{"id":1974,"date":"2014-09-23T15:39:45","date_gmt":"2014-09-23T15:39:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/?p=1974"},"modified":"2014-09-23T15:41:49","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T15:41:49","slug":"is-british-tv-better-than-american-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/2014\/09\/23\/is-british-tv-better-than-american-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Is British TV better than American TV?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you heard about the latest American TV show that everyone is watching? It\u2019s a dark drama about a gruff hero who doesn\u2019t always play by the book but always gets results. Oh, and he\u2019s a murderer. And he doesn\u2019t like jokes.<\/p>\n

Listen: we like American TV as much as the next person. Game of Thrones <\/i>is great. Breaking Bad<\/i> was probably the best show ever made.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s not forget that there are loads of brilliant shows produced on our own shores, most of which are (whisper it) better than a lot of the shows America produces.<\/p>\n

So, dig out your Union Jack, strike up God Save the Queen<\/i> and join us as we discover why British TV might just be better than American TV.<\/p>\n

\n

The British sense of humour<\/h4>\n

\"Utopia\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We love 24<\/i> and Lost<\/i> but wow: they took themselves seriously, didn\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing wrong with being serious, of course. But when a show drags on for a couple of seasons, it helps to have a few laughs thrown in every now and then \u201d\u201c something we in Britain do very well.<\/p>\n

Take Utopia<\/i>, for example. That\u2019s a show about a government conspiracy to more or less kill everyone, and yet it was very funny too thanks to some brilliant writing and comedic timing (reactions to near-death situations were a particular strong point).<\/p>\n

Sherlock<\/i> was the same. It could have been a deadly serious remake of the classic Holmes<\/i> tales, but Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman\u2019s comedic chemistry made the show much more entertaining.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not saying that all American TV shows are humourless; Breaking Bad<\/i> had some very funny moments. We just think Britain does it better. Sorry, America.<\/p>\n

\n

Our actors are better<\/h4>\n

\"Sherlock\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ooh, that\u2019s a bold statement, isn\u2019t it? Especially when actors like Bryan Cranston and Kevin Spacey are sweeping up awards left, right and centre (and everywhere in between).<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s true: our actors are better! Just look at where the stars of recent British hits have ended up: Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman have become mega-stars, starring in major US film franchises, while Idris Elba of Luther <\/i>(and, to be fair, The Wire<\/i>) has been in everything from Prometheus <\/i>to Pacific Rim<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Even American showrunners seem to realise it. Andrew Lincoln, AKA Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead<\/i>, used to be in Channel 4\u2019s Teachers<\/i>. Damien Lewis stole the show in Homeland<\/i>. Ian McShane in Deadwood<\/i>, Kelly MacDonald in Boardwalk Empire<\/i>, Charlie Hunnam in Sons of Anarchy <\/i>\u201d\u201c the list goes on!<\/p>\n

\n

Originality<\/h4>\n

\"Black<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, don\u2019t get us wrong: US TV has produced some very original shows over the years. Breaking Bad<\/i> was a unique idea, while True Blood<\/i> was a bit different too.<\/p>\n

A lot of US TV shows retread old themes and ideas, though. Game of Thrones<\/i>, as much as we love it, is Lord of the Rings<\/i> with more violence and nudity. True Detective<\/i> is A Touch of Frost<\/i> with more philosophy and Matthew McConoughey.<\/p>\n

Compare that to Black Mirror<\/i>, a series of shows about everything from what happens when someone can recall every detail of their life to…erm, the prime minister having relations with a pig. Or Utopia<\/i>, which is about a comic book that hides a deeper Government conspiracy.<\/p>\n

Or, going further back, Spaced<\/i>, which influenced The Big Bang Theory, Family Guy<\/i> and countless other US shows by combining surreal humour with a sitcom format.<\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019s still a lot of unoriginal rubbish on UK screens. But when we hit on an original idea, it\u2019s usually brilliant.<\/p>\n

\n

Share your thoughts with us in the comments!<\/p>\n

And remember, British or not, you can sell your TV boxsets with musicMagpie<\/a> whenever you like, for FREE!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you heard about the latest American TV show that everyone is watching? It\u2019s a dark drama about a gruff hero who doesn\u2019t always play by the book but always gets results. Oh, and he\u2019s a murderer. And he doesn\u2019t like jokes. Listen: we like American TV as much as …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1974"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1982,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974\/revisions\/1982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}