# British TV Shows That Have Been Popular In The U.S **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2023, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018 "2023-01-11T08:35:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Jakey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@Jakey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jakey)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/201 "2023-01-17T09:55:40Z")
Just remembered one which I think was on Channel 31 - Sandbaggers brilliant Cold War spy series. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/202 "2023-01-17T10:17:27Z")
Oh, that’s what it was called! My brother used to love that show, but I got it confused with the Harold Robbins salacious _Carpetbaggers_. Now that makes much more sense. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/203 "2023-01-17T11:11:55Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Nitpick: it was Simon Cadell, who sadly died too young, and after (I think) a rather shorter run. Barry Howard played the camp (in both senses) ballroom dancer. Thank you, I have no idea how I could have gotten that so wrong. Yes, it was Simon Cadell, whose name now that I you mention it I instantly recognize. And you’re also right that it was a shorter run than seasons 1-7; according to Wikipedia, it was seasons 1-5. What on earth was I thinking??? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/204 "2023-01-17T11:14:08Z")
Can’t remember everything! ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/205 "2023-01-17T16:52:54Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Much of this same cohort also enjoyed _A Bit of Fry and Laurie_ _Alas Smith and Jones_ was another good sketch comedy duo that we got in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/206 "2023-01-17T17:25:44Z")
> **[Sitcom On PBS Assumed To Be Intellectual](https://www.theonion.com/sitcom-on-pbs-assumed-to-be-intellectual-1819565523)** > > SALINAS, CA–Assuming the program to be an intellectually enriching treasure trove of highbrow delights, PBS viewer Ross Waymer immersed himself Monday in the BBC sitcom I Dare Say, Mr. Pumsby! "It's a biting, incisive satire of the British class... ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/207 "2023-01-17T19:29:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Are you suggesting Martin Landau and Barbara Bain were wooden? 🤨 Having seen and enjoyed them on _Mission Impossible_ I assume they were directed that way on Space 1999. Miss Bain, you are smiling again! Cut it out this instant! Spider Robinson’s review of the show in Galaxy was a classic. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/208 "2023-01-18T01:46:14Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Spider Robinson’s review of the show in Galaxy was a classic. Link, please? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/209 "2023-01-18T01:53:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Link, pleas The best I can find is a mention at the very bottom of a bunch of reviews of it by Baird Searles in his F&SF column. It gives the issue the review was in. I don’t know if his book reviews ever got collected. They’re pretty good. [https://catacombs.space1999.net/press/wrefpmfsf.html](https://catacombs.space1999.net/press/wrefpmfsf.html) I have the paper copy, of course. Part of my complete run of Galaxy. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/210 "2023-01-18T02:05:19Z")
I remember Cleveland Amory’s review of _ **Space: 1999** _ in _ **TV Guide** _. To the best of my recollection: _When we finished wrestling the press kit to the ground, the headlines screamed “The biggest budget for an ITC series ever committed.”_ _They were right. This series wasn’t produced; it was committed, like a crime._ ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/211 "2023-01-18T06:07:11Z")
The footnote was not the issue I was thinking of - it was March 1976, Vol 37 No. 3. Some excerpts: "The scriptwriter is George Bellak, whose only qualification for writing seems to consist of having seen _2001_ with cotton in his ears. “Co-stars Landau and Bain looked like they’d be real handy this winter, cut down to stove length and split.” (So I’m not alone.) “I can’t bear to describe the premise for the series - if you’re the hypothetical innocent … go find an sf fan, ask him, and then wait until he stops laughing. Bring a lunch.” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/212 "2023-01-18T07:03:36Z")
This show aired on Chicago PBS back in the late 70’s: [The Goodies opening titles #2 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yZditlCybA) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/213 "2023-01-18T08:03:17Z")
We got the Goodies around the same time in LA. Not a bad show, but I think most of us were expecting Python and felt we got the Monkees. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2023, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018/214 "2023-01-18T08:04:56Z")
This way, I got the Monkees _and_ Python. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-tv-shows-that-have-been-popular-in-the-u-s/978018.md?page=10)