While I was in my teens I was addicted to one thing alone on TV; cartoons and almost every cartoon that aired on Cartoonnetwork was made with pride in USA, the love affair with American TV continued as I expanded my horizon into American sitcoms like “Everybody loves Raymond”,” The Wonder Years”, “Home Improvement” and “Friends”, however, through a good part of my school and college years I was also a follower of a T.V show called Top Gear on BBC – partly due to my love affair with cars and partly due to the way the show was filmed and presented.
Top Gear was re-invented into its current format by one of the presenter’s Jeremy Clarkson and the current producer Andy Wilman in 2002. The presenters: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have remained with Top Gear since 2003 and the show is often celebrated as the most watched factual T.V show in the world with an audience of 350 million. I am one of them.
The affair with British T.V started long ago, however it picked up pace only recently. My respect for the American shows is boundless and my religious following of Cartoons has annoyed everyone from my father to my wife and by bringing in British T.V into my life I don’t want to diminish in anyway the kind of influence the cartoons and Sitcoms from the states have had in shaping my personality and improving my language.
The British shows especially the documentaries on nature and history have a legendary reputation, their way of storytelling is quite different from the others, which transcend their literary skills right into the script and screen play of their T.V shows. It was quite interesting to note the kind of influence T.V has on a person and what kind of an impression a person can develop about a country by watching their T.V shows.
The British, have a good sense of humor and their TV shows portray them to be a bit more arrogant than what you would normally expect from an American equivalent; however the humor involved can make you laugh more than once. They being the native speakers English cannot be challenged in their own language and the diction used in almost every TV series has a mesmerizing effect. The accent of the English and speed with which they talk varies a lot from actor to actor and person to person depending on which part of England s/he is from and that was a bit of a pain for me since I never had any trouble understanding the Americans speak. Sometimes I would get quite frustrated with the really long rants that seem to have been plugged in forcefully into the script.
I would strongly recommend the following T.V shows:
Top Gear UK: This is the most watched factual TV show in the world; three middle aged men with an irresistible sense of humor and love for cars present this show. There is a Top Gear Australia and a Top Gear USA but all lack the spark and chemistry of the original show. Although this is not a sitcom, I would still strongly recommend this.
Black Adder: One of the finest comedy actors, the star of Mr Bean Rowan Atkinson plays the role of Black Adder in this quirky period comedy with situations from the Victorian era all the way up to WW2. The comedy is all verbal, I couldn’t always understand the humor involved but when I did, it made me smile just thinking about the situation while doing mundane chores which would of course make innocent bystander looking at me think I’ve gone bonkers. The series is quite old as such but hey, a laugh is a laugh.
Sherlock: This is modern day interpretation of Sherlock Holmes. The show is gripping, funny and very intelligent. The use of computers, cell phones and modern technology by Sherlock Holmes is a treat to watch. Every episode is a complete story in itself and although only two seasons with episodes in single digits were filmed, they are stupendous.
Doc Martin: I saw Martin Clunes in the sitcom Reggie Perrin which was very hilarious to watch where he portrayed a corporate manager going through a mid life crisis. My admiration of Martin Clunes made me watch Doc Martin where he portrays a brilliant surgeon who has left his practice as a surgeon to become a general physician at a remote sea side village in England. I am currently watching this series which is a light hearted comedy with brilliant performance by all actors. The stories do get a bit redundant at times but there are sudden twists and turns to the plot which can keep one glued to the couch.
The British TV brought me to a whole new world where light hearted banter is as common as a cup of tea, people have a fairly good sense of humor and don’t take things to their heart especially when a laugh arises out of someone’s arrogance, ignorance or insult.
Among other shows I would highly recommend Doctor Who, The IT Crowd, Reggie Perrin, Stepehn Fry’s Q.I, Office, Till Death Do Us Apart, Are you being served? And among the all time classics: Yes Minister, Mind Your Language and Fawlty Towers.
Bye for now.
