The Song Fight Bulletin Board

It is. It's as bad as US TV and it has fewer options.

Does anybody disagree?

How is the TV where you live?

How does it compare to TV you have seen from other countries?

When I lived there, I only got six channels, and they usually weren't good enough for me to care to ever watch television, so I guess I agree in that sense, but I've been away long enough that I don't know how it is now. On the other hand, when I moved to America, I only got more channels, not better ones.

Mexican soap operas have hot, hot ladies in them.

French TV is cheap. Lots of 3 hour discussion programmes. LOTS of them. Their dubbing of (mainly) American shows is entertaining for non-french people, mind. Buffy sounds like a bloke with a cold, for instance.

Yet they have an incredbily strong, varied and well-supported film industry.

British TV is pretty good, from my limited experience of other TV cultures. However we have an all but non-existent film industry.

I wonder if it's a case of 'one or the other'?

j$

TV Rocks in America! The programming is engaging and creative. Even the commercials add spice and are generally very educational. The networks are pretty much mutually exclusive as far as concepts and presentation...each has a unique identity and brings its own unique voice to the mix. When you then roll in cable...my god it's a feast! Of course this is a simply a reflection of America's strong hold on global entertainment and our intellectual prowess. For some reason we actually pay taxes to support this thing called public television! I don't understand it, but some people see value there. I say bring on more Vanna!

erikb wrote:Mexican soap operas have hot, hot ladies in them.

this is true...I was at a mexican restaurant last night and one of those was playing...I'm like...do0d, I'd never cheat on her.

hahaha

It's true that they do have lots and lots of discussion programs here. I typically can't sit the whole three hours out. I like Les Guignols de l'Info which is a news comedy show with puppets, but you need to get Canal+ and that's a special channel that requires its own box/satellite. News on previously national stations like TF1 still have interesting bits like when the anchor actually interviews somebody on the set.

I think that TV in the US is leaps and bounds better. For example, they show a lot of documentaries here, and people often get the impression that it's more documentaries in the US. However, the truth is that you just notice it on French TV cause it's that or a redub of Who's the Boss that makes Tony's acting sound even worse. They're just skimming some of the documentaries in the states and rest of the world and dubbing them or replacing the voice over track occasionally. They don't even pick unconventionally good documentaries. I once saw a doc about Tracy Lords on TV here. WTF?

Then there's the fact that basic channels like M6 will show pornography at night on weekends. Weird pornography. Oh, the French.

I know I haven't found anything on French TV other than Les Guignols that's on a par with my American favorites like Daily Show, Strangers with Candy, most of the cartoons that they pick up for Adult Swim (this is a huge grouping when you think about it), Daria, the Nickelodeon lineup from when I was a kid.

I do have to admit that I saw some good old programming in French. Like Adam West's voice was a shock to me once upon a time because I was so used to seeing him dubbed in the French version of Batman. And Mission Impossible was another French show for me. Columbo too. So there's something to be said for syndication.

I'll stop now.

j$ wrote:
British TV is pretty good, from my limited experience of other TV cultures.

Yes - British TV probably is the best (The Office, I am not an Animal, Rebus, Cracker, Blackadder, nice history documentaries with Simon Scharma or Tony Robinson, David Attenborough in his safari suits, etc, etc...)

but those bloody awful 'heartwarming' comedies about 'quaint' rural localities and their eccentric inhabitants like Monarch of the Glen, etc., really make me want to vomit. Oh, and as mentioned previously - I really hate The fucking Bill.

Hoblit wrote:

erikb wrote:Mexican soap operas have hot, hot ladies in them.

this is true...I was at a mexican restaurant last night and one of those was playing...I'm like...do0d, I'd never cheat on her.

Was it Vallartas? They play the silliest TV shows in there.