Fred, congratulations on your kids.

Each to his own taste, of course, but I don't think it's at all shallow to prefer a lot of British TV available in the States over what is generally offered by American TV production companies. Granted, stuff presented on Masterpiece Theatre or other British shows that PBS offers (e.g., Britcoms such as As Time Goes By or Good Neighbors or Yes, Minister) is bound to be considerably better than most of what is available on both sides of the puddle because PBS selects the best of British TV to present here. You might say that PBS acts as a sort of "crap filter." I'm quite sure that there are a lot of real stinkers presented on British TV that never make it across the pond. At least my taste pretty much agrees with that of whoever does the selecting. And I've been watching TV off and on since the early Fifties.

The problem I find with most American TV shows is an abysmal lack of creativity. One really good show comes out and for several years you're treated to an endless stream of imitations—feeble attempts to copy and/or repeat the same success.* This holds for both dramas and comedies. Also, the general philosophy of American TV networks (broadcast and cable both) is that the show is merely a device to keep you glued to the set between commercials. Drama or comedy is strictly secondary. Selling stuff is the name of the game. I do watch American TV, but I've very selective about it, and if a drama's impact is based on little more than car chases and shoot-outs, or a comedy counts solely on pratfalls or snappy patter and stupid put-downs, I just don't watch it again.

Selectivity is the magic word.

Don Firth

*This same lack of creativity also permeates the movie industry. Notice how many movies issued within the last decade of so are remakes of previously successful movies and TV shows. In the remakes, usually the production values are superior (due to technological advancements in movie-making), but in other ways the remake fails abysmally to measure up to the original. Imagine, for example, some movie company trying to do a remake of Casablanca, starring, say, William Hurt and Demi Moore. Just the thought of it makes my stomach turn, but I'm quite sure something like that has already been discussed in Hollywood—many times.