It isn't necessarily xenophobia. You need to remember what a gated community American media has been, and continues to be, despite BBC-America et al. Most America viewers never see anything but the (mostly) bland offerings of ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. They are unlikely to be exposed to Quintuplets Go Go Go, Armenian variety shows, or the K-drama, Deep Rooted Trees. They are fed pablum and don't know any better.
I don't know. A lot of English shows get ported to America usually with different writers/actors. The Office is a big example but it's just one of many. Even in the summer when the X-Factor went to America, Cheryl Cole who was for a lot of people the shows biggest asset next to Cowell, had to be removed because she's English.
I don't know if you've seen the show Episodes that Matt Le'Blanc is in. it's basically about British TV writers winning awards for their shows then being told to recast them for American audiences. I mean, it's become that much of a regular thing that there's a sitcom about it.
Shameless is another great example. Hugely successful TV show, wins awards all the time. Had to be changed for American audiences.
Don't get me wrong, I could understand it if it was in a foreign language but that's not the case. I can't imagine anyone in the UK remaking 24 just for british actors.
I think you've got to ask why they are ported mate. It's not because network executives like to spend a fortune remaking shows when they already have the content. American's aren't fans of the British.
The Brits are often the stereotypical bad guy in movies and the stereo typical white american tends to be the leading good guy. If there's a character you're not overly meant to like, he tends to be either a non-american character or he's played by a British actor or in a British accent.This has been going on for decades. It's rarely an American bad guy and very often it's an American Hero.
Silence of the Lambs - Antony Hopkins (Welsh)
Lion King - Scar = Jeremy Irons (English)
Lethal Weapon 2 - Joss Ackland (English)
Lethal Weapon 3 - Stuart Wilson (English)
Lethal Weapon 4 - Jet Li (Chinese)
IT - Time Curry (English)
Die Hard - Alan Rickmen (English)
Die Hard 2 - Franco Nero (Columbian Drug Lord)
Die Hard 3 - Jeremy Irons (English)
Terminator - Arni (Austrian)
Batman Begins - Liam Neeson (Irish)
Batman: Dark Night (Australian)
The Professional - Gary Oldman (English)
Superman - Terrance Stamp (English)
Hook - Time Curry (English)
Spiderman 2 - Alfred Molina (English)
Jungle Book - Shir Khan (George Sanders)
Twilight - Aro Volturi - (English)
It's the same in TV
Vampire Diaries - Claus (English)
Buffy - Spike (English character played by American)
Buffy - Watchers Council
True Blood - Eric (Sweedish)
House - Dr House (English)
American Idol - Simon Cowell (English)
Stargate Universe - Robert Carlyle (Scottish)
Lexx - Nigel Bennet (English)
X-Files - William Davis (Canadian)
Charmed/Nip Tuck - Julian McMahon (Australian)
Lie To Me - Tim Roth
Stargate SG-1 - Julian Sands (not one of the system lords in Stargate was American)
I'm not saying you couldn't produce a list of American baddies, I'm just saying that the good guy in movies tends to be American and the bad guys tend not to be.
It's the same in Professional Wrestling. The WWE has been around for decades and not 1 British world champion. They have recently had an Irish champ but then the owner of the company is "Irish-American" so it's not a shocker. The WWE Champion is 99% of the time a white American. The major exception being Bret Hart who was portrayed as a Canadian Hero and an American villain.
Wade Barret = English Villain
William Regal = English Villain
Drew Mcyntyre = Scottish Villain
Albert Del Rio = Mexican Villain
Chris Jericho = Canadian Villain
Hunico - Mexican Villain
Tyson Kidd = Canadian Villain
Jinder Mahal = Indian Villain
Christian = Canadian Villain
It's typcially hard to find a foreign wrestler that's a good guy. There's Sheamus the Irish wrestler I mentioned and that's about it.
Part of the reason for that is because Americans love to chant USA, so it's very easy for wrestling promoters to put an American wrestler in a match with a foreign wrestler and get a quick fan reaction.
----
Anyway, I've clearly put more into this than any sane person would.
I'll give you the blatant provincialism of American media, but at least one of the other reasons can be that Britain's entrenched local/regional/national theatre system produces more quality actors per capita, and that villain roles are more interesting and "meaty" than the leads. Also, British television seems to be at least slightly more willing to take chances. American television is so risk averse that someone else has had to have had success with an idea before they'll try it. Too bad they haven't tried to adapt Misfits.
The home crowds will always prefer to cheer for one of their own, nothing surprising there.
Wrestling is an even more distilled version of this. Think back to the cold war expressions of wrestling nationalism. Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik are good examples of the cartoonish lowest common denominator heel.
My favorite is Phil and Claire Dunphy and J. D. and Elliot because they are both from my two favorite shows. They are just that cool. I used to always take the time to watch these shows.
It's interesting that the first two couples I thought of, once I read the title, ended up being the top two couples on the list. And, it makes me feel that much better just knowing that they're both on the top of my 5 favorite television shows.
I really, really liked Chuck through the first two seasons. Season 3 started off OK, but the Shaw stuff at the end of the season, along with them finally getting together was the beginning of the end of that show for me. Season 4 was just horrible. I missed all of 5, so I'm looking for a way to catch up on it, but it doesn't seem to be on Hulu or NetFlix, so oh well.
tl;dr: The couple-ish-ness of Chuck is a big part of what killed the whole show (for me).
nachocheaseFeb 8, 2012Buried
Homer and Marge should have been #1, without a doubt.
salbatrossFeb 8, 2012Buried
Actually "25 Best Sitcom Couples Almost Exclusively from the Last Twenty Years" but nonetheless, some great inclusions.
skellenerFeb 8, 2012Buried
Lame.
tomt127Feb 8, 2012Buried
Yeah. They left out many classic couples like Gomez and Morticia Addams, Rob and Laura Petrie, and Maxwell Smart and Agent 99.
arkzFeb 8, 2012Buried
well its an american site... what were you expecting?
putridgasbagFeb 8, 2012Buried
What no Archie and Edith?
case31Feb 8, 2012Buried
Marge: Homer, this is the worst thing you've ever done!!!
Homer: You've said that so many times it's lost ALL meaning!
jason1973Feb 8, 2012Buried
The 25 best AMERICAN sitcom couples...
kanzanFeb 8, 2012Buried
It isn't necessarily xenophobia. You need to remember what a gated community American media has been, and continues to be, despite BBC-America et al. Most America viewers never see anything but the (mostly) bland offerings of ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. They are unlikely to be exposed to Quintuplets Go Go Go, Armenian variety shows, or the K-drama, Deep Rooted Trees. They are fed pablum and don't know any better.
Perhaps insular would be a better description.
dandoniaFeb 8, 2012Buried
I don't know. A lot of English shows get ported to America usually with different writers/actors. The Office is a big example but it's just one of many. Even in the summer when the X-Factor went to America, Cheryl Cole who was for a lot of people the shows biggest asset next to Cowell, had to be removed because she's English.
I don't know if you've seen the show Episodes that Matt Le'Blanc is in. it's basically about British TV writers winning awards for their shows then being told to recast them for American audiences. I mean, it's become that much of a regular thing that there's a sitcom about it.
Shameless is another great example. Hugely successful TV show, wins awards all the time. Had to be changed for American audiences.
Don't get me wrong, I could understand it if it was in a foreign language but that's not the case. I can't imagine anyone in the UK remaking 24 just for british actors.
dandoniaFeb 9, 2012Buried
I think you've got to ask why they are ported mate. It's not because network executives like to spend a fortune remaking shows when they already have the content. American's aren't fans of the British.
The Brits are often the stereotypical bad guy in movies and the stereo typical white american tends to be the leading good guy. If there's a character you're not overly meant to like, he tends to be either a non-american character or he's played by a British actor or in a British accent.This has been going on for decades. It's rarely an American bad guy and very often it's an American Hero.
Silence of the Lambs - Antony Hopkins (Welsh)
Lion King - Scar = Jeremy Irons (English)
Lethal Weapon 2 - Joss Ackland (English)
Lethal Weapon 3 - Stuart Wilson (English)
Lethal Weapon 4 - Jet Li (Chinese)
IT - Time Curry (English)
Die Hard - Alan Rickmen (English)
Die Hard 2 - Franco Nero (Columbian Drug Lord)
Die Hard 3 - Jeremy Irons (English)
Terminator - Arni (Austrian)
Batman Begins - Liam Neeson (Irish)
Batman: Dark Night (Australian)
The Professional - Gary Oldman (English)
Superman - Terrance Stamp (English)
Hook - Time Curry (English)
Spiderman 2 - Alfred Molina (English)
Jungle Book - Shir Khan (George Sanders)
Twilight - Aro Volturi - (English)
It's the same in TV
Vampire Diaries - Claus (English)
Buffy - Spike (English character played by American)
Buffy - Watchers Council
True Blood - Eric (Sweedish)
House - Dr House (English)
American Idol - Simon Cowell (English)
Stargate Universe - Robert Carlyle (Scottish)
Lexx - Nigel Bennet (English)
X-Files - William Davis (Canadian)
Charmed/Nip Tuck - Julian McMahon (Australian)
Lie To Me - Tim Roth
Stargate SG-1 - Julian Sands (not one of the system lords in Stargate was American)
I'm not saying you couldn't produce a list of American baddies, I'm just saying that the good guy in movies tends to be American and the bad guys tend not to be.
It's the same in Professional Wrestling. The WWE has been around for decades and not 1 British world champion. They have recently had an Irish champ but then the owner of the company is "Irish-American" so it's not a shocker. The WWE Champion is 99% of the time a white American. The major exception being Bret Hart who was portrayed as a Canadian Hero and an American villain.
Wade Barret = English Villain
William Regal = English Villain
Drew Mcyntyre = Scottish Villain
Albert Del Rio = Mexican Villain
Chris Jericho = Canadian Villain
Hunico - Mexican Villain
Tyson Kidd = Canadian Villain
Jinder Mahal = Indian Villain
Christian = Canadian Villain
It's typcially hard to find a foreign wrestler that's a good guy. There's Sheamus the Irish wrestler I mentioned and that's about it.
Part of the reason for that is because Americans love to chant USA, so it's very easy for wrestling promoters to put an American wrestler in a match with a foreign wrestler and get a quick fan reaction.
----
Anyway, I've clearly put more into this than any sane person would.
kanzanFeb 10, 2012Buried
I'll give you the blatant provincialism of American media, but at least one of the other reasons can be that Britain's entrenched local/regional/national theatre system produces more quality actors per capita, and that villain roles are more interesting and "meaty" than the leads. Also, British television seems to be at least slightly more willing to take chances. American television is so risk averse that someone else has had to have had success with an idea before they'll try it. Too bad they haven't tried to adapt Misfits.
The home crowds will always prefer to cheer for one of their own, nothing surprising there.
Wrestling is an even more distilled version of this. Think back to the cold war expressions of wrestling nationalism. Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik are good examples of the cartoonish lowest common denominator heel.
aussiemikehendersonFeb 8, 2012Buried
My favorite is Phil and Claire Dunphy and J. D. and Elliot because they are both from my two favorite shows. They are just that cool. I used to always take the time to watch these shows.
busterblackFeb 8, 2012Buried
It's interesting that the first two couples I thought of, once I read the title, ended up being the top two couples on the list. And, it makes me feel that much better just knowing that they're both on the top of my 5 favorite television shows.
dandoniaFeb 8, 2012Buried
I know Chuck isn't a traditional sitcom i'd have included them.
dwtcFeb 8, 2012Buried
I really, really liked Chuck through the first two seasons. Season 3 started off OK, but the Shaw stuff at the end of the season, along with them finally getting together was the beginning of the end of that show for me. Season 4 was just horrible. I missed all of 5, so I'm looking for a way to catch up on it, but it doesn't seem to be on Hulu or NetFlix, so oh well.
tl;dr: The couple-ish-ness of Chuck is a big part of what killed the whole show (for me).
dandoniaFeb 8, 2012Buried
I found it refreshing but knowing you haven't seen the end stops me from saying why.
SheSaySoFeb 8, 2012Buried
Hehe married with children! al bundy
jerroldsFeb 8, 2012Buried
Bert 'n' Ernie