The United States and the United Kingdom: two different cultures linked by a common language. One, an old state full of relics of the days of chivalrous knights and stone castles, and the other, a republic born from the idea of throwing off their former master’s yolk. Much has changed in the last two and a half centuries, and the enormous ocean between our land and the isles doesn’t seem so distant in the modern era. Nowadays, plenty of things unify the two nations, like our shared geopolitical experiences and our like-minded interest in a free democratic world. Most importantly, though, is our mutual guilty pleasure for relaxing in front of a television.
When I was growing up, my mother always considered herself to be an Englishwoman trapped in the fate of being American. She never told me why, but British culture was always appealing to her. She was born during the British Invasion, kept a British flag as a key chain and was always a sucker for the British accent. The biggest thing for me though was the fact that she always seemed to have a preference for British television shows.
I always felt that the television produced in the United Kingdom was different from what I saw on cable growing up, and I was always confused why my mom preferred it. I felt that I had nothing to learn from watching foreign television shows, save how to do a mediocre cockney accent.
I’m older and marginally wiser now. Just like with all cultural differences, there is plenty to be learned from seeing what both countries have to offer, but that learning exchange goes both ways.
The first thing to know about British television is that their seasons border on being criminally short. As an American, I’m used to watching shows that last forever, cranking out 20 to 30 episodes a year and almost never seeming to run out of ideas. This is nothing like the television shows in Britain, where seasons are typically between four and eight episodes, but they often go even lower. I have seen multiple shows produce seasons that are three episodes long.
Three. As in the number before four.
This is definitely the biggest culture shock that an American will get when forced to watch so much British television like I was.
The quantity isn’t the only difference, though. The content itself is very different as well. For one, both Americans and Brits love shows about cooking. On the Food Network, it’s almost like the producers are constantly stressed to come up with new, flashier ideas to keep up with the audience’s attention span. The channel is full of charismatic hosts, crazy challenges for the cooking and baking competitions and noisy advertisements to get the whole shebang in the public eye. This is very much in line with the typical American consumer culture. Meanwhile, food shows in Britain, such as the popular and appropriately-named “The Great British Baking Show,” do not rely on such tactics. On this show, talented bakers experiment with things they’ve never made before in a calming, outdoor scene with soft music in the background. It is a very unflashy program, where a simple handshake from judge Paul Hollywood is considered the pinnacle of honors that a contestant can receive.
Another common interest in the television of both realms is an abundance of crime shows. As an American, I am used to seeing endless spin-offs of “Law and Order,” “CSI” or “NCIS.” You start to see a pattern after a while. It’s never the first person they suspect, it’s usually the spouse. If they really want to leave an impression, it will end with a daring shootout. This is the same country that Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid called home, after all.
The Brits, however, have a different way of seeing it, being instead influenced by British fiction icons like Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot. Since the police in Britain rarely carry firearms, the show relies much less on the anticipation of a life-threatening situation — though they are no stranger to them — and makes up for it by relying more heavily on thought. The long-running crime show “Vera” released its final season this year, and it is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. In this show, we follow the titular character played by Brenda Blethyn: the stubby, disdainful, yet intelligent DCI Vera Stanhope as she uses her deductive abilities to solve murders in northern England. Watching the show, you would have a hard time imagining any of these officers using action to save the day, which is why the show relies heavily on thought, as well as the emotion of both the victims and Vera Stanhope (Blethyn) as the characters are developed throughout the show.
I’m not saying one method is better than the other. Sometimes, I get sick of a thoughtful television drama and find myself craving the light adrenaline rush that you can only get from something made in America. Other times, I get tired of the endless cliches and want something less flashy from across the pond.
I suppose if there is anything to be taken from this cultural comparison, it’s that audiences do not always want to watch the same show over and over as a rebrand. For any aspiring future entertainers out there, I hope that you can see the wisdom in not always following the American doctrine of bigger is better. Occasionally peek across the Atlantic and take a hint of inspiration from what our more aristocratic brethren like to see on their telly.
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Ian Stash is a junior studying Journalism at the University of Arizona. In his free time, he loves video games and chilling with his cats.
