I Make An Amazing Discovery While Watching A 41 Year-Old British Sci-Fi Series
2012 Sep 25, 1:00am 2,047 views 6 comments
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Bigsby
2012 Sep 25, 2:05am
Great television stations were the BBC (British Broadcasting Commission), SABC (South African Broadcasting Commission, and ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission.
Unfortunately, that's not what the letters stand for.
Dan8267
2012 Sep 25, 3:07am
I Make An Amazing Discovery While Watching A 41 Year-Old British Sci-Fi Series
Unfortunately, that discovery wasn't how to do subtraction. 1979 was 33 years ago, not 41. Stop making me out to be older than I am!
elliemae
2012 Oct 2, 11:32am
Stop making me out to be older than I am!
You kids these days, with your newfangled calculators! They'll never catch on, you know.
"They would always "tell it like it is" even if someone got offended. "
Kinda...supposedly they pulled Mind Your Language due to sensitivities and then put it back on years later.
A fair amount of UK shows get exported to the USA..very little the other way around (Law and order UK is really weird)
Sometimes it takes a generation to sort of copy things. The Young Ones was a great show in the early 80's...but it copied the whole format off of the Monkees. Strangly enough the Family Guy character Stewie pretty much is Vivian from the Young Ones..watch the series on youtube and see for your self.
I would argue the reason why the BBC can make such a huge amount of programming (albeit they officially discontinued many shortwave broadcasts...then again so did Italy) is because there is a tv tax that everyone with a set must pay each year. The amount is 145pounds or about $235 but that is PER color tv. At those prices cable might be cheaper for a family.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licensing_in_the_United_Kingdom
Having said that UFO I think was on scifi channel in the past (pre nbc ownership :-(
If you ever want to see something interesting look at the really old Nickelodeon content. (pre say...1988ish) it had fair amounts of international programming. Ancient cities of gold, spartakus and the sun beneath the sea and others were totally different from what other networks would be spewing out.
Strategic Renter
2012 Oct 2, 1:58pm
George Cole aka Alistair Sims (scrooges) adopted son and dennis waterman of the sweeney fame far better series than minder.
I spent 11 years of my life in what I call "The British World." I include in this Britain,Australia and South Africa. I fell in love with television in all three countries. Great television stations were the BBC (British Broadcasting Commission), SABC (South African Broadcasting Commission, and ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission.
All of these networks or channels had incredible courage. They would always "tell it like it is" even if someone got offended. Their "made for TV" movies were always incredible.
I came to especially love a show called Minder. It premiered on British television in 1979 and lasted on television until 1994. It was a comedy about a boxer who was an ex-convict (Terrence McCann-played by Dennis Waterman) and a con man named Arthur Daley (played by a British actor named George Cole.) Terry and Arthur are a part of the British national character as Archie Bunker is int he US.
I also love a British science fiction show from the late 1960's and early 1970's called UFO. It's about a secret organization battling aliens from other planets. The organization battling the aliens is called SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization). The star of the show is a great US actor named Ed Bishop. The series was 40-50 years ahead of its time. It still has a cult following today.
I was watching the third episode of the series. It centered on a SHADO medical technician who gave the aliens classified information. The actor playing the traitor had a voice that sounded familiar. I was sure that it was George Cole, the actor who went on to play Arthur Daley. But he looked much too young. At the end of the show I read the credits listing the name of the actor. Sure enough, George Cole's name was there. What a big surprise and coincidence.!!!!