American TV vs European TV: What you think about each other?
During my academic formation developing a bachelor on Sociology, I also came across a wide arrange of TV programming from US and EU (that friends gave me thanks to the P2P) that lead me to think about some very deep cultural differences on both sides. While the differences range from Quarter Pounder/Royal with cheese, driving on right/left side and shenanigans, Im interested in TV programming specifically.
To get right into the thing I’ll use the example of a program tailored to mass consumption, Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. The EU version is more of a documentary. It pretty much guides you thru the situation and what to do and rise and overcome. Almost zero music, seldom beeps of curse words and overall zero drama. The US version has all this dramatic music and editing, that photofinish/always rushing vibe that will get your heart punding, many beeps and a fuckton of drama.
Then I wondered about what the EU thinks about US version of their TV and viceversa. I heard american saying EU tv is boring and bland. Unfortunately havent heard EU thoughts on american tv. Then there are other kind of TV programming like news, sports, soap operas, kid programming etc that differ a lot from each other.
From my point of view, news in the US is about terror and death threat from arabs and the economy. When I live, Puerto RIco, is about murder, drugs and corruption. From what I have seen EU have a more international approach and more slow pace to delivering news…
So I ask my dearest international audience of DJTT about your thoughts, examples and recommendations from each geographical area about TV programming including perhaps some website where you could see (preferably free of charge) tv from each region to experience such differences of perhaps simply some damn good tv shows .
South African TV is diabolical. Biased news coverage, ignorance of international news, rape of the English language and tacky clones of overseas ‘reality’ drivel. It’s satellite or suicide. Probably a 60/40 split between American and European, across the board (sit-com, reality, doccie, sport etc). Sport is masive (soccer, rugby and cricket dominate). Personally hate reality, sit-com and bleeding-heart series (housewives, family dramas etc). Enjoy legal, medical and sci-fi. Probably watch a 50/50 American, European split.
i´d say these days, european or at least german tv is more and more influenced by american tv. like all those pop singer shows, house cleaning/building shows and all that stuff. then we have a lot of channels that a financed by the state. more serious channels, less adds, good news (almost no music in the reports, no panicmongering and no shitty lifestyle/celebrity coverage, really basic and informative). almost all of the private channels are totaly infected by american shows. drama, poor people becomming rich, celebrities, house build ups, cars, motorcycles, fisher men shows, crappy talkshows, every 15-20 min a 5-7 min comercial break and so on. i´d say that almost all our private channels are equal to american channels.
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also i was just talking to my best mate yesterday. he´s writing his diploma about news coverage of cataclysms and backround music and how it´s affecting the human beeing how to handle such news. for excample: the was a 4min slideshow from the fukushima disaster and massive attacks “teardrop” was the background music. seeing those pictures/videos without music would just be left in your mind but with music you have automaticly a connection in your mind. may it be bad or good
US TV dramas, lot of violence, little nudity. Europe, the opposite.
Sterotyping, but:
Swedish TV - debates, sometimes debating if something should be debated.
Finnish TV - strange phone related games you pay $1/minute.
Australian TV - Saturday is reserved for sports and a former TV program for kids now for adults (Hey Hey it’s Saturday, oh, it’s no longer running, good grief).
French TV - hey we really like naked buttocks…
Japanese TV - programs design to embarras shy Japanese.
California - Oh no, it’s raining this weekend, headline across all news channels.
FOX news - it’s easy to make up stories to push a political agenda.
CNN - I’m trying to be hip, tweeting, facebok:ing.
MSNBC - The middle class has been destroyed, dammit. Did I say the middle class has been destroyed, I say I say?
As far as Kitchen Nightmares is concerned, I didn’t like the european version anyway, but I have seen the US version which had been shown on a cable channel and downright hated it. The pace and musically supported drama made the show downright annoying for me. It also seemed even less credible and believable than these scripted reality shows are already.
I hardly watch US TV stations these days. Of course there are a lot of US shows over here in Germany, and especially in the entertainment department, I prefer them to their German counterparts. Gotta say that I’m starting to like british TV more and more though.
Generally, from what I can puzzle together from my TV nights at my last (pre-9/11) US visit and what I can watch of it in Germany today, I have the feeling that in the US, news, documentaries and other factual programmes seem to be tailored to be fast-paced, action-packed entertainment as well (maybe not on PBS), which, to me as someone who is used to the european way, makes them appear less credible somehow.
Especially as far as news is concerned, I also have the impression that it is a lot more common in the US to be biased and sensationalistic than european media that I know. Something like Fox News downright scares me and I keep asking myself if there actually are people out there who believe that crap, and if yes, how that can be possible. Sure, news over here can be biased as well, especially on the privately funded channels. But as far as German, UK and Dutch TV (all I have seen and sort of understood language-wise) is concerned, I have so far not experienced an actual political agenda as a base for a whole TV network, like Fox News has. Might be different in other european countries though.
One thing that really irks me about TV shows is the way that British TV shows, like The Office, The Inbetweeners, Shameless etc instead of being broadcast across the pond, get remade from scratch for the American viewers
The only British shows I’ve seen were The Office and Idiot Abroad. Both were good, the U.S. version of The Office varies from ok to pretty funny. The only U.S. shows I would suggest and watch regularly are Breaking Bad for drama and It’s Always Sunny In Philidelphia for the laughs. I watch other stuff of coarse but it’s more of an if it’s on I’ll watch it if not oh well kinda thing. For the cable news networks ksandvik is pretty much correct and I stick to The Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC and then the Daily Show for the lolz.
Holy crap!:eek: Great insight and thanks for sharing!
Yes many people recon that Fox News has a biased and political agenda. Great to see ppl recognize that.
I see American TV more tailored to be eyes glued on the screen to pretty much make you not miss an instant of it by artificially adding all that musical and editing drama to make it what it is. I may be putting my tin foil hat here but I think it has to have some (goverment) parameters to keep people watching it and make them more docile and accepting anything the government decide to shove down their throats.
All that artificial drama and action pack feel added to, like you said, to news and documentaries is a style that aims to a particular population that sort of like and expect that and I bet it is not the elderly. I think it is aimed to American youth.
American education is one of the most expensive, allow of very little free post high school education, few goverment aids and people end up in most cases with a big debt that will be paying way after they find a suitable IF they manage to find a job at all or at lest one that can pay the old debt without issues. Compared to other 18-25 people, age to be in college, Americans are the least likely to form a strike or at least voice up to fight for any given ideal. I see protests in Brazil, Spain, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Argentina in education related issues but slim to none in the US. Definetly debt and the feeling of beign scared people might recognize them on other places like a potential job interview deter them. Understandable but not $30k a semester understandable.
If you can take that population and maim them to be docile then you will have created the perfect mechanism of production ever. One that wont fight, argue, claim any rights or anything whatsoever. Take their health insurance, take their work benefits and make them per contract and make the rich richer, in other words:
I think this will eventually propagate to other countries until zero opposition is achieved.
Oh we were talking about tv programming right?
Why Monthy Python is so great? I personally dont understant it or dont find it funny.
I’ve got to say I like how British sitcoms tend to end after a few seasons instead American shows that run on and on and on until the premise is lost and the whole thing is ruined to try and squeeze a out a few extra bucks.
Advertising plane and simple, american tv needs to use “cliffhangers” to keep the audience tuned in between the 7 to 10 mins of adverts where as in the uk advertising is limited to about 3 to 5 mins.
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