Most popular British TV show in the US, and why?

[Relish in Chaos]

So Black Mirror is going to air a new Christmas special today. In fact, it's going to be shown in an hour's time. (If you don't know what Black Mirror is, just...Wikipedia it; in short, it's a drama series by Charlie Brooker, the inspiration for our very own Yahtzee, that presents cautionary tales, set in the near future, about our ever-growing reliance on technology.)

I am very excited for this for three reasons. One, I don't think I've ever seen anything from Brooker that I haven't liked; he's genuinely my favourite satirist. Two, it's been one of the best-written and thought-provoking series I've seen for a while. And three, it's topical, which would mean nothing all on its own, but the point is that it cuts close to the bone because of how relevant it is and just how realistic the predictions are.

Anyway, enough about that. This isn't a thread about Black Mirror. This is a thread about British TV. Specifically, what do you think is the most popular British TV show in America, and why? To clarify, I'm only talking about TV shows/series, not films ('cos, if that was the case, Harry Potter would probably top the list). A few examples that I thought of included Doctor Who, for its far-reaching appeal to fans of all ages and generations (even those that aren't particularly into sci-fi), and Monty Python, because...well, it's Monty fucking Python. They're legends in the world of comedy.

What are your thoughts?

 

[madwarper]

I suppose it depends on which demographics you're talking about...

Among the demographic that the Escapist is targeting, I'd have no doubt that Monty Python and Doctor Who are leaders.
However, Downton Abbey has been increasingly popular with other demographics.

 

[Queen Michael]

Downton Abbey or Doctor Who, definitely. At least in terms of what people are actually watching the most, as opposed to remembering fondly.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Anyway, enough about that. This isn't a thread about Black Mirror.

It should be. Black Mirror is excellent!

What is this 3 episode season crap though? Come ON Britain. This is getting absurd.

 

[Zontar]

I have to agree with Queen Michael, it's either Downton Abby, which is has a respectable following in the older demographics, or Doctor Who, which has a respectable following in the younger ones. Both are considered mainstream in american television. Can't really say why though, mainly because I don't watch Downton Abby and I can't understand why the yanks suddenly like Doctor Who. Here in Canada we have a long history of importing series from the UK (and also France) but the recent trend of the US doing the same is one I don't really understand.

 

[CommanderZx2]

Anyway, enough about that. This isn't a thread about Black Mirror.

It should be. Black Mirror is excellent!

What is this 3 episode season crap though? Come ON Britain. This is getting absurd.

Better to have few good long episodes per season than 20 episodes in a season where most of them are just filler due to budget.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Downtown Abbey probably has the most consistent American viewership, while Doctor Who has the most pop culture penetration.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of their Sherlock serial (Starring the most britishy named actor in existence, Benedict Cumberbatch) and Top Gear (Which I once read was the most widely watched British TV show of all time, world wide.).

 

[Vigormortis]

Without knowing the actual numbers, I'd assume it's either Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, or Top Gear.

Personally, I'm almost certain it's Top Gear, but I could be wrong.

I tried searching for some hard data on the matter, but came up short.

 

[Relish in Chaos]

I honestly have no idea why Top Gear has such an international appeal. Maybe I just don't have enough testosterone in me to appreciate a dumb car show presented by three middle-aged men trying to be cool, one of which being the contender for Britain's Biggest Wanker (alongside Piers Morgan and Katie Hopkins).

 

[Ambitiousmould]

I honestly have no idea why Top Gear has such an international appeal. Maybe I just don't have enough testosterone in me to appreciate a dumb car show presented by three middle-aged men trying to be cool, one of which being the contender for Britain's Biggest Wanker (alongside Piers Morgan and Katie Hopkins).

I love Top Gear and here's why, maybe it'll help you understand.
Sit and watch it. When you do, don't think about the people outside of the context they are currently in. Think of little else, in fact. Just think of them as 3 daft buggers arsing about, and you might understand. It also helps to not take the thing at all seriously. There are few things in this world more fun than people cocking about. Also the recurring jokes and suchlike help to make it funny to those who regularly watch it.

I'm not saying you will enjoy it. And that's fine, but this might help you understand why "testosterone" doesn't enter into it. And yes, Jeremy is a twat, but he's also a great entertainer and once punched Pierce Morgan, I think the only way he could redeem himself more would be by drowning Nick Clegg in used toilet water.

PS. James May IS cool. He is just a top notch man. Only he could turn "Hello" into a catchphrase.

 

[happyninja42]

I have to agree with Queen Michael, it's either Downton Abby, which is has a respectable following in the older demographics, or Doctor Who, which has a respectable following in the younger ones. Both are considered mainstream in american television. Can't really say why though, mainly because I don't watch Downton Abby and I can't understand why the yanks suddenly like Doctor Who. Here in Canada we have a long history of importing series from the UK (and also France) but the recent trend of the US doing the same is one I don't really understand.

Why don't you understand it? The shows are good right? So why wouldn't we like them? Do you think we're like "Wut? It's not Murican?! Well get it off mah TV!!"

We watch all kinds of stuff from all over the world. If it's good, we watch it, end of story. I don't know why it has to be more complex than that.

Besides, British shows have been on American TV for years in some form or other. I grew up watching plenty of shows that were made in the UK. Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poiroit (I'm sure I'm spelling that wrong), the Horatio Hornblower series, and tons of other stuff. We've kind of had a long history with the Brits you know.

 

[Something Amyss]

Monty Python and Doctor Who both have huge presences in the American cultural perception, but I'm not sure Monty Python's so much popular because of the show, or even the rest of their media (movies, CDs, touring) as they simply are a meme machine. As such, I don't think the show would count as most popular. My bet is on one of the safe guesses from the thread: Doctor Who, Top Gear, Downtown Abbey. Not necessarily in that order.

What is this 3 episode season crap though? Come ON Britain. This is getting absurd.

IKR? That's a pretty grueling schedule. Thay should cut it to two.

Can't really say why though, mainly because I don't watch Downton Abby and I can't understand why the yanks suddenly like Doctor Who. Here in Canada we have a long history of importing series from the UK (and also France) but the recent trend of the US doing the same is one I don't really understand.

Whereas we usually just remake the shows. Actually, it was always amusing seeing American remakes of shows debuting that I'd heard about through references from A Bit of Fry and Laurie a decade earlier.

Don't try and figure out the American audience, though. We get crushes on various concepts. One of our crushes appears to be British programming right now--possibly directly related to the Harry Potter franchise.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I hope Doctor Who continues to be popular (never seen Downtown Abbey, so can't speak to it), but it borders on complete randomness the way we regard shows.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of their Sherlock serial (Starring the most britishy named actor in existence, Benedict Cumberbatch) and Top Gear (Which I once read was the most widely watched British TV show of all time, world wide.).

Top Gear has market penetration in countries that usually don't see a lot of British penetration, so it's unsurprising it's the best rated by sheer volume. Can't stand it myself, but hey. Nobody's asking me to.

I love Sherlock, though.

 

[Something Amyss]

Do you think we're like "Wut? It's not Murican?! Well get it off mah TV!!"

You may jest, but that was the cultural attitude for decades. Most British (and other foreign) TV that was imported here would languish in obscurity (or worse, PBS).

 

[Thaluikhain]

IKR? That's a pretty grueling schedule. Thay should cut it to two.

Seasons 2 and 3 of Hornblower were 2 episodes each.

Don't try and figure out the American audience, though. We get crushes on various concepts. One of our crushes appears to be British programming right now--possibly directly related to the Harry Potter franchise.

Heh, they wanted to have the Harry Potter movies set in the US...yeah...

 

[happyninja42]

Do you think we're like "Wut? It's not Murican?! Well get it off mah TV!!"

You may jest, but that was the cultural attitude for decades. Most British (and other foreign) TV that was imported here would languish in obscurity (or worse, PBS).

I dunno, I remember watching The Young Ones on MTV, Faulty Towers on Comedy Central, and a few others that escape my memory other than vague wisps of things seen on the screen at a young age. So as long as I can remember there was a significant variety of UK stuff to watch, whether people watched it or not is a different matter. The poster I was responding to seemed to think it was some strange thing for the US to be interested in other people's programming, and that's just not the case.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Probably Sherlock. Judging from how many people freak out about it on Facebook, I'd say it's definitely the most popular. Dr. Who has more of a cult following I think. I could be completely wrong though since I don't know the actual numbers.

My favourite British show is probably still Sherlock, even though the third season was fairly mediocre. The second episode especially felt like a fanficiton. I groaned many times during it. Still, I am looking forward to the fourth season.

I've tried to watch Dr. Who on numerous occasions and I just can't really get into it. I managed to watch the first season as well as half of the second one before finally giving up. It's just not for me. I find it hard to feel invested in a show that doesn't have much of an overarching plot.

I do actually like Top Gear quite a bit. To be honest, I'm not even sure why. I mean, I like driving, but I generally don't like watching other people drive. Part probably has to do with the often gorgeous cinematography.

 

[ShogunGino]

IKR? That's a pretty grueling schedule. Thay should cut it to two.

Seasons 2 and 3 of Hornblower were 2 episodes each.

Don't try and figure out the American audience, though. We get crushes on various concepts. One of our crushes appears to be British programming right now--possibly directly related to the Harry Potter franchise.

Heh, they wanted to have the Harry Potter movies set in the US...yeah...

Depends on who you mean by 'they', since I can tell you that if the eternally paranoid studio higher-ups DID force Americanization onto the films, we would be right up there with the Brits in anger, especially since the books had become very popular here. They became popular in part due to the more distinct British feel, a factor that I think contributed to the series' worldwide success. I mean, Japan loves Harry Potter. At that point in its popularity, if they did Americanize the film, we would have felt very patronized. The movie might have made enough money to be a financial success, but it would be Roland Emmerich's Godzilla-successful: a box office hit in terms of sales, but a joke pretty much everywhere else. A sequel may have been attempted, but it's quality would probably vary depended on which direction they chose to take for it.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Depends on who you mean by 'they', since I can tell you that if the eternally paranoid studio higher-ups DID force Americanization onto the films, we would be right up there with the Brits in anger, especially since the books had become very popular here. They became popular in part due to the more distinct British feel, a factor that I think contributed to the series' worldwide success. I mean, Japan loves Harry Potter. At that point in its popularity, if they did Americanize the film, we would have felt very patronized. The movie might have made enough money to be a financial success, but it would be Roland Emmerich's Godzilla-successful: a box office hit in terms of sales, but a joke pretty much everywhere else. A sequel may have been attempted, but it's quality would probably vary depended on which direction they chose to take for it.

Oh sure, would have been a disaster (though part of me wants to see that version), and lots of US fans would be less than pleased.

Probably the success of the books would keep the movies going, though, but nobody would really care.

 

[Something Amyss]

Seasons 2 and 3 of Hornblower were 2 episodes each.

As they should be.

Heh, they wanted to have the Harry Potter movies set in the US...yeah...

That doesn't surprise me. I mean, we can related to wizards, but...BRITS?

I dunno, I remember watching The Young Ones on MTV, Faulty Towers on Comedy Central, and a few others that escape my memory other than vague wisps of things seen on the screen at a young age. So as long as I can remember there was a significant variety of UK stuff to watch, whether people watched it or not is a different matter. The poster I was responding to seemed to think it was some strange thing for the US to be interested in other people's programming, and that's just not the case.

I doubt Fawlty Towers was ever seriously popular on Comedy Central. They also ran the Kids in the Hall like 30 times a day for several years, but it doesn't mean Canadian content is huge on TV, either (Except maybe 80s Nickelodeon). The Young Ones is one I don't know exactly how well it was received. I'm not sure it ever really entered popular culture in the same way as other examples.

British media has always had a niche audience here, but that doesn't necessarily make it popular. I struggle to think of more than a handful British shows that have made it into the US consciousness without a US remake. Even then, you'll often see a hand in it if American networks are interested (Doctor Wh, Ab Fab, etc). For the longest time, British shows were associated with nerds (possibly rightly so), except possibly Ab Fab, which has a huge gay audience. It's not surprising people on The Escapist would know of these shows, but how popular were they beside that?

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

Monty Python and Doctor Who both have huge presences in the American cultural perception, but I'm not sure Monty Python's so much popular because of the show, or even the rest of their media (movies, CDs, touring) as they simply are a meme machine. As such, I don't think the show would count as most popular.

Part of that is generational, I think. I stumbled across an episode of Monty Python in late '85 when I was eight years old (thanks, PBS!). The sketch in particular was the guy who was trying to break world records by jumping the English Channel and eating Chichester Cathedral. My mom saw what was on the TV and urged me to watch the whole thing because I'd love it.

She was right, you know! That one episode started my love affair with Monty Python and everything Britcom. So I grew up watching Blackadder, Fawlty Towers, Mr. Bean (watched every episode the nights they premiered on HBO), Fry and Laurie, AbFab, Vicar of Dibley, Keeping Up Appearances, and Are You Being Served, among many others.

Whereas we usually just remake the shows. Actually, it was always amusing seeing American remakes of shows debuting that I'd heard about through references from A Bit of Fry and Laurie a decade earlier.

And those can be AWFUL! I still remember the train wreck that was the US attempt at Coupling. The Office was equally abysmal at first when they were simply copying the UK episodes. Almost every funny part of the brilliant original was too much for US censors, and so the US version turned out a neutered, unfunny mess. I was shocked that it lasted beyond the first season. Good thing it did too, because it morphed into a genuinely funny series when they ran out of UK source material.

I love Sherlock, though.

That's another good one! I showed my mom a picture of the cast of Trainspotting the other day and she didn't recognize Jonny Lee Miller at all. She also religiously watches Once Upon A Time and didn't recognize Robert Carlyle in the same picture. Strangely, she DID immediately notice Kevin McKidd, and he's the one I think looks the LEAST like he did in Trainspotting. Maybe it's because he's been on US television (Grey's Anatomy) longer than the rest.