When I watch British TV shows or read British magazines, I’ll sometimes notice mentions of American TV shows. For example, “Are You Being Served” referenced Dallas and Columbo, while an interview with Noel Gallagher he compared his family to the Beverly Hillbillies. What American shows were big enough hits in the UK to be reference points to the person on the street, then or now? Conversely, which American shows bombed in the UK and are only known by mentions on other American shows?
Friends was a big hit.
Star Trek was a refuge for many nerds in England and America.
When I was in high school (1972), we had a guest speaker from BBC TV who told us the original Hawaii Five-O failed miserably in Britain. “Audiences absolutely *hated *it!” she said.
I was quite surprised because I thought the exotic locale would be of great interest to UKers.
The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was also aired in Britain for a brief spell in the '70s and apparently did not go over well there either.
ISTR reading that the 1966 “Batman” was a huge hit.
When I lived in Britain in the mid-70s, shows like Starsky and Hutch and Police Woman were immensely popular, for reasons that escape me. The father of my Scottish pen-pal never missed an episode of the latter. I think he had a real thing for Angie Dickenson.
I was in London with my family the summer of the “Who Shot J.R.?” craze and everyone was asking us about that. (They were some episodes behind the US airing.)
And from watching things like The Graham Norton Show, I get the impression that Frasier and The West Wing were popular over there.
Mistake
This is what I’m asking for. Kids care even less what they are interesting, and he’s old. How dow we show we are the same assholes they want?
Here’s a list of some American TV shows that were popular in the U.K.:
http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/03/10-american-tv-shows-that-were-huge-in-britain
Here’s a list of American shows that were surprisingly popular in the U.K.:
http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/03/five-u-s-tv-shows-that-have-a-surprising-uk-fanbase
Here’s a website where some Brits list American shows they personally remember as being popular:
Here’s a list of American shows that were popular in various countries:
This is wandering off the topic a little bit, but this is a list of things that Brits think about the U.S. based on the American TV shows they watch. Some of them strike me as genuine differences between British and American culture. Others strike me as the things that happen a lot of American TV shows although they aren’t actually that common in the U.S.:
What is hip now. I have daughters who be!I’ve they are hip, but they know where hip, as snarky but factual, resides. Cecil did this, and we need to try. I would share the responsibility.
Reading that list of what was popular in the UK brought back some memories. I remember the kids at the children’s home where a friend of mine worked were hooked on The Six Million Dollar Man (emphasis on the word “dollar”). They also liked Star Trek (I donated a set of the original *Enterprise *blueprints to them before I left Brighton).
I once mentioned lollipops (suckers) to my Scottish pen-pal, and at first she thought I was talking about ice lollies (popsicles). Then she said “Oh, you mean like Kojak eats?”
[Moderating]
dropzone, is there something going on on your end? I’m seeing a lot of nonsensical posts from you last night.
Probably celebrating the holiday(s). The same thing’s happened with me several times. I’ve made a number of posts when I was thoroughly inebriated. They were often better than ones I’ve written sober. :o
When I was sober. I do nonsense. Sense, not so much. How long have you known me?
Dallas was huge for a time. The “Who Shot JR?” stuff made national headlines.
Frasier still runs daily at 9am on Channel 4, and has done seemingly forever. 
It had a prestigious Friday evening slot when first broadcast.
Law and Order and CSI Vegas were not only popular, but are still being shown.
( think three UK channels are showing a Law and Order episode today!
Most of the things mentioned as being popular in the U.K. are shows that did well in the U.S. too. The only one mentioned as doing well in the U.S. but poorly in the U.K. is Hawaii Five-O (the original 1968-1980 one). Did any other American TV show do well in the U.S. but poorly in the U.K.? I presume there are shows that are popular in the U.S., although no network even tried to show them in the U.K. For instance, from Googling I have been able to find out that Stephen Colbert’s, Jimmy Fallon’s, Conan O’Brien’s, and Jimmy Kimmel’s talk shows aren’t shown at all in the U.K. Perhaps the feeling is that it’s too hard for non-Americans to understand American talk shows. However, James Corden’s, Seth Meyers’, John Oliver’s, and Trevor Noah’s shows are shown in the U.K., so who knows?
It must have done OK, because the theme music is instantly recognisable to British people who were around at the time.
The theme may have been popular; the show was not (though it was parodied on Eric Idle’s Rutland Weekend TV). I’m willing to bet the version of the theme most people knew worldwide was the one by The Ventures:
Graham Norton on the BBC dominates the UK talk show.