Telly

You may think of British television in terms of Fawlty Towers, the Saint, and Doctor Who, but you may not realize that all of these programs originally came from the UK: American Idol (X Factor), The Apprentice, Dancing With the Stars (Strictly Come Dancing), Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, Deal or No Deal, Weakest Link, Whose Line Is It Anyway, Big Brother, Antiques Roadshow, The Office, Trading Spaces (Changing Rooms), Supernanny, Survivor, Wife Swap, Hell's Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, and Meerkat Manor (the voiceover is changed to an American accent--really!).

In fact, British exports are at an all-time high, so expect to see these shows sometime soon. (You may have already seen some of these; I haven't been keeping up with American television.)

• Come Dine With Me - Four individuals take turns hosting a dinner party, with the guests secretly rating each other. The highest score wins £1,000.
• Cast Offs - A "scripted reality show" (or "mockumentary") about 6 disabled people on a deserted island: A blind man, a deaf woman, a paraplegic, a dwarf, a woman with cherubism, and someone with a thyroid condition (or something).
• Cash in the Attic - People sell household items at auction in order to splash out on concert tickets or new golf clubs.
• Peep Show - a comedy based on the unspoken thoughts of the two main characters.
• Argumental - two people argue for and against random stuff, like nuclear power and cotton sheets.
• The World's Strictest Parents - unruly middle-class teenagers are sent abroad to live with strict families in undeveloped countries.
• How To Look Good Naked - middle-age women agree to be photographed in the buff, and those pictures are displayed in prominent public areas.
• Being Human - a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghose live together in a flat. (Oddly, this is a serious drama.)
• Home and Away - a British family is sent to Australia for a week, where they look at different properties and meet several potential employers, and then have to choose to stay or move.
• Springwatch - 2 hours a night for 3 weeks, in prime time and on a major channel, hidden cameras capture local wildlife
• River Cottage - chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall raises his own animals and vegetables, inviting guests to harvest the food and prepare a large meal.
• QI - A quiz show where points are awarded for answers that are 'quite interesting' and deducted for answers that are not.
• Prime Minister Questions - Members of Parliament ask questions, and the Prime Minister gives unrelated answers.
• Bargain Hunt - Two teams are given £300 to spend on antiques, which are then sold at auction and the winning team keeps the difference. (Usually it's less than a tenner.)
• House Swap - Two families looking to move to different areas are shown each other's homes, and then decide if they want to swap.
• Countdown - Two contestants are given a series of letters and 30 seconds to come up with as many words as they can. (Bonus points for the longest word.)
• Don't Tell the Bride - a couple are given £5,000 to plan their dream wedding, but the groom has to make every decision with no input from the bride.
• Homes Under the Hammer - houses bought at auction, sight-unseen, are evaluated.
• Heir Hunters - a team of PIs track down heirs to unclaimed estates (for a portion of the award).
• How Clean Is Your House - Two women clean the dirtiest homes in the country, then make the owners promise not to let it get that bad again.
• Take Away My Takeaway - Teenagers outside fast food restaurants are taken to see where the food comes from.
• Dragon's Den - Would-be entrepreneurs pitch to 5 venture capitalists, trying to get them to invest £50,000 - 250,000 in their business.
• Don't Get Screwed - A consumer protections show whose tagline is "We take customer service to a new low, to show you your rights."
• Mock the Week, Have I Got News For You, 9 out of 10 Cats, and Never Mind the Buzzcocks - game shows based on current events, which are then syndicated and re-broadcast years later, long after the material is relevant).

This week, I've been enjoying The Queen (a 5-part dramatization about...uh....the Queen), Life (a 10-part documentary about...uh...life), and Toy Stories (a 6-part series using toys from the 70s in large-scale applications, such as a full-size Lego house, a 3 1/2 mile slot-car race track, and a 37-mile electric train track).