# Why does British tv look like British tv? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-tv-look-like-british-tv/178729 "2003-05-31T05:20:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-tv-look-like-british-tv/178729/21 "2003-06-02T06:31:57Z")
Lots of British sitcoms are recorded in front of a studio audience. It is not normal practice to add a laughter track in later. In fact on at least one US show - M.A.S.H. - the laughter track was removed when shown here. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-tv-look-like-british-tv/178729/22 "2003-06-02T07:13:21Z")
The thing I always noticed was how in Dr. Who and Monty Python, there would be abrupt shifts between video (for indoor shots) and film (for outdoor shots). Why? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-tv-look-like-british-tv/178729/23 "2003-06-02T08:08:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doghouse Reilly \* > \*\*The thing I always noticed was how in Dr. Who and Monty Python, there would be abrupt shifts between video (for indoor shots) and film (for outdoor shots). Why? \*\* Both of these shows were made in the 70’s when good , portable video cameras were not available. Hence the use of film cameras instead. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-tv-look-like-british-tv/178729/24 "2003-06-02T09:53:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Another effect of the PAL system is that our definition of images is not as good as the US, since we end up transmitting and displaying each line twice, resulting in half of US picture quality. > This is especially noticeable on large screen tv sets, in the US htey are almost cinema like in quality compared to European tv sets. I’d have to disagree with this. PAL has higher definition (more lines in the picture), and I think it looks a lot crisper than US television. As far as colour goes, I find the US pictures to look garish, so I guess it stands to reason that British TV would look washed out to American eyes. It all depends on what you’re used to. I remember 1980s American shows looked appalling when showed on British TV - everyone had bright orange faces. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-tv-look-like-british-tv/178729/25 "2003-06-02T10:37:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elmwood \* > **On British British television, as opposed to American British television, I’ve also noticed that programs often start at odd times, rather than on the half hour and hour as is usually the case in the States and Canada.** Maybe because two of the main networks don’t show any commercials, so imported American shows don’t take up the full 30 minutes or one hour. For example, _24_ only lasts 45 minutes, _The Simpsons_ 22 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-tv-look-like-british-tv/178729/26 "2003-06-02T12:49:44Z")
I wanted to add that **casdave** ’s explaination was very good and answered a lot of queries I had as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-british-tv-look-like-british-tv/178729.md?page=1)