American shows that made it in the UK--or didn't

[Wendell_Wagner]

Oh, and to mention a couple of British hosts who used to do American talk shows, Craig Ferguson and Piers Morgan.

[Banksiaman]

@Wendell_Wagner

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.

I doubt that Game shows travelled well. Australia was a dumping ground for both British and US televisual brilliance, and the contrast in game shows was very stark. Brits were still vying to win word games for a tin of lard or an orange, while vast American women made random selections to win a New CAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!!

[Little_Nemo]

@terentii

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.

I remember Carson saying that when he took a vacation he would travel to Europe because he was unknown there and could walk around in public without being recognized.

[Wendell_Wagner]

The show on which (mostly) women would win a new car (on rare occasions) wasn’t a game show at all. It was The Oprah Winfrey Show. Sometimes she would give everyone in the audience a gift. A few times it was an expensive gift like a car. It is true though that prizes on American game shows are considerably larger than on British shows. Look at it this way. The American population is five times as large as the British population. Assuming that an American show has an audience five times as large as a British show, the prizes can be five times as large.

[SanVito]

@Wendell_Wagner

Glee, you say that Graham Norton dominates the British talk show market (where those shows are called, yeah, I know, chat shows). But in the U.S. there’s a huge number of talk shows. There are the shows hosted by Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien, Samantha Bee, James Corden, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, and Trevor Noah, just to confine myself to the evening and night ones. The U.S. needs so many of these shows that it has to steal hosts from other countries - Corden and Oliver from the U.K., Bee from Canada, and Noah from South Africa. Graham Norton’s and Jonathan Ross’s shows also are available on American channels.

Well, talk shows are cheap television - get a studio, and a host, and the guests rock up for free. An easy way to fill the schedules.

But in the UK, the combination of our main broadcaster (the BBC) having to follow strict guidelines on the balance of its programming (eg, making so much original drama etc), plus the downturn in broadcast advertising revenues for the other channels, mean British TV companies have gone hell for leather into making programmes they can sell overseas - original drama, original reality TV ideas (eg Great British Bake off, Ramseys’ Kitchen Nightmares, Masterchef), original entertainment formats (eg X Factor, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Pop Idol). I doubt many overseas channels would be that interested in multiple British chat shows.

[glee]

@Wendell_Wagner

Glee, you say that Graham Norton dominates the British talk show market (where those shows are called, yeah, I know, chat shows). But in the U.S. there’s a huge number of talk shows. There are the shows hosted by Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O’Brien, Samantha Bee, James Corden, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, and Trevor Noah, just to confine myself to the evening and night ones. The U.S. needs so many of these shows that it has to steal hosts from other countries - Corden and Oliver from the U.K., Bee from Canada, and Noah from South Africa. Graham Norton’s and Jonathan Ross’s shows also are available on American channels.

Over the last 50 years there have only been a few famous talk shows in the UK.

Simon Dee was briefly huge in the 60s;
Michael Parkinson ran from 1971 - 2007 (and this fantastic collaboration between Yehudi Menuhin and Stephane Grappelli was arranged by Parkinson);
Graham Norton from 2007 - present.

Yes, there are other talk shows (e.g. ‘Alan Davies in As yet untitled’), but the three above totally dominated.

[Dave.B]

Some US TV shows I have enjoyed in the UK over the years, in no particular order:
ER
NYPD Blue
Murder One
MAS*H
Boston Legal
The West Wing
Cheers
Frasier
Seinfeld
Star Trek: TNG, DS9, VOY & TOS
Friends
Happy Days
The Simpsons
Family Guy
American Dad
Southpark
Futurama
Midnight Caller
Knight Rider
Streethawk
Airwolf
The A-Team
Police Squad!
Babylon 5
The X-Files
Macgyver

Some are more popular than others. I’m a big fan of Seinfeld for instance, but most people just glaze over if I start talking about Kramer’s antics or Elaine’s dancing.

[Dave.B]

@glee

Over the last 50 years there have only been a few famous talk shows in the UK.

Simon Dee was briefly huge in the 60s;
Michael Parkinson ran from 1971 - 2007 (and this fantastic collaboration between Yehudi Menuhin and Stephane Grappelli was arranged by Parkinson);
Graham Norton from 2007 - present.

Yes, there are other talk shows (e.g. ‘Alan Davies in As yet untitled’), but the three above totally dominated.

Don’t forget Terry Wogan.

[Gyrate]

@glee

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!

Hell, Channel 5 USA shows L&O and NCIS shows on pretty much constant loops. Turn it on any evening between 8pm and 1am and you’ll hit one of them.

@glee

Graham Norton on the BBC dominates the UK talk show.

Occasionally others pop up, but there just doesn’t seem to be the demand. Light entertainment of other sorts seems to fill the same gap (see Ant & Dec’s various offerings, back before Ant had his little problems).

@Baron_Greenback

Soap, Married with Children

There was briefly a UK remake of “Married with Children” called “Married for Life”, starring Russ Abbot. I like Russ Abbot but it really didn’t work.

@Wendell_Wagner

Oh, and to mention a couple of British hosts who used to do American talk shows, Craig Ferguson and Piers Morgan.

When you’re done with Piers Morgan you are not allowed to send him back to the UK. Find another country that will take him. Vanuatu, maybe, or Swaziland.

[terentii]

@Gyrate

There was briefly a UK remake of “Married with Children” called “Married for Life”, starring Russ Abbot. I like Russ Abbot but it really didn’t work.

It couldn’t have been worse than the Russian remake, Happy Together. Yeccch!

[terentii]

The abovementioned Midnight Caller was a good show. It deserved a much longer run than it had.

Which (going way back) reminds me of Paris 7000, in which George Hamilton played a “troubleshooting American diplomat” in the French capital. Does anyone aside from me remember this series?

[terentii]

@Wendell_Wagner

The show on which (mostly) women would win a new car (on rare occasions) wasn’t a game show at all. It was The Oprah Winfrey Show. Sometimes she would give everyone in the audience a gift. A few times it was an expensive gift like a car. It is true though that prizes on American game shows are considerably larger than on British shows. Look at it this way. The American population is five times as large as the British population. Assuming that an American show has an audience five times as large as a British show, the prizes can be five times as large.

It’s never mentioned that these lucky people will now have to pay taxes on whatever they win, which they usually can *not *afford!

[Dewey_Finn]

@Wendell_Wagner

The show on which (mostly) women would win a new car (on rare occasions) wasn’t a game show at all.

Several games shows (The Price is Right, Let’s Make a Deal, Wheel of Fortune) have cars as prizes in almost every episode.

[Asympotically_fat]

Seinfeld and The Wire were broadcast in the graveyard slots on terrestrial UK TV, though they’re both regarded as cult classics.

[Asympotically_fat]

Like a lot of live or almost live TV shows, Saturday Night Live never had huge exposure in the UK, but it is still well-known for its alumni.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

The Simpsons did well enough to have been the centrepiece of SkyTV’s* marketing plan in the very early '90s. I learned enough about American history from the show (e.g., who shot Lincoln) to get the highest score on a first-day test given by my American History teacher about a week after I moved to the US. Though that may say more about the quality of Florida schools than it does about the historical content of the show.

The World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) was nearly as big in the UK as it was in the US in the early-to-mid-90s. Monday Night Raw was another one of Sky’s big draws. WCW was shown over-the-air on “free TV,” but only on a weekend morning slot, and at the time it was a regional promotion in the US too.

Indycar/CART was very popular in the early 90s, though primarily due to Nigel Mansell’s 1993 run. It was never close to knocking off Formula 1 or anything, but it still did relatively well.

Nobody really watched US sports otherwise, except for the Superbowl. The problem with the NFL was that the rules are byzantine and there was really no way for adults to learn them before the Internet; my generation learned by playing *Madden *(or in my case, Joe Montana Football).

I distinctly remember having friends who had to rush home and watch Frasier when I was about 12, or in 1994.

*Sky is a UK-based subscription satellite broadcaster. In the 90s it was basically the only way to get channels other than the Big Four over-the-air broadcasts (BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4). I’m not sure what percentage of homes were Sky subscribers, but I imagine they didn’t have more than a marginal share until they got the exclusive rights to Premiership football sometime around 1993-1994.

[ElvisL1ves]

I’ve been told by a Brit that “Jerry Springer” was pretty popular there.

[SanVito]

@Gyrate

When you’re done with Piers Morgan you are not allowed to send him back to the UK. Find another country that will take him. Vanuatu, maybe, or Swaziland.

Haven’t you heard? He’s back! Doing Good Morning Britain, or Good Afternoon, or somesuch daytime nonsense.

[SanVito]

@ElvisL1ves

I’ve been told by a Brit that “Jerry Springer” was pretty popular there.

In more of a cult than mass appeal kinda way, I’d say. Most people would have heard of it, far less watched it.

[Dave.B]

@SanVito

In more of a cult than mass appeal kinda way, I’d say. Most people would have heard of it, far less watched it.

I don’t know, I seem to remember it being very popular. Not my cup of tea though. The format was borrowed by Jeremy Kyle, which is apparently very successful, or so I’m told. I can’t stand watching that show.