h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If we're on to flogging dead territory then the worst are Allo Allo which actualy ran for longer then the Second World war and had only two jokes that it knicked from Fawlty Towers anyway. The other main offender being The X-Files.

one love

They dubbed Amelie? That's just so stupid. The film is perfect in French. Even if you don't speak it.

Incidentally, the subtitles on Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon appear to tell a different story to the actors. Who decides to do things like that and why?

Here's some questions I thought I'd address to this thread.

Can anyone tell me: what *IS* BBC America?

Is it a part of the BBC? Is it an American company that has licenced the BBC name? How much money does the BBC make of selling its programming to US outlets? And how does that compare to how much the take in from the fees UK residents pay to have TV? How has the increased sales of BBC programming to the American market affected BBC programming? Are they making programing, now with an eye toward selling it to Americans?

I watch very little TV but I have seen a few shows on BBCA.

We have BBC Canada, BBC World, BBC Canada News, and BBC Kids. All of which seem to be licensed outlets for mostly BBC product although BBC Canada seems to include Canadian programming that has been sold to the BBC in the past. Don't ask me why. I find the news to be no where near as good as the British BBC news, it seems to have excellent stories but the studio desk people (we call them anchors) are quite amateur by comparison. None of the programming is current but it seems to be newer than what the Beeb sells to PBS or CBC for instance. As far as I know it is entirely run by the BBC but not your domestic branch, some is BBC International and some is out of this country.

As to the US version I couldn't say but the BBC International stuff seems the same.

All those historical dramas set in castles and country houses, those are aimed at the foriegn market surely. I hate them.

I will forgive you for calling me Shirley but not for besmirching *Upstairs, Downstairs*.

I agree some can be a bit much but I'm sure the Beeb makes a nice profit from US sales. The point is they do it *well* though.

R.A. Heinlein said, 'Ninety five percent of science fiction is rubbish.'
He also said, 'Ninety five percent of everything is rubbish.'

I think that 95% of television, be it English or American, is rubbish.

However, I do like the Simpsons, Hank Azaria especially I think is very funny.

but do they have to do it to the exclusion of almost all other serious drama

this from the company who gave us Play for Today

Does the drama about Boudicca we saw last year count? Surely not, no castles... But it was *awesome*

Was that the blue babe with the chariot with blades on the wheels?

Missed that one but it was here.

stuff about real history I can cope with
I can even cope with the country house stuff when its well done but there is too much of it and TV drama in the UK seems to steer away from contraversial stuff most of the time nowadays
the BBC is the best we have now channel 4 seems content to just import U.S. drama

The very same... The drama starred Alex Kingston, former wife of Ralph Fiennes (I think it's him) and was truly gripping. I can't remember the title of it, though..