Re: Hollywood versus the English speaking world


"jayembee" <jayembeenospam@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Xns99E697C486E2Cjayembeesnurcher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"rhino" <No.offline.contact.please@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

"curmudgeon" <briticanlankey@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Why does not Hollywood fill in the void created by the writers
strike by importing as many TV shows as it can from the rest of
the English speaking world?
Such as Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Britain.
to name but 5 to start with.

Because for the most part, there isn't a whole lot to import. While
there are original series that come out of those countries, the TV
schedules in those countries are filled to the brim with American
imports.

I do keep track of original dramas in other parts of the English
speaking world (sitcoms, not so much, as I'm generally not a fan
of sitcoms). Here are the numbers of original prime time dramas or
dramedies that have aired so far in 2007 (full seasons, partial
seasons, and minis):

Britain: 70 (the majority of which have already aired, are airing,
or will be airing in the US on PBS, BBC America, or other US cable
networks)
Canada: 15 (at least four of which air in the US in syndication or
on cable)
Australia: 10
New Zealand: 3
South Africa: 2
Ireland: 2

Assuming you are talking about fiction (entertainment programs,
as opposed to documentaries or sports), we've got Corner Gas, and
DeGrassi: The Next Generation (or whatever it is called). After
that, I start running out of titles.

Ah...INTELLIGENCE? LITTLE MOSQUE ON THE PRAIRIE? ReGENESIS? WHISTLER?

I've heard of all of those but have only ever seen an episode of one of
them: ReGenesis. It wasn't my cup of tea (and I like Science Fiction) so I
never watched it again. I therefore have no inkling of whether Americans
might like them. In any case, some of those series only have a small
handful of episodes, if I am not mistaken. (I'm thinking of Little Mosque
and Intelligence).


Now, I would expect that Britain would have a lot of decent shows
but I've long had the impression that Americans generally don't
like foreign accents, even when they are speaking the same language,
which would mean that shows from Britain, Australian, New Zealand,
and South Africa are all at a disadvantage.

It's accepted wisdom that Americans have a problem dealing with
funny accents. I think it's a myth. While there are some think,
nigh-unintelligible accents coming out of parts of Britain or
Australia, I (as a New Englander) don't find them, in general,
any thicker or less intelligible than, for example, Kyra Sedgwick's
(affected) or Holly Hunter's (natural) Southern accents.

If you had a job like I do where you frequently had contact with Americans
and VERY frequently heard them gush with enthusiasm that they can understand
you (I'm Canadian and have English as a first language), unlike their
contacts with people in foreign countries (who I know have to meet very high
English standards), you would know that American resistance to accents is
NOT a myth.

To take a slight (but relevant) detour, for a long time the original
MAD MAX film was distributed here in the US with an American-dubbed
soundtrack. The belief was that the distributors thought that
Americans wouldn't be able to understand the accents. When a DVD
was eventually released that included the original Aussie track,
it was clear -- at least to me -- that the problem wasn't the
accents, but the slang. If some dialogue seems unintelligible, it's
more likely because the words themselves are unfamiliar, not because
the voice delivering them sounds funny.

You make a perfectly valid point.

And even today, though I watch a fair amount of Brit and Aussie TV
shows (via DVD or Internet downloading), I often find it hard to
understand some of the dialogue if there aren't captions/subtitles.
Accent plays a part, admittedly, but I don't find it a problem
cutting through the accent when the words are familiar.

I wonder if House would have been so popular if Hugh Laurie had been allowed
to play a British-born doctor speaking with his original British accent? Or
if Without a Trace would have been as popular if Anthony LaPaglia were
speaking in his normal Australian accent?

I once asked an English-born friend if he ever had trouble understanding the
regional accents in his native England. He assured me he did. He told me of
one incident where he was in a bar and the fellow on his right was carrying
on a conversation with the fellow on his left. The man on the left was Welsh
and the man on the right was Scottish. He swore he didn't understand a word
that _either_ one said, although he could tell that they were both speaking
in English.

I think we've ALL had experiences were we had trouble understanding someone
else who spoke perfectly good English, just because the accent was
unfamiliar. You can learn to understand the other person but you don't
necessarily comprehend them from the very beginning.

Back in the 50s and 60s, there were a fair amount of British series
airing on US TV, either on broadcast network or in syndication. Since
the early 70s, they've been relegated to niche cable outlets or PBS.
I think the problem is that the networks are convinced that American
audiences won't or can't accept foreign programmes, but there's no
real historical evidence of that. Still, the networks are convinced
of it, and are unwilling to experiment enough to find out if it's
true.


It's possible that the networks have simply convinced themselves that
foreign programs can't succeed in the US in mainstream markets without any
real supporting evidence, as you suggest. Frankly, I'd be a little surprised
if the networks were that parochial but I could be wrong.

I'd certainly be interested in seeing them try to air programs from other
English-speaking countries but I'm not holding my breath that they will
catch on in the US. I remember that there were high hopes that Due South
(from Canada) would be a hit in the US during the last writer's strike but
it never was. I'm dubious that any other foreign series (that is open about
being foreign, as opposed to something like Stargate which hides the fact)
is going to do that much better. I'd be happy to be proven wrong though!

--

Rhino


.

Relevant Pages