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Post 16 Jan 2011, 8:45 pm

I have a question for our Brit members. I have been watching a British TV show on Hulu called Kingdom. Series Three ended in a cliff hanger and I am wondering if there has been a 4th Series yet or not?.
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Post 17 Jan 2011, 11:42 am

Assuming that you mean the one about a provincial lawyer starring Stephen Fry, then I am afraid there will be no 4th series. It was cancelled with the confirmation coming a few months after the last episode of series three was aired. A shame, as Tony Slattery was hamming it up like a demon as Snell.
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Post 17 Jan 2011, 2:51 pm

Yep that is the show. Damn, I really like it. I guess I am never going to find out who Peter Kingdom really was.

Snell was a hoot and I really liked Karl Davies as Lyle. I really enjoyed the way he was growing over the course of the series. That is something not often seen.

How about a show called Survivors about a group of people surviving a world wide pandemic? I just discovered it on netflix instant view and was trying to decide if it was worth watching.
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Post 17 Jan 2011, 3:02 pm

I did watch some of it, but didn't keep up. What I saw was pretty good.
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Post 18 Jan 2011, 8:38 am

Thanks Mabbas. I will add them to my list of shows to watch during rerun season. One show I would not recommend is a Canadian show called DaVinci's Inquest. I had seen it in the channel listings for late nights here and the series shows up on a lot of IMDB filmographies for actors and actresses I like.

I figured I would give it a try. I turned it off 25 minutes into the first episode. I was so bored I was playing solitaire while watching it. Though it was cool to see a young Jewel Staite (Firefly) as DaVinci's daughter.
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Post 18 Jan 2011, 1:43 pm

There are good things coming out of Canada. Republic of Doyle is good fun, and Ms Danivon likes Murdoch Mysteries.
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Post 18 Jan 2011, 11:07 pm

I don't actually own a t, so most of the series I see are ones that other people tell me to check out. But if you are looking for some series to watch, I would suggest Misfits. Superheroes with a twist.

As an aside, I see that there is now an American version of Skins out. Is there any reason that America seems to take British (and maybe others as well, but I would only know the British) shows and remake them, rather than just watching the original?
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Post 19 Jan 2011, 2:30 am

Been happening for a very long time. Sandford & Son, the Archie Bunker show (whatever you called it)...

I suppose it worked. And did for the Office. But there have been some mighty flops as well.
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Post 19 Jan 2011, 9:27 am

Diemo wrote:As an aside, I see that there is now an American version of Skins out. Is there any reason that America seems to take British (and maybe others as well, but I would only know the British) shows and remake them, rather than just watching the original?


well, one of the main reasons is language difference.
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Post 21 Jan 2011, 2:03 am

I noticed there was now an American version of "Skins", too. I think I saw maybe two episodes of the British "Skins" show and I remember liking them. It's a shame we resist airing foreign shows on prime television here in the USA. I can't imagine the subtleties of British English and American English would be a barrier, nor would the "coming-of-age" tale be much different for kids here in America as opposed to England. Too bad really, as usually the American remakes are sub-par to the originals.

Heaven forbid the average American teenager watch anything with subtitles!
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Post 21 Jan 2011, 6:36 am

well, one of the main reasons is language difference.


I find that a bit hard to believe. I know that there are a few words that are pronounced differently (or, in the case of the misfits, all words) but the only difference there is the accent difference, and surely that is part of the draw of some of the shows. It is not too hard to hear an accent other than American on your shows, surely?
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Post 21 Jan 2011, 9:07 am

Well, I was being a tad sarcastic. But it is more then just the accent dudes. It is actual word usage/meaning. Boot=trunk, lorry=truck, call=phone. My wife has a book that is just about the language and cultural differences between us and the misunderstandings they cause.

Then there is the belief that people connect better with things they understand. A show will probably get better viewership in the US if it is based in a US city and vice versa. I would offer Law & Order UK as an example. Every episode of that show is an already used script from the original L&O. The only changes are made for locale and legal system differences.

Combine these two concepts with the fact that the average media type has a very low opinion of the common tv watcher, they probably think a viewer wouldn't understand/watch a show that is a direct import.
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Post 21 Jan 2011, 3:03 pm

Haha, guess I should have read the line about the language difference as being sarcastic.

It does strike me as humorous how often American shows nominally insert a British-accent actor/actress into a show to lend it an air of "international"-mystery.

Along these same lines, I remember a roommate (who at the time was 22) say she could rarely sit through anything that was filmed in B&W.
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Post 24 Jan 2011, 10:43 am

Archduke - L&O:UK was a pile of drivel. No-one over here watched it either, and we get the American versions as well (my gf is a bit of a L&O junkie).

I think that over here we are open to a series based in the USA, but vice versa it may not be the same. Still, we seem to be exporting our tv stars out there. Hugh Laurie for House, Damien Lewis for Life, a whole host in The Wire. And all playing locals!
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Post 24 Jan 2011, 12:58 pm

Ah, "The Wire": my favorite TV series. I just finished the final season (I got started a wee late).