in the 70's?

...ABC ran The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine, a co-production with ATV, in 1971. Both Dean Martin's ComedyWorld on NBC and ABC's Wide World of Entertainment ran edited versions of sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus in 1974; the Pythons sharply complained of the editing jobs done on the sketches...

 

[Dave Andrews]

In the mid-1970s PBS ran a teen-themed Britcom called "No, Honestly!" that had a catchy opening theme. also, in the early part of the decade ABC had The Doubledeckers on Saturday mornings. wish they'd bring that one back.

When I was stationed in Chinhae we got Hong Kong's Star Plus (later Star World) on our cable. I got to see many British and Aussie shows (Bergerac, And Mother Makes 5, Heartbeat, Snowy River: The MacGregor Saga, The Crystal Maze, Home And Away and others) and I was blessed to have a TV in the barracks with a built-in VCR and blank T-120s at the AAFES for $1.99. Ahh, sweet memories.

 

[Ultimajock]

In the mid-1970s PBS ran a teen-themed Britcom called "No, Honestly!" that had a catchy opening theme.

...No, Honestly! was not a PBS offering; it was a London Weekend sitcom offered in standard syndication in the United States and carried on some Public TV stations (WMVS/10 Milwaukee being one of them) due to its co-stars, John Alderton and Pauline Collins, also being regulars on Upstairs Downstairs, which itself was a PBS offering (through Masterpiece Theater). Same went for Dave Allen at Large; although some PBS affiliates ran the series (WTTW/11 Chicago and WHA-TV/21 Madison among them), it was a general syndication title in the States and seen on several commercial stations as well (WVTV/18 Milwaukee and WUTV/29 Buffalo among them IIRC)...

 

[Dave Andrews]

In the mid-1970s PBS ran a teen-themed Britcom called "No, Honestly!" that had a catchy opening theme.

...No, Honestly! was not a PBS offering; it was a London Weekend sitcom offered in standard syndication in the United States and carried on some Public TV stations (WMVS/10 Milwaukee being one of them) due to its co-stars, John Alderton and Pauline Collins, also being regulars on Upstairs Downstairs, which itself was a PBS offering (through Masterpiece Theater). Same went for Dave Allen at Large; although some PBS affiliates ran the series (WTTW/11 Chicago and WHA-TV/21 Madison among them), it was a general syndication title in the States and seen on several commercial stations as well (WVTV/18 Milwaukee and WUTV/29 Buffalo among them IIRC)...

My bad. Thanks for clearing that up. I thought it was a PBS offering because it was carried on KCET/28 Los Angeles.

 

[CrankyYankee]

Vermont Public Television has added two 'new' BritComs of late. "Black Books" about an odd bookstore owner and his friends. The other is "Outnumbered" about a family with precocious children. VPT is also currently running "The Thin Blue Line" as well.

 

[desertv]

There are US shows produced by UK companies, Hell's Kitchen by ITV, and Dancing With The Stars and the US version of Top Gear, produced by the BBC.

 

[azumanga]

In the mid-1970s PBS ran a teen-themed Britcom called "No, Honestly!" that had a catchy opening theme.

...No, Honestly! was not a PBS offering; it was a London Weekend sitcom offered in standard syndication in the United States and carried on some Public TV stations (WMVS/10 Milwaukee being one of them) due to its co-stars, John Alderton and Pauline Collins, also being regulars on Upstairs Downstairs, which itself was a PBS offering (through Masterpiece Theater).

I recall seeing this series on WEDU in Tampa Bay around 1981 or 1982, long after "Upstairs, Downstairs" was off the air.

The opening theme was by Lyndsey DePaul, who was a successful performing artist in the UK in the 1970s -- the theme peaked at #7 on the UK charts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz06eCFF-oI&list=PL2A8AD85586CF70F6&index=147&feature=plpp_video

 

[Ultimajock]

In the mid-1970s PBS ran a teen-themed Britcom called "No, Honestly!" that had a catchy opening theme.

...No, Honestly! was not a PBS offering; it was a London Weekend sitcom offered in standard syndication in the United States and carried on some Public TV stations (WMVS/10 Milwaukee being one of them) due to its co-stars, John Alderton and Pauline Collins, also being regulars on Upstairs Downstairs, which itself was a PBS offering (through Masterpiece Theater).

I recall seeing this series on WEDU in Tampa Bay around 1981 or 1982, long after "Upstairs, Downstairs" was off the air.

...No, Honestly! was produced in 1974, broadcast by ITV in the UK that year, and syndicated in the United States the following year; WMVS ran the show during the 1975-76 season...

 

[FreddyE1977]

I just recalled a BBC childrens program which ran here.
It was called Vision On. It was geared towards deaf children.
WPXI-TV 11 in Pittsburgh ran it Saturday mornings. As a public
service they said.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Our local PBS station (and many others) run older British Sitcoms (or "Britcoms" as they like to call them)
such as Keeping Up Appearances, Waiting for God and Are You Being Served?

And sporadically a classic like Monty Python, Black Adder, Mr. Bean or Fawlty Towers will turn up.

University of North Carolina Public TV is currently running "Keeping Up Appearances" and "Yes Minister", and they recently brought back "Are You Being Served? Again!"

I wish they'd bring back Monty Python. They dropped it a while back before they had shown all the episodes. I didn't enjoy or get all the humor, but there was some really good stuff.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Monty Python has been on and off (Currently off) on WKNO in Memphis.

 

[anotherguyTN]

I'm always searching for and finding British TV shows on Netflix (streaming).

I've found Blackadder and Fawlty Towers among others on Netflix streaming. Monty Python and Mr. Bean (Both the live and animated series) were on there at one time, but have been dropped.

I was looking through old threads, and thought I'd update this: Fawlty Towers and Mr. Bean (Both versions) are back on Netflix online. Monty Python is still off though.

I've never understood why Netflix will drop some shows and movies online. A group of James Bond Movies running from the Sean Connery to the Pierce Brosnan eras are back on for now, but they never seem to stay on for long.

 

[FredLeonard]

Some really good and interesting British shows haven't gotten the attention they deserve.

Hustle: Ran on AMC for a while. Then they tried to Americanize it and then dumped it. Picked up recently for later seasons by AXS, Robert Vaughn (Man From Uncle, Magnificent Seven) is one of the stars. If you liked The Sting, you'll love this.

New Tricks: Picked up sporadically by a few public TV stations. Retired cops come back to solve cold cases and have a culture clash with contemporary policing. A cross between Cold Case and Grumpy Old Men.

Eleventh Hour: BBC America did one showing connected to the premiere of the (very inferior) US version. The star of the US version was somebody I'd never heard of. The star of the British version was the captain of the Enterprise-D, and well known to US audiences. Interesting combination of Sci-fi and CSI.

PBS goes for snooty stuff. Really trashy stuff gets attention. Everything else gets ignored.

Meanwhile, Cozi and RTV are both showing Richard Greene in "The Adventures of Robin Hood." It holds up very well. Great writing (blacklisted writers using pseudonyms). Excellent ensemble acting. Good stories. Cheap production but that doesn't seem to matter.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

My girlfriend loves British TV shows, especially "Britcoms" and British mystery series.

I think she wishes her cable TV service had BBC-1, BBC-2, Carlton (weekdays)/LWT (weekends) (the ITV franchisees in London), C4, Five, and BBC News 24.

 

[e-dawg]

Speaking of British programmes........why doesn't the US shows current sitcoms, drama, or series on any US tv stations. As for sitcoms, they should these old sitcoms from the 70's, 80's, and 90's such as Keeping Up Appearance, Are You Being Serve?, Waiting For God, Mr. Bean etc.... Also, why don't they show the UK version of Survivor, Come Dancing, Big Brother (UK), Law & Order (UK), The Apprentice (UK), Top Model (UK), British Got Talent, East Enders, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale, Countdown, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Graham Norton Show, Dr. Who, The Voice (UK), Casualty, Not Going Out, Have I got news for you, Loose Women, Tipping Point, Deal or No Deal (UK), etc.....

 

[Bongwater]

Speaking of British programmes........why doesn't the US shows current sitcoms, drama, or series on any US tv stations. As for sitcoms, they should these old sitcoms from the 70's, 80's, and 90's such as Keeping Up Appearance, Are You Being Serve?, Waiting For God, Mr. Bean etc.... Also, why don't they show the UK version of Survivor, Come Dancing, Big Brother (UK), Law & Order (UK), The Apprentice (UK), Top Model (UK), British Got Talent, East Enders, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale, Countdown, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Graham Norton Show, Dr. Who, The Voice (UK), Casualty, Not Going Out, Have I got news for you, Loose Women, Tipping Point, Deal or No Deal (UK), etc.....

I always thought the UK, Canada and Australia would be great sources for prime time TV network content since American broadcast networks seem to be so tapped out of FRESH ideas.....

 

[Mario500]

I'm always searching for and finding British TV shows on Netflix (streaming).

I've found Blackadder and Fawlty Towers among others on Netflix streaming. Monty Python and Mr. Bean (Both the live and animated series) were on there at one time, but have been dropped.

I was looking through old threads, and thought I'd update this: Fawlty Towers and Mr. Bean (Both versions) are back on Netflix online. Monty Python is still off though.

I've never understood why Netflix will drop some shows and movies online. A group of James Bond Movies running from the Sean Connery to the Pierce Brosnan eras are back on for now, but they never seem to stay on for long.

Programs that were produced on videotape such as "Fawlty Towers" appeared as if they were produced on film while streamed through Netflix. I believe "Fawlty Towers" appears better when displayed at the regular frame rate for videotaped TV programs.

 

[Casey]

Best way to watch BBC shows is through BBC iPlayer. Takes a little effort to access it, but it is definitely the best video service for BBC shows.