What riles me most on UK TV, is that if ANYTHING shows even a faint glimmer of success with the audience, suddenly there's eighteen slightly varied version of that same show on every damned channel. Especially when it comes to shows about gardens, antiques, car boot sales, house improvement, or property buying and selling.
Just as an example, starting at 10am tomorrow
BBC1, Homes under the hammer - House sales
then Cowboy Trap - about dodgy builders etc.
then To buy or Not to Buy - house sales.
then Bargain Hunt - going to junk sales and selling the crap as 'antiques'
The last one especially, there's at least a dozen variation or outright clones of this damn show.
Still,can always change channel....how about 4?
9:30am Coach Trip - reality show where couple are put on a coach and toured around Europe and vote couples off each day while complaining as only British people given a free foreign holiday can.
10am Coach Trip
1030 Coach Trip
11am Coach Trip
1130 Coach Trip
12pm A place in the sun - combines crappy holiday show with crappy property show.
About half of the daytime schedule is these shows mixed up with crappy soaps and the news, until around 4pm when the kids TV starts, and some intellectual programming and finally be shown, explaining about the number 3 and the letter C.
I remember in the 80s and 90s people used to complain about too many sitcoms, game shows and repeats. I'd love more sitcoms, gameshows and repeats, instead of this absolute balls about buying a plate for 7 quid and selling it for 9 quid and leaping up and down with excitement because you made 2 quid.
Trouble is, sitcoms need writers and actors. Any fuckwit can hold a camera, go to a car boot sale and point it at some freaks, but I thought we'd moved on a society from just staring at the weirdos, then I remember X Factor is the most popular show in the country, until week 2 when they've weeded out the nutters.
All we've really done is found a way to justify freakshows, by making it a documentary.
Example:
I'd say 'sorry for the length' but I feel I restrained myself hugely and could have quite happily bitched for another 50 pages about the state of TV today. The BBC needs to be more like the Queen, stop pandering for public approval, go 'fuck you all, we've got your money' and make the shows it's GOOD at making, instead of trying to beat ITV at creating a tidal wave of moronic shit. BBC, you don't HAVE to beat ITV in terms of audiences, you need to beat them in terms of quality, and a monkey with a box on its head could manage that.
Definately ignore anything the papers print, they all want the BBC dead anyway, so they're not going to give you any useful feedback, look at your successes instead. Btw, Mock the Week, not a success despite being a bit 'edgy' in its humour, but BECAUSE of that, learn when to defend your shows and talent.
Ross didn't need to go over that phone call either, should have just given him a pay cut to shut up the countrywide whining.
