British TV Is Way Better Than American TV

Tisher recently turned me on to the BBC series Black Mirror. Its like an updated version of the Twilight Zone which focuses on technology and the effects of our reliance on media. It has a rotating cast with each episode standing on its own. All six episodes are great, two are outstanding. The Entire History Of You set in an alternative reality where most people have a 'grain' implanted behind their ear which records everything they do, see or hear and Be Right Back about a widow using all of her husbands past online communications and social media profiles to create a new "Ash" virtually. The show isn't perfect but is always engaging. It raises pertinent questions that it seems most people aren't asking. It's got edge, it challenges the viewer. Black Mirror is the first TV show in a long time to really make a statement.

The final episode in the season aired this week and it just makes me wonder. Why aren't there any shows on like this in the US? Why isn't there any programming that really challenges the viewer? Any programming that takes any risk?

Recently the best shows I've seen, the ones I've got hooked on have all been BBC shows: Jeckyl, Luther, Sherlock, and now Black Mirror. They all take risks, have engaging actors playing engaging characters, have stories that actually move, and have definitive narrative arcs.

The problem with US TV is that, for the most part, it's run by studios who are sluggish and complacent. A bunch of people who are satisfied with the status quo and have no desire to try anything new. There is so much TV in the US which is just mind-numbing time-waste. The same people doing the same things ad infinitum. People want to watch a variety of stuff, people want to be challenged, to be engaged, but they settle for whatevers in on. I think the studios need to give their writers more leeway to develop projects they think are interesting as opposed to something they know will get the bare minimum of viewers to satisfy Pringles.

We also need to do away with such long seasons and series. Sit-coms, sure, they can go on as long as their viewing necessitate but TV drama is a different story. Shows like The Killing, The Following, The Walking Dead, FlashFoward, and Lost especially(to name a few) would have benefited(would still benefit) from a fixed number of episodes. A story line that is sketched out. A definitive narrative ending. Just because a show becomes popular doesn't give the studio the right to elongate it and ruin it. TV is a story telling medium, tell good stories, good stories have a beginning a middle and an end.

And Netflix, House Of Cards is just West Wing with worse dialogue and more sex. Step it up.