by Darren Humphries

Created on: August 06, 2007

American and British television varies wildly in content and quality. On both sides of the Atlantic there has always been far more rubbish than there has been quality, but on both sides of the pond those programmes that have been good have been very, very good.

There are, however, some intrinsic differences between US and UK television shows that cannot be denied and help flavour the TV output to the point that the origin of a show can be instantly recognised even without resorting to accents and famous landmarks as references.

1. Pretty people.
There are very few US shows that get shown in the UK that don't revolve around pretty people. Look at the casts of any of the recent hits that have crossed over the pond (LOST, HEROES, THE OC, any of the CSIs) and find anyone in them that could be termed 'ugly' or even 'funny looking'. Even UGLY BETTY isn't ugly if you take off her glasses and braces and comb her hair. In UK-based shows there is a much wider variety of looks and 'funny looking' is often considered as an advantage.

2. Scale.
The UK is smaller than the US by several times over and so it lacks the wide open vistas, various communities and variety of locations in which to set shows. In the UK it either happens in big city London (occasionally Birmingham or Glasgow) or the depths of the English countryside. The US has so many different cultures and cities and landscapes that it can always work on a larger scale.

3. History.
America has far less history than the UK with which to play, but it also seems far less interested in exploring it. Whilst the BBC especially bangs out period dramas with monotonous regularity, US networks seem more focussed on the here and now, with the occasional exception of a NORTH AND SOUTH here and there. This means that there are lot of cop shows sets today, but nothing about turn of the century Boston.

4. Budget.
US television has always had more money to spend than its UK counterparts and, as a result, the shows have always looked better, flashier and more exciting. Imagine the sales pitches for two shows that started less than 12 months apart - Star Trek and Doctor Who. In the US it would be an advantage that the show was going to be in colour with a new planet every week, fleets of space ships, a large crew and lots of alien makeup. In the UK it a show about a tiny group of people travelling to any leftover set, using the costumes available and doing it all in DIXON OF DOCK GREEN's second hand police box.

5. Imagination.
This is partly

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