All I knew before I came into this class was that somewhere overseas there was a network called the BBC. I didn’t even know there was more than one! American television was my life and until this semester had never had the desire to branch out and discover what other nations are doing to entertain audiences on the small screen. Well, now I know, or at least sort of understand what the UK is doing to keep up with trends.
At the start of this course I thought I may come out of this all with a new favorite channel, maybe I would develop a love for Channel 4 or perhaps the BBC Three would be particularly interesting to my tastes. However, none of that happened. And after thinking about it, I cannot say I have one ultimate, favorite channel on American television either. What this tells me is that great things are still happening, somewhere out there. Sure I can name several channels I do not care for, but if I had to choose one American and one UK network to watch for the rest of my life, I would be lost.
Even through some of the rough comedies, I have come to love what British television offers to this industry. The realism they strive to portray, whereas Americans shy away from it, sparks a passion in me that I didn’t know I had. While it is hard to do, I would like to sum up this class with one final opinion/ take on British television, the comedies that strive to be hilarious are not, however the dramas that aim to make me think, deliver tenfold. The Promise, Sherlock and Downton Abbey are just a few of the ones that tickled my fancy and got me excited for the next episode. Thanks to this course I have even more shows to keep up on and watch, Misfits and The Inbetweeners to name a couple (so perhaps, I am partial to E4/ their take on comedy).