American TV needs to learn from BBC

Completely agree! I'm American and fell in love with all things British!!!! First was North & South, with yummy Richard Armitage; after that I didn't look back. Thanks to the BBC and Netflix for opening up a whole new world for me.

Agree (also from the US).

It is the commercialization of the shows, trying to put lighting in a bottle. Matt LeBlanc kind of says it on Episodes, when discussing with the Brit writers (they were adamant that a lesbian character would never sleep with the coach, LeBlanc's character, and he said that they shouldn't paint themselves into a corner, that in American TV they would be writing longer seasons, and that they might want to leave their options open).

This leaving their options open, and to continuously push the suspension of disbelief, makes American shows progressively difficult to digest. By the second season, they've strayed so far from plausible that it is near to impossible for someone not already watching to get into it w/o going back to the beginning (the stories themselves are many times simple, there are just too many layers of devices and tricks that make them unintelligible w/o context), and viewership will only go down as people either get bored or get busy (even if they might come back later).

While it would be nice to see more episodes on many Brit shows, it is nice that they go all out in a couple seasons, there is no slow drip of revelations that then gets swept under the rug and forgotten, there is an overall direction and consequences (for the characters) to the actions we see.

A bit related to commercial value. From what I understand, BBC shows are at least partially government sponsored. I think that ratings/profitability do have a considerable weight, but it is not the only factor.

It also has to do with the way they are produced. In the US, the driving force is the producer, which might or not have a creative background; when in the UK, it is the writer. One is rooted on profiting, the other on making a good show. They are supposed to find a happy medium, but in the US, it tends to favor making the show cheaper for the widest audience. How is it possible that period and sci-fi shows in the UK flourish, within a small market, when similar shows are considered non-profitable in the US (with a viewership several times larger than the UK show, either original or remake?).

America is already learning from the BBC.

We have American Idol, X-Factor, Dancing with the Stars, I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!... etc. Where do you think those shows originated from? BBC and ITV!

Doe you realized the BBC cut Ripper St after season two? BBC changed its night, it couldn't compete with one of the reality shows and it was canceled (just like they do in the U.S.!)

It took Amazon UK to pick up season three.

BBC would rather fund shows like "Atlantis." Haven't heard of it? Look it up!

BTW, Ripper Street follows the US production design of Copper.

Top of the Lake is an American co-production with two other countries.

As an outsider looking in at US tv the problem I always see is that US networks always play it safe with their shows. They turn shows that on the outside appear to be mature and aimed at an adult audience in to something that a 13 year old can watch and not be bothered by it. Constantine is a good example for a current show, while I'm enjoying it I do sometimes wish it would push its limits a bit more. Over here if a show is aimed at adults they schedule it after the 9pm watershed and rarely hold back. Channel 4 shows Utopia and Black Mirror are good examples.
This isn't really just confined to tv though I read many a story about what should be an R rated film in the US being turned in to PG13 so it can "reach a wider audience", trouble is this ends up alienating the intended audience.
Just remember the Beeb put out just as many rubbish shows as amazing ones and with US shows like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones I hope US networks will see the positive in beefing up their shows a bit more.

As a Brit, I think the BBC needs to learn a thing or two from HBO. Most of the TV writing here is lamentable.

I enjoy British shows far more than I do american, but that's not saying their production companies can't be just as idiotic as American ones. I don't recall the specific details, but one of my favorite BBC shows was Robin Hood, and they ended up premiering it against the world cup, and so it got terrible ratings and ended up being cancelled.

Netflix has really made me even more of an addict for British tv, I just hate f a lling in love with a new show, then finding out it had premiered a year ago and got cancelled already. (The Paradise being the newest victim)

If only the US had better quality programs...

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The OP's point needs refining. It's US networks that need to learn the lesson, the cable companies cottoned on years ago.

The key is to stop trying to stretch dramas, especially those featuring action sequences, to fill a 23 episode schedule. Most good UK dramas are written by a small writing crew and last 6-10 episodes. The likes of HBO, ShoTime & AMC have had success with similar set ups, with many shows lasting from 10-13 episodes a season. From the Sopranos & the Wire to True Detective & Homeland, the output from the US still contains high quality, it just rarely originates from one of the main networks.

Now the streaming companies are jumping on board with the same structure giving the populous the likes of House of Cards, Orange is the New Black & Vikings.

Until the networks decide to divide the 'Season' in two & let show creators have a much bigger hand in the creation of the shows, they will continue to fall behind the competition both locally and globally.

Against regional coding, US websites blocked in UK & staggered global broadcasts!