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Any celebrity special featuring Keith from Boyzone (so pretty much any celebrity special then
by Cat
And finally, what is the worst british program around?
)
Posted: 15:24 Mar 25 2002
British TV
Repling to the Dr Cox post, it occured to me just how poor British TV is these days. They seem to exist on soaps alone.
So, in your opinion, where did brittish TV go wrong (if at all)?
Has it dumbed down? Is that good or bad?
Does the BBC deserve the lisense fee any more or should they be commercial like the others?
Has satalite/digital TV helped to dumb down our TV?
And finally, what is the worst british program around?
Please discuss....
So, in your opinion, where did brittish TV go wrong (if at all)?
Has it dumbed down? Is that good or bad?
Does the BBC deserve the lisense fee any more or should they be commercial like the others?
Has satalite/digital TV helped to dumb down our TV?
And finally, what is the worst british program around?
Please discuss....
24 Replies and 4935 Views in Total. [ 1 2 ]
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Posted: 15:24 Mar 25 2002 Debateable, but he's certainly talented, versatile - and arguably spreading himself too thin. It's also entirely possible to take a great actor and saddle him or her with a stinker of a script - and the more work an actor takes on at any one time, the more likely this is to happen.
by WhistlerAre you mad?? David Jason is one of our finest actors!
You know, I'm really not sure which of these two I'd choose. It's easy to look at Clunes's more unambitious work and forget there's a talented classical actor in there too. And - great fan of Branagh though I am - he's turned in some pretty duff performances at times. Plus, thinking back to the final shot of the original film, I know which of the two of them I find easier to visualise done up in voluminous white whiskers, looking back with a sentimental, watery smile through a soft-focus haze, while some squeaky refugee from stage school pipes up in a significant voice "Goodbye Mr Chips".
by Incandenza Martin Clunes and Kenneth Branagh
Posted: 17:39 Mar 25 2002 
Just to join in all the kafuffle over David Jason, I thought I'd opine that, while I do rate his acting abilities, I immediately tune off whenever I see him on TV these days. I find Frost unbearably boring. That's my less than humble one and if you don't like it - tough. I can dislike a program without disliking the actor, and everything I've seen Jason in for a while has been very weakly written.
As for Only Fools and Horses, while it was a reasonably funny show, its reputation has done more damage to British TV comedy since, well, ever. I definitely think there is a line that can be drawn from the likes of 2.4 Children, Birds of a Feather and 'Orrible back to Only Fools and Horses. If you want a list of British (well, and one Irish) SitComs that have had a positive affect, I would suggest The Young Ones, Father Ted and Red Dwarf.
Going back to the original topic, what went wrong? I would suggest that the biggest problem is that we have not had a government in over twenty years that believes in public services/industries. They've sold off Rail, Electricity, Gas, and Water. They will soon add the Post, NHS and Tubes to that list. They have run down teachers, doctors and nurses. They have also changed the emphasis of the BBC.
As the licence fee is set by the government, and is revocable by the same, it has been made clear to the BBC that it must compete for ratings, instead of concentrating on its mission objectives - Educate, Inform and Entertain. Ratings concentrate on Entertain and Entertain alone. They also don't ensure a rounded version of entertainment, but a focus on lowest common denominator. This is why our TV is becoming blander and blander.
Instead of controllers encouraging innovation, they encourage fad obsession, be it reality TV, comedy quiz shows or home improvement TV.
Somebody (sorry, I forget who or where) mentioned in a previous thread that the BBC should not be fighting C4 for the rights to air The Simpsons. I agree. Yes, The Simpsons is quality TV and should be on terrestrial, but if a commercial station is prepared to pay the fee, then let them. Use the licence fee money on generating quality British TV instead.
So, yes to keeping the licence fee, as I do believe a TV service not based on ratings is needed, we just need to reassert the BBC's raison d’être. Satellite (or digital) isn't the problem. They have a role to play, albeit to ostensibly show American TV and steal football. The problem is the governments we elect. If we do not insist on our politicians supporting and maintaining the type of BBC we want then we won't get it. As long as the emphasis remains on low taxation, we'll get the public services we deserve.
Worst TV program? Anything listed as ‘Daytime TV’.
Oh, and I would list Cold Feet and Teachers as reasonably good British TV. Can’t think of any others, off-hand (Nevermind the Buzzcocks, They Thing It’s All Over, and Have I Got News For You all being quite tired and past their view-by-date).
As for Only Fools and Horses, while it was a reasonably funny show, its reputation has done more damage to British TV comedy since, well, ever. I definitely think there is a line that can be drawn from the likes of 2.4 Children, Birds of a Feather and 'Orrible back to Only Fools and Horses. If you want a list of British (well, and one Irish) SitComs that have had a positive affect, I would suggest The Young Ones, Father Ted and Red Dwarf.
Going back to the original topic, what went wrong? I would suggest that the biggest problem is that we have not had a government in over twenty years that believes in public services/industries. They've sold off Rail, Electricity, Gas, and Water. They will soon add the Post, NHS and Tubes to that list. They have run down teachers, doctors and nurses. They have also changed the emphasis of the BBC.
As the licence fee is set by the government, and is revocable by the same, it has been made clear to the BBC that it must compete for ratings, instead of concentrating on its mission objectives - Educate, Inform and Entertain. Ratings concentrate on Entertain and Entertain alone. They also don't ensure a rounded version of entertainment, but a focus on lowest common denominator. This is why our TV is becoming blander and blander.
Instead of controllers encouraging innovation, they encourage fad obsession, be it reality TV, comedy quiz shows or home improvement TV.
Somebody (sorry, I forget who or where) mentioned in a previous thread that the BBC should not be fighting C4 for the rights to air The Simpsons. I agree. Yes, The Simpsons is quality TV and should be on terrestrial, but if a commercial station is prepared to pay the fee, then let them. Use the licence fee money on generating quality British TV instead.
So, yes to keeping the licence fee, as I do believe a TV service not based on ratings is needed, we just need to reassert the BBC's raison d’être. Satellite (or digital) isn't the problem. They have a role to play, albeit to ostensibly show American TV and steal football. The problem is the governments we elect. If we do not insist on our politicians supporting and maintaining the type of BBC we want then we won't get it. As long as the emphasis remains on low taxation, we'll get the public services we deserve.
Worst TV program? Anything listed as ‘Daytime TV’.
Oh, and I would list Cold Feet and Teachers as reasonably good British TV. Can’t think of any others, off-hand (Nevermind the Buzzcocks, They Thing It’s All Over, and Have I Got News For You all being quite tired and past their view-by-date).
Posted: 09:41 Mar 28 2002
Not entirely sure of my ground here, but didn't John Birt change the emphasis of the BBC from "making good programmes" to "running in a profitable and businesslike way"? From what I read, it seemed a bit like he forgot what the actual "business" of the BBC was.
Regardless, the BBC is only half of the terrestrial TV in this country, so it and the government's funding/expectations of it can't be held entirely to blame surely?
Regardless, the BBC is only half of the terrestrial TV in this country, so it and the government's funding/expectations of it can't be held entirely to blame surely?
Posted: 09:53 Mar 28 2002 
Bad: any reality TV, vehicles for tired old soap stars, the entire Saturday night schedule, most game shows, let's-go-on-TV-and-argue shows (I hesitate to call them talk shows cos Parkinson and the like are quite good!)
Good: Waking the Dead (detectives with a difference - about a cold case squad; was on last year and I didn't miss a single one, which is unusual for disorganised li'l ol' me!); My Family (although Mark and I seem to be the only people on the planet who like it, judging by the reviews); Lenny Henry; Buzzcocks still has its moments; Secrets of the Dead (channel 4 archaeology/detectiving)...and most of that's on the BBC. I have to admit that the only thing I watch on ITV is SMTV (isn't that Brian great?) but only really to have my mind boggled at what they seem able to get away with on kids' TV...
Good: Waking the Dead (detectives with a difference - about a cold case squad; was on last year and I didn't miss a single one, which is unusual for disorganised li'l ol' me!); My Family (although Mark and I seem to be the only people on the planet who like it, judging by the reviews); Lenny Henry; Buzzcocks still has its moments; Secrets of the Dead (channel 4 archaeology/detectiving)...and most of that's on the BBC. I have to admit that the only thing I watch on ITV is SMTV (isn't that Brian great?) but only really to have my mind boggled at what they seem able to get away with on kids' TV...
Posted: 08:19 Mar 30 2002 [ 1 2 ]