tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post8281552407027563631..comments2024-03-16T00:21:43.240+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: seasons and serieslynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-90665686547042929362022-09-24T22:37:22.856+01:002022-09-24T22:37:22.856+01:00I know I am hideously late to this conversation… b...I know I am hideously late to this conversation… but found it incredible that Series 3 of Boosh could spur on such a fantastic blog :)<br /><br />In terms of BrE and AmE… please can you update this blog to denote the use of ‘- -‘ (only without the space as the iPhone won’t let me do two consecutively without forming a dash) :D<br /><br />Nowhere in BrE will you find a ‘- -‘ this is purely for AmE.<br /><br />Bostin ay it bab?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-67779435612231437912018-04-12T19:30:41.322+01:002018-04-12T19:30:41.322+01:00For American readers, I'm Sorry I Haven't ...For American readers, <b>I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue</b> is subtitled <b>The Antidote to Panel Games</b> in which the four 'panellists' are <i>'given silly things to do'.</i><br /><br />Among the running gags based on the panel-show format:<br /><br />• Copying <b>Twenty Questions</b> a <i>mystery voice</i> announces a word or phrase to listeners at home — with the embellishment of a supposed <i>laser display screen</i> for the studio audience.<br /><br />• Echoing the references on shows like <b>Just a Minute</b> to a charming young lady scorer, <b>Clue</b> makes salacious, suggestive reference to the doings of sex-mad scorer Samantha. This earned the original chairman, Hymphrey Littleton, the sobriquet <i>purveyor of blue-chip filth.</i> (In the interests of gender equality, Samatha is occasionally replaced by a male sex-object called Sven.)<br /><br />• Catchphrases abound, with occasional audience participation — as in the exchange:<br />CHAIRMAN ... <i>I'll be awarding points. And points mean prizes. What do points mean?</i><br />AUDIENCE <i>Prizes!</i><br /><br />It would take a substantial essay to describe the whole of the show — and a substantial PhD thesis to explain why we Brits find it funny.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04868191560554400497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-1565379981178258262018-04-12T12:56:08.535+01:002018-04-12T12:56:08.535+01:00Call My Bluff with a single panel was the inspira...<b>Call My Bluff</b> with a single panel was the inspiration for Radio's <b>The Unbelievable Truth</b>. But the development on TV, <b>Would I Lie to You</b>, features two teams. Similarly Radio's <b>The News Quiz</b> was adapted to create TV's <b>Have I Got News For You</b> with two teams.<br /><br /> I see a pattern.<br /><br />Fortunately, nobody has ever tried to turn <b>I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue</b> into a team game. Hm, yes .. well, <b> some</b> rounds are between pairs. But although <i>Points means prizes</i> you can never tell who's playing against who — or, indeed, what Samantha the scorer actually does.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04868191560554400497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-3575761798055798502018-04-12T12:39:55.009+01:002018-04-12T12:39:55.009+01:00UK What's My Line also had a single panel rath...UK <b>What's My Line</b> also had a single panel rather than two teams. The same was true for <b>Animal, Vegetable Mineral</b> and <b>Face the Music</b>. (See my reply to Bill Filas.)David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04868191560554400497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-56030898768667292462018-04-12T12:34:17.087+01:002018-04-12T12:34:17.087+01:00What's My Line was also shown on British TV. T...<b>What's My Line</b> was also shown on British TV. The panellists were relatively major celebrities, though. One show (people noways might say <i>'episode'</i>) that lingers in my memory — and, I suspect, of many, many others who watched it — is when one guest's job was <b>sagger-maker's bottom-knocker</b>.<br /><br />Around the same time there was a much more highbrow guessing show <b>Animal, Vegetable, Mineral</b> in which three eminent archaeologists tried to identify artefacts just by examining them. The name was taken from a standard question in the lower-brow radio show <b>Twenty Questions</b> — which you also had in America. Indeed, invented it.<br /><br />Another highbrow quizzing-the-panet show was <b>Face the Music</b> based on classical music. As with <b>Animal, Vegetable, Mineral</b> there was an element of guesswork, but the entertainment lay in seeing people display their knowledge.<br /><br />The sub-genre isn't entirely dead. In recent years there's been a show called <b>Quizeum</b> (a blend of <i>quizz</i> and <i>museum</i>). It involves two experts being led around a particular museum and quizzed about odd exhibits.<br /><br />The introduction of a member of the public among the celebs survives as a round in <b>Would I Lie to You</b>, a contest between two teams of celebrities fronted by comedians and chaired by a comedian. In the round <b>This is my...</b> a non-celebrity walks on and one team lies — or in one case tells the truth — about how they know him or her. Not quite the same as <b>What's My Line</b> etc as the opposing team never directly address him/her.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04868191560554400497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-61854057194969638022018-04-11T07:25:12.092+01:002018-04-11T07:25:12.092+01:00You Bet Your Life is similar in spirit if not prac...You Bet Your Life is similar in spirit if not practice. The main conceit is just letting Groucho riff on his guests.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-11504831622685048932014-04-10T01:18:00.550+01:002014-04-10T01:18:00.550+01:00It lacks the team aspect of UK panel shows,(which ...It lacks the team aspect of UK panel shows,(which I spend far too much time watching on youtube)Comedy Central's @midnight has comedians trying to out joke each other on trending stories for the glory of winning the internet for a day.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02138260302522477243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-57408841289894151352013-10-13T12:54:44.405+01:002013-10-13T12:54:44.405+01:00One thing I don't think you've mentioned h...One thing I don't think you've mentioned here is that in the UK we can often have more than one 'series' showing within a year. Not often with scripted shows (if there's two sets of a drama show within a year, they're more likely to be called two parts of the same series, as with Doctor Who) but non-scripted shows can easily have multiple series in a year.<br /><br />I'm not remotely surprised that the US doesn't have the same kind of light entertainment programming that we do - because you can sometimes see it in the faces of American celebrities appearing for the first time on a UK show! They must come on expecting to just plug their latest movie/album/etc and suddenly find they're asked to chat about onions or to pot plants or something equally unexpected. After the initial shock, they seem to either relax and get into it,or look like they desperately want to go home. (This isn't just panel quiz shows etc - The One Show and Graham Norton Show can both have their celebrities talking about and/or doing some very weird things!)<br /><br />(Americans aren't the only ones who suffer from this. There are still politicians who go on 'Have I Got News for You' and believe they can plug their political agenda. This never ends well for them.)Lantahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09682115425690670590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-88087624346894800042013-02-26T23:55:13.886+00:002013-02-26T23:55:13.886+00:00Why is a word needed like AmE 'series', th...Why is a word needed like AmE 'series', though? You can just call it a TV program(me), can't you? <br /><br />You don't have to say 'Downton Abbey is my favo(u)rite series', you can just say it's your favo(u)rite (AmE) show/(BrE) programme. <br /><br />If you need to say it's in six parts rather than one, you could say 'it's a six-part series', but that still would be understood to refer to the one (AmE) season. lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-6873588437161064812013-02-26T23:38:25.909+00:002013-02-26T23:38:25.909+00:00I confused by the allegation that American shows h...I confused by the allegation that American shows have a set number of episodes a season, which is not the case from the shows I watch. Some have 22 episodes, and some only have 10, and it can be nearly anything even if it's a 6 episode season, it doesn't have to be a mini series, because mini series has the assumption that they have a fixed end, and can't go on for another season. It has nothing to do with having only 6 episodes. Then there is day time tv and light night tv, and they have tons of episodes a year. Many shows change the number depending on contracts and negotiations for each season or set of seasons. We also have tons of half seasons separated shows, with those mid season fillers. They typically are the shows that test the audience's desire for them. You can almost call it a pilot season.<br /><br />and I saw a commenter said that many shows in the UK start off on radio... we haven't had popular radio programs since before most people had tvs, so it's funny you guys still have so many radio programs that become tv series. We only have those here for call -in shows, or news/opinion shows, not fictional programing.<br /><br />This article left me more confused then before regarding the answer to the main question presented. what do you call a tv show series, if you call seasons series?<br /><br />Now did I miss something, or in the UK you guys really dont have a word for an entire tv show run (series-US)?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-69892349768130382142011-07-30T14:50:31.333+01:002011-07-30T14:50:31.333+01:00@Ian Eiloart: in British sport(s), the term 's...@Ian Eiloart: in British sport(s), the term 'season' is used just as in AmE (for a particular 8-month-ish competition); I suspect that this is the origin of the US term as wellJoe Mooneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-2503492910167952352011-07-29T18:05:12.184+01:002011-07-29T18:05:12.184+01:00The historical pattern in the US was that the big ...The historical pattern in the US was that the big 3 networks would all start airing new episodes in the fall for something like 24 to 26 weeks, and then during the summer, re-show the same episodes in "summer reruns." So the colder months were when you would watch new episodes, and the summer was when everything was a repeat, and you'd go outside and maybe only catch up on episodes you'd missed. The summer was a long, boring period for TV fanatics when the only thing on TV was something you'd seen before. The sense of a change in September when new episodes and entirely new shows would debut, was quite dramatic, and coincided with the change in the weather. <br /><br />However, since TV in the US is primarily funded by advertisers, it became clear that getting eyeballs watching the screen year-round would pay more, and the strict division between the Fall season and Summer reruns has broken down. The move to dozens of channels with the move to cable TV has accelerated this. Now we have shows that are specifically designed to air only in the summer, filling in the gap between fall/winter shows. We no longer have a real seasonality to our programming, but we keep the term.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-42006609854697942342011-07-28T13:37:14.209+01:002011-07-28T13:37:14.209+01:00What I (UK) find odd about this is that something ...What I (UK) find odd about this is that something that lasts a whole year can be called a "season". For me, seasons last three months.Ian Eiloarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15353548476698379538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-28500868132797232112009-03-13T15:33:00.000+00:002009-03-13T15:33:00.000+00:00British TV does in fact refer to its "new season" ...British TV does in fact refer to its "new season" in the autumn, when more people are assumed to be indoors in the evenings and significant new series are announced.<BR/><BR/>KateAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-73087035661143581102009-02-18T16:48:00.000+00:002009-02-18T16:48:00.000+00:00One of the archetypal panel games on British TV is...One of the archetypal panel games on British TV is <I>Call My Bluff</I>. An obscure word is announced, then each of three panellists provides a plausible definition combined with a certain amount of witty banter centred around the word or its purported meaning. An opposing panellist then has to guess which is the correct definition.<BR/><BR/>According to <A HREF="http://www.ukgameshows.com/page/index.php?title=Call_My_Bluff" REL="nofollow">this webpage</A>, it was originally (1950s or early 60s) an American programme that never took off in the US.<BR/><BR/>But I've also seen one episode of an American version from the 1990s, so they must have tried to revive it. Instead of the witty banter, each celebrity panellist in turn recited a plug for his/her latest movie/TV show/book/album, and then stuck a definition at the end like an afterthought. It was unwatchable.<BR/><BR/>As long as US celebrity appearances include mandatory hard-sell plugs, I don't think the US will be watching many panel games.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-73502533786867828782008-04-12T11:41:00.000+01:002008-04-12T11:41:00.000+01:00Serial is usually used to refer to soap operas. A...<I>Serial</I> is usually used to refer to soap operas. A continuing story within a larger series is an <I>arc</I>, but not everyone would know that term...lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-90652325443620987632008-04-12T00:30:00.000+01:002008-04-12T00:30:00.000+01:00Do you differenciate (dp?!) the difference between...Do you differenciate (dp?!) the difference between a series and serial in the US? In the UK a series is usually a continous set of characters in different stories each episode (it is pointed out if the story is in more than one episode - "a two-parter"). A serial is a continuing storyiline over more than one episode.<BR/><BR/>And soaps are given the inflatted title of "continuing drama" to make them so more "posh"!DeeDubyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02787109203736547656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-54848740143480821172008-02-10T19:54:00.000+00:002008-02-10T19:54:00.000+00:00Bill F-- 'What's my Line' was revived in the 70s, ...Bill F-- 'What's my Line' was revived in the 70s, so I got the chance to see it. Two differences with the UK type (a) the UK panel shows divide the celebrities into teams, (b) the UK shows are much more banter-orient(at)ed. But I think if you combined the celebrities-as-contestants aspect of 'What's my Line' and the banter aspect of 'Hollywood Squares', you'd be close...lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-5758724246783030672008-02-10T19:30:00.000+00:002008-02-10T19:30:00.000+00:00I've never heard the phrase "terrestrial channels"...<I>I've never heard the phrase "terrestrial channels" in the US. </I><BR/>Originally "terrestrial channels" was opposed to "satellite channels" (Cable was never very big in Britain, unlike Ireland, where the 2 terrestrial channels laughably talk about the "network première" of a movie, meaning "the other channel hasn't shown it yet"). Now apparently digital earth-sourced broadcasts (whether Freeview or subscription) are not considered "terrestrial channels", just the 5 analog channels. What happens when the analog signal is switched off?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-85978321077067471522008-02-08T00:53:00.000+00:002008-02-08T00:53:00.000+00:00In the early 1950s U.S. television had game shows ...In the early 1950s U.S. television had game shows that I think may have resembled U.K. panel shows. Two in particular, <I>What's My Line</I> and <I>I've Got a Secret</I> each had a panel of four (fairly minor) celebrities who guessed, in the one case the occupation, in the other some trivial secret of non-celebrity guests. The non-celebrities may have received some token award for being on the show; the panelists received only points.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-27278812207810736982008-01-29T14:31:00.000+00:002008-01-29T14:31:00.000+00:00It sounds a little joky when I say it, but with ne...It sounds a little joky when I say it, but with nearly six weeks in (the) hospital, I felt pretty confined!lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-29385420742582243152008-01-29T01:30:00.000+00:002008-01-29T01:30:00.000+00:00"Confinement" -- that's so cute. Is that your natu..."Confinement" -- that's so cute. Is that your natural vocabulary? I didn't think anyone said that outside of books.Aviatrixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13634111275860140084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-5437938657066884542008-01-22T02:42:00.000+00:002008-01-22T02:42:00.000+00:00I'm in the US and listen to National Public Radio ...I'm in the US and listen to National Public Radio frequently.<BR/><BR/>One quiz/comedy show on NPR is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. It's a news quiz show from Chicago with one section featuring a well known, different person each week called 'not my job'. www.chicagopublicradio.org/waitwait.aspx.<BR/><BR/>The second quiz/comedy show, and my favorite, is called 'Says You' from Boston. It's a poor title but it asks questions from a wide range of topics including definitions and derivations, what's the difference, common thread, odd man out, adjacencies (state the famous line before or afer then one given), melded movies (for example the answer might be The Magnificent Seven Brides for Seven Brothers), and many more. www.saysyou.net<BR/><BR/>The third one is A Way With Words (two hosts, one each in SanDiego and New York City) which is not much of a comedy show but more a talk show about grammar and usage. There is one section now that quizzes the two hosts. www.waywordradio.orgAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-36944865531269090452008-01-19T06:05:00.000+00:002008-01-19T06:05:00.000+00:00I've never heard the phrase "terrestrial channels"...I've never heard the phrase "terrestrial channels" in the US. <BR/><BR/>I tend to prefer watching extraterrestrial channels, but usually get grossed out during alien love scenes. Too many tentacles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-28660001452862391182008-01-18T19:12:00.000+00:002008-01-18T19:12:00.000+00:00Great discussion. I've just searched through my US...Great discussion. I've just searched through my US TV listings and can't really find anything like the British panel show. One of the reasons is (in my opinion) that a lot of celebs over here don't like making a fool of themselves or anything close. You rarely see them in unscripted situations, and even the American "Whose line is it anyway?" seems a bit rehearsed to me.<BR/>Light entertainment - ah now I'm really homesick. Thank god for BBC America.Expat mumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17798190669591053390noreply@blogger.com