I know this is basically a repeat of what has already been posted, but oh well. I actually wasn’t enrolled in this class until the night before the first class. I had absolutely no desire to watch/learn about/talk about British television, something that I considered to be a waste of my time. In the typical American attitude, if it wasn’t made in the good old U-S-of-A then it wasn’t worth my time. Now, however, I am extremely glad my schedule needed to change so I could take this class.
As I mentioned before in the class, I didn’t have much of a knowledge of British television, with the exception of a few episodes of Keeping Up Appearances. After learning about the five terrestrials and their digital channels as well as watching all the different shows throughout the semester, I can now say that I enjoy British television just as much, if not more in certain situations, than American television.
My favorite shows are still American productions (Mad Men, The Office, Modern Family, Community, etc.), but creeping up the list are The Inbetweeners, Doctor Who, Sherlock, and, yes, even The Mighty Boosh. To me, the most appealing aspect of these shows and the others that we watched is that they are familiar, but still different. While that may not make sense, what I’m trying to convey is the fact that American television is EXTREMELY formulaic. There is very little that separates one comedy from another, one drama from another, one procedural from another. While people who have watched more British television than I have could argue that the same is true in Britain, because of our lack of familiarity with it, I don’t notice it.
Basically, in a long-winded way, the British television shows are just different enough from American versions of the same genre to get me interested in viewing them. This new avenue would have never been opened to me if I didn’t take this class.