# Non-American TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2006, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628 "2006-02-22T15:01:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/1 "2006-02-22T15:01:46Z")
Recently, my wife and I discovered that our local PBS station is showing a BBC police drama on Saturday nights called [New Tricks](http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/newtricks/). It’s a good show and we’ve been enjoying it. But it made me realise how little programming from other countries we get here in America. Mostly it’s the Britcoms. And as much as I enjoy the Britcoms, I’m wondering what else is out there that I’m missing. Reading the thread about “Life on Mars” has me even more curious. We don’t even get BBC America in our house. Aside from the occasional British drama (like “Cracker”) or Canadian show that leaks across the boarder, I can’t think of anything. So, Dopers in other countries, what’s good? What do you watch that’s not American programming or British Sitcoms? It doesn’t even have to be english language. I’d just like to know what’s out there, and what’s good. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/2 "2006-02-22T15:11:21Z")
> [@Trion](#): > > Recently, my wife and I discovered that our local PBS station is showing a BBC police drama on Saturday nights called [New Tricks](http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/newtricks/). It’s a good show and we’ve been enjoying it. > > But it made me realise how little programming from other countries we get here in America. Mostly it’s the Britcoms. And as much as I enjoy the Britcoms, I’m wondering what else is out there that I’m missing. Reading the thread about “Life on Mars” has me even more curious. We don’t even get BBC America in our house. Aside from the occasional British drama (like “Cracker”) or Canadian show that leaks across the boarder, I can’t think of anything. > > So, Dopers in other countries, what’s good? What do you watch that’s not American programming or British Sitcoms? It doesn’t even have to be english language. I’d just like to know what’s out there, and what’s good. Well, I’m a Yank, too, but I understand that American networks are going to experiment with _telenovelas_, i.e. limited run, soap opera-ish series aimed at both Anglo and Hispanic audiences. A French, German or Indian police drama or sitcom might be interesting, I admit. There’s currently a sitcom in India set in a calling center where a large part of the humor derives from the staff having to deal with rude and/or stupid Yanks and Brits on the phone. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/3 "2006-02-22T15:19:37Z")
Well, there is the new Dr Who. Classic sci-fi by any standards. To be honest, I prefer good US TV. When it’s good, it’s great (and usually therefore, canned after one series). Most English drama series bore me. Life on Mars is an exception but I can live the rest of my life without seeing Dickens, Jane Austen or Elizabeth 1st on TV ever again. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/4 "2006-02-22T15:24:02Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > Well, there is the new Dr Who. Classic sci-fi by any standards. Fortunately, we’re getting that next month. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/5 "2006-02-22T16:20:31Z")
You should certainly check out _MI5_ (_Spooks_ in the UK), and _Hustle_ (if only to cheer up **ronincyberpunk** who keeps posting things like [this.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=358216) I understand that _Bleak House_ is on PBS at the moment, too – there’s a thread about it hereabouts. I also heartily recommend _Doctor Who_ if you have the SciFi channel. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/6 "2006-02-22T17:48:05Z")
Anything I’d suggest is probably in one of these threads already 🙂 : > **[Brit TV - what's good/bad](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298115)** > > I currently live in Madrid, with no cable or sat tv. I miss UK tv. Some friends can tape things for me, but I don’t know what to ask for. Brit dopers, please tell me what is going on silver-screen-wise back home, and what is worth a view, and what... > **[Recommend to me some Britcoms](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298351)** > > I’ve always been a huge fan of British comedies… can’t get enough of them. I’d like you to help me add some fodder to my grist mill. They don’t have to be new, so long as I can find them on DVD. To give you some idea of my taste, here’s some of... > **[What's British TV Like these days?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=304391)** > > I like a lot of the older British TV shows that get put on Public TV here. Stuff like “ARE YOU BEING SERVED”, “FAWLTY TOWERS”, and “KEEPING UP APPEARENCES” I find to be great comedy. I’ve noticed that my parents like them, probably because the 1970’s... > **[Suggest some good recent British TV?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=342775)** > > I love British TV. But I’ve run out of things to watch, so I need some suggestions. To keep this manageable, I’m more interested in current stuff. Things that are either within or between series at the moment, or have finished up in the last year... > **[UK Dopers: What Do You Think of These BBC Comedies?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=356146)** > > I have BBC America and am really into the comedies. I’m wondering what someone who lives in the UK and sees these series in their cultural contexts thinks about them. I know some of these are older, but it seems that we don’t get them in the U.S. for... ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/7 "2006-02-22T18:00:31Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > You should certainly check out _MI5_ (_Spooks_ in the UK), and _Hustle_ In particular, these two are on cable channels that aren’t BBC America. MI5 is on A&E and Hustle is on AMC. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/8 "2006-02-22T18:33:56Z")
I’ve heard of MI-5. I’m going to have to check out “Hustle”. Never heard of that one. Fortunately MI-5 is out on DVD. **GorillaMan** , most of those threads are about Britcoms, which we already get in abundance. And _all_ of those threads are about British TV. I hear there are other countries out there. Even if there’s no chance of me ever seeing it, I’m curious as to what’s out there. What counts as quality television in the rest of the world. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/9 "2006-02-22T18:47:13Z")
Brazilian TV is big on “Novellas” (Brazilian soap operas). They are very well done, and are filmed well. I hear that suitably dubbed, they might be coming to American TV. of course, i hope so-they usually feature gorgeous, scantily-clad young women-in styles unknown to American TV. As for other countries: does Scandinavia produce anything interesting? Dutch TV is simply awful!; but the French do some interesting stuff ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/10 "2006-02-22T18:50:28Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > …but the French do some interesting stuff Cool. Like what? I know nothing about French TV. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/11 "2006-02-22T19:56:33Z")
You know, maybe it’s just a bad sample size, but whenever I turn on hotel room TVs in other countries the only native programming I can find is game shows, news, and talk shows. (And it seems I only find talk shows in Spanish speaking countries.) All the fictional programming seems to be American - there’s always Star Trek and the X-Files. ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/12 "2006-02-22T20:15:36Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > A French, German or Indian police drama or sitcom might be interesting, I admit. We have sitcoms but honestly I can’t think of anything remarkable right now. On the other hand German police dramas seem to be popular exports. Probably the record holder is [Derrick](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070981/) (1974-1998, 281 episodes) which was broadcast in 102 countries. The protagonist, Inspector Derrick and his assistant investigate murders in Munich. Another important program is _Tatort_ (“Crime scene”). It features a number (currently 15) of teams that investigate murders in different cities. In Germany there is a system of public state broadcasting corporations. These produce the episodes with “their” teams. This way you have many smaller series from different regions and with different protagonists under one label. Because there are few episodes per team and year, the production values are usually higher than for other series. _Polizeiruf 110_ (named after the police emergency number) is a rare example of a surviving program from East Germany. Of course that doesn’t make a real difference today, but in old reruns the socialist setting adds an interesting aspect. A more homorous program is _Der Bulle von Tölz_ with an officer in rural Bavaria . Actually it is on right now. Of course those are only some examples, there are many other series with different premises. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/13 "2006-02-22T20:16:14Z")
The worldwide TV scene is pretty depressing. Lost and Desparate Housewives are the big hits in most countries. The other big shows are local translations of Big Brother, American Idol, American Idol variants, etc. Not much money to pay for good dramas, but reality shows are cheap. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/14 "2006-02-22T20:19:57Z")
(Although when I’m traveling I do appreciate that MTV Germany usually has Pimp My Ride on, with subtitles, so it’s almost like a US channel.) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/15 "2006-02-22T20:28:01Z")
Since the Olympics are still on this week, I heartily recommend Mexican sports broadcasting. The Mexican networks use the same satellite feeds as the U.S. networks. But while U.S. reporters spend most of their time talking at each other, the Mexican networks will actually cover the sporting events. ---
**Author:** ![ninevah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@ninevah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninevah)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2006, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/16 "2006-02-22T21:50:57Z")
Current staples in our household are music quiz shows - there’s a couple in Oz at the moment which are brilliant. One is [Spicks and Specks](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448300/) , the other is [RocKwiz](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445138/) . We also enjoy [Beyond Tomorrow](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470002/) which is a sciencey new-innovation type show. It contains small segments from [Mythbusters](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383126/) , and we often watch that too. I also like [Neighbours](http://www.neighbours.com/) too (my husband doesn’t, but graciously puts up with it), an Australian soap set in Melbourne. It’s really the most trashy program I watch, but it’s my guilty pleasure! ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/17 "2006-02-23T02:49:46Z")
I’m not sure what the name of the channel is on my Comcast lineup, but on channel 24, I’ve seen several episodes of **Water Rats** , an Australian crime drama centered on the water. Also, on Sunday nights on this channel, I’ve seen a German crime drama called “Scene of the Crime”. Of course, there are subtitles for this show. Once I got accustomed to the subtitles, it was very easy to follow the story. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/18 "2006-02-23T03:02:29Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > The worldwide TV scene is pretty depressing. Lost and Desparate Housewives are the big hits in most countries. The other big shows are local translations of Big Brother, American Idol, American Idol variants, etc. Not much money to pay for good dramas, but reality shows are cheap. Not quibbling necessarily, but the American versions of Big Brother and American Idol are the ones that were copies of other countries. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/19 "2006-02-23T03:48:24Z")
I started a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=355560&highlight=English+Language) on this very topic not too long ago. There weren’t many replies, but there were some interesting suggestions. With all the hundreds of cable and satellite channels out there, I think it would be pretty cool to have one that picks the very best TV from around the world – maybe a Finnish sitcom followed by some Argentinian slapstick followed by a Korean soap opera followed by some hard-hitting German investigative reporting, then a South African talk show host to round the evening off. It’s very easy to buy music and books and movies from around the world, and to read all sorts of international newspapers and magazines all over the world. But it’s virtually impossible to find non Anglo (or Spanish) TV in most of the US, at least that I’ve seen. (Yes, there are channels that broadcast in Chinese and Korean and even Polish in Chicago, but none of these have English subtitles that I’ve seen.) ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628/20 "2006-02-23T11:17:14Z")
**SmackFu** you may be horrified to know that the original \*\*Big Brother \*\* concept is British. The guy who came up with it is incredibly rich, since he sold it to most of Europe, the USA, Africa and Australia. Britain also has Celebrity Big Brother, which, this year featured Denis Rodman, amongst others, last year it featured Bridget Nielsen and her former mother-in-law, Jackie Stallone. Amazing what people will do when they think their home audience won’t see them! \*\*Survivor \*\* and **Idol** , were also originally British concepts. I usually like things with [Adam Hart-Davis](http://www.adam-hart-davis.org/), especially his “What the Romans did for us” series. \*\*Braniac: Science Abuse \*\* is usually quite entertaining too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-american-tv/345628.md?page=2)