So many of the television shows other countries watch come from the United States. Where this becomes a problem is that we had so many people think these shows are a reflection of what the people in the US are like. What they fail to be told is that so much of what we watch on television is for entertainment purposes and contrary to the titles most of these shows are not based in reality.
We think due to the low cost of producing these shows they are being sold to all these countries and their affiliates on the cheap so they get hours worth of these classics;
- Storage Wars
- Ice Road Trucker
- Kitchen Nightmares
- Diners, Drive-In and Dives
- Fast N’ Loud
And I mean hours and hours of each show. They run mini-marathons of these shows on a sometimes daily basis.
No show does more harm than Man vs. Food. This show makes everyone think that Americans are gluttonous and wasteful of precious resources and food. There are so many hungry people in the world who watch this show with disbelief where the host sits before a mountain of food and tries to stuff ten pounds of food down his throat in a single sitting all for the pleasure of having his picture taken or to win a t-shirt. It is hard to watch this show on so many levels.
Because of these awful TV shows, we had people ask us if the people in the US really were gun-toting, gum-chewing hillbillies and they wanted to know if these reality shows were real. We were happy to tell them that none of the so-called reality shows are real.
They also get sold better quality shows like;
- CSI – all of them in the franchise
- Law and Order: SVU
- Criminal Minds
- American Pickers
- Pawn Stars
- American Restoration
And watching hours and hours of these shows is easier to deal with. They need help in the comedy arena however since they currently are only getting two shows;
- Two and a Half Men
and
- The Big Bang Theory
How they love Two and a Half Men. Everyone loves Charlie and his caustic, suggestive humor, and they love Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory. Watching marathons of Two and a Half Men wears thin quickly but I am a fan of Big Bang so at least I had that to watch.
We have now been back in the US for a few months, and the new television season has begun. This is the first time we have seen any new shows in three years and I must say I am impressed with some of the offerings. I only hope that the cost of running these shows in other countries is low so that viewers can move away from so much garbage TV and start watching good dramas with good acting.
While I am grateful that we had anything to watch to help pass the time while traveling abroad, I am happy to be enjoying some good shows this season. Some of my favorites so far are;
- Gotham
- Red Band Society
- Madam Secretary
- Blue Bloods
The world really is watching. I just hope the next time we head off to live in a foreign country I can watch five hours of Gotham or Blue Bloods and not five hours of Duck Dynasty.
What TV shows are you watching and what show would you like them to send to a foreign country to show off our best acting and writing prowess?
Florence Lince
About.me/florencelince
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