British People Have Television Too

I'm English. And American. I have dual citizenship, and I was raised in both countries. This means that I don't just watch U.S. television shows, but British ones too. Doubly important, I can understand all the accents!

What I've noticed recently, that I somehow managed to completely miss as a child, is that there is a stark difference between British shows and American shows, even after you remove locale and accents. That difference is attractiveness.

American television stars are, more often than not, attractive. Sometimes they're really, really attractive. Plus, even when they're not traditionally 'good looking', they still get perfect make-up, and proper lighting, and intense post-production. This happens even when the show is trying to show that the character is slovenly. Take 'The Middle' for instance, Patricia Heaton's character doesn't have good hair or good clothes, but damn does she look good on film.

If you don't watch a lot of British television you'll have no idea what I'm talking about. Because for people raised on U.S. television a character like Doug Heffernon isn't 'attractive'. I hate to tell you all, but you're missing out on what real on-air unattractiveness is. Maybe that's a little harsh, what I mean is that American television's version of a normal person is horribly skewed.

In the U.K. television shows are often filmed with a more realist approach (I use the word 'realist' in the loosest possible sense; I'm not trying to relate to Ray or Rosellini, because luckily this isn't a film class). What I mean by 'realist approach' is that everything looks more...real. Their lighting isn't as good, their actors aren't always chosen because they looked best in a screen test, and their post-production isn't as snazzy. The closest thing that American TV has are its soap operas. But, that's not to say that those British shows aren't brilliant.


Which is why American television ideals sometimes make me sad. There are so many great British shows that I want my U.S. friends to enjoy. A lot of them are even on Netflix Instant (so you don't have to suffer through a six-hour plane ride!). My favorite, slightly-older British show at the moment is 'Gavin & Stacey'. It's absolutely brilliant; it's funny, it's heart-warming, and it's just as quirky as 'Arrested Development'. Unfortunately, when I tried to persuade a group of American friends to watch it with me, it was quickly rejected because "no one in that show is attractive". Are we really at the point where we can't watch a show if the main characters aren't hot? My British friends are able to easily acclimate to the gorgeous Americans on their screens, but my U.S. friends can't see the beauty in the British-style of TV. The sad thing is, they don't know how much quality television they're missing.


So, if you're American (or any nationality, I'm really not picky) go to Netflix Instant and give a British TV show a try. Accept that the accents are different, and the footage is often grainier, and enjoy the quality of the plot. I promise, it's there.


I highly recommend: 'Gavin & Stacey', 'Peep Show', and 'Doc Martin'. 

The cast of 'Gavin & Stacey'