I work with a group of developers in the UK. They’re a pretty decent group of guys. When the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations hit, they had a couple days holiday. They did not tell me why they would be out. Just “Bank holiday.” When they got back, they had a brief chat about it before our meeting started. One of the guys started to explain why they were out. “Oh I know. They showed some of it here on BBC America.” They were alittle surprised but before we could talk about it further, the real meeting had begun.
What I wanted to tell them that in the beginning, BBC America was pretty neat! It was the one place you could see some UK programming during the week instead of having to rely on your local PBS station on the weekends. However, this has changed. A lot.
Someone completely unfamiliar with the UK and the BBC would, upon watching a single week’s programming on BBC America, assume that all Brits watch Top Gear and Dr. Who. Seriously, have you looked at the schedule? Top Gear all goddamned day whenever they have more than 3 hours to fill. Dr. Who on the weekends. Oh wait, there is some variety! Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay! Ramsay who has two (or is it three shows now) shows on Fox as well. Fuck me running, I am sick of Gordon Ramsay! And if that’s not enough, they also air reruns of AMERICAN SCI-FI SHOWS! Why in the everloving fuck would you air Battlestar Galactica (I know, Jamie Bamber is a Brit) and X-files on BBC America of all places? Like the rest of the American channels, this one has gone down the shitter and shows the same crap every fucking day. Why is this station so horrible? Why do they think we care about a 9 year old episode of Top Gear? Holy shit, how long has Top Gear been on the air? I mean, I like the show, but fuck, show something else!
“Oh but they did the run of Sherlock!” Yes. Once. Now it’s on PBS and DVD. “Well what about Primeval?” SyFy picked it up and I stopped watching. “Being Human?” There’s an American version of it. I refuse to watch it on general principle. But my god, is there NOTHING left to show?
What about QI? Doesn’t that have enough episodes to run to death here? And what about…*checks BBC website* Um…Well there’s…Shit. There’s nothing else on any of the BBC networks that I would really want to see. You have The Voice (UGH), you’re still running Weakest Link (really?), you have shit wedding shows, something that looks suspiciously like the game Fuck, Marry, Kill but you actually made a show of it (what?), and God help us all you’ve got “Family Guy” and “American Dad” every night. And what in the blue fuck is “Young, Dumb, and Living Off Mum”? Is that what I think it is? *checks info* Fuuuuuck.
I’m sorry, guys. I started out bitching that BBC America was giving us crap shows, refusing to show anything good. Oh Lordy, Lordy. While I wish they’d show something else to diversify this “All Top Gear, All The Time” programming, I see now that this is somewhat better than the alternative. I understand now why Sky is so successful. Your tv is just as shit as ours. And then we had the nerve to give you even more of our shit.
I’m sorry.
I didn’t know.
I. DIDN’T. KNOW.