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Post by pjaye on May 2, 2016 11:43:51 GMT
And I also said it's not good or bad, just different. But I do think the production quality felt lower on most of the shows If you say the quality of something "feels lower quality" then by definition you ARE saying it is bad/worse. You can't have it both ways and say something is 'lower quality' but at the same time claim you don't mean that in a negative way, of course lower quality means that you think something is worse. Adding that "it wouldn't fly in the USA" makes it quite clear that you do think British TV is not up to the USA "standards" But I guess if fake, plastic surgeried people who can't move their foreheads and have boobs that point to the sky and who all live in mansions and have billions of dollars makes for a great TV show, then Americans have it in the bag. Personally I prefer great acting, good storylines and realistic settings for my definition of good TV.
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Post by gailoh on May 2, 2016 12:45:08 GMT
I agree with you...their programing is refreshing and more real to me.
We Netflix a lot of shows from over there.
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Post by gailoh on May 2, 2016 12:47:27 GMT
pjaye... "But I guess if fake, plastic surgeried people who can't move their foreheads and have boobs that point to the sky and who all live in mansions and have billions of dollars makes for a great TV show, then Americans have it in the bag. Personally I prefer great acting, good storylines and realistic settings for my definition of good TV."
I agree with you 100%...
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Post by gryroagain on May 2, 2016 13:49:39 GMT
Not really on topic, but the teeth have gotten just out of hand. There is a lot of really over the top, distractingly white teeth going on- it looks like they have added in extras and you just see a blinding flash of giant teeth. It's really weird looking, IMO. I can't even tell if the person is attractive or focus on anything they are saying because all I see are improbably white hundreds of teeth and brain is trying to figure out if the person is part shark.
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Post by pierogi on May 2, 2016 13:51:31 GMT
I think Call the Midwife and Downton Abbey are very polished shows on par with any American program. Wow, that's totally insulting. American TV isn't exactly the "top" that all other countries have to aspire to, in fact I think it's pretty much the opposite, British TV sets the standard and USA TV has a handful of programs that are on par. Whenever a favourite book is being made into a movie, I always hope that the Brits will do it because if the Americans do they'll just shove in whatever actor is "in" right now and even the 90 year olds will have stretched plastic faces that don't move and perfect bodies. I remember watching and episode of some TV show where Tim Curry was playing a homeless man, they yellowed up his front four teeth, but as soon as he opened his mouth a bit more you could see all his teeth were neon white and not a filling in sight. Even homeless people living in dumpsters have great teeth in America. I much prefer real looking people in my TV shows and movies. Huh? I was responding to another poster who said that British programs had lower production value. I agree with what you said.
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Post by pierogi on May 2, 2016 13:57:41 GMT
Wow, that's totally insulting. American TV isn't exactly the "top" that all other countries have to aspire to, in fact I think it's pretty much the opposite, British TV sets the standard and USA TV has a handful of programs that are on par. I don't think it was insulting I think she was reacting to these comments. Thank you. I was trying to stick up for good TV. I'll bow out now.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2016 14:05:59 GMT
Not really on topic, but the teeth have gotten just out of hand. There is a lot of really over the top, distractingly white teeth going on- it looks like they have added in extras and you just see a blinding flash of giant teeth. It's really weird looking, IMO. I can't even tell if the person is attractive or focus on anything they are saying because all I see are improbably white hundreds of teeth and brain is trying to figure out if the person is part shark. No, not really on topic but funny I have actually gotten used to all the perfect teeth. Its not just on TV, at the company I work for, all of the younger people seem to have blindingly perfect smiles. It does look great.
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Post by anxiousmom on May 2, 2016 14:10:28 GMT
Not really on topic, but the teeth have gotten just out of hand. There is a lot of really over the top, distractingly white teeth going on- it looks like they have added in extras and you just see a blinding flash of giant teeth. It's really weird looking, IMO. I can't even tell if the person is attractive or focus on anything they are saying because all I see are improbably white hundreds of teeth and brain is trying to figure out if the person is part shark. I can not STAND to watch anything with Nicholas Cage in it (the more recent stuff) because of his blindingly white teeth that look like chiclets. It is distracting to the point of pretty much the exclusion of all else.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2016 19:37:22 GMT
Not really on topic, but the teeth have gotten just out of hand. There is a lot of really over the top, distractingly white teeth going on- it looks like they have added in extras and you just see a blinding flash of giant teeth. It's really weird looking, IMO. I can't even tell if the person is attractive or focus on anything they are saying because all I see are improbably white hundreds of teeth and brain is trying to figure out if the person is part shark. I can not STAND to watch anything with Nicholas Cage in it (the more recent stuff) because of his blindingly white teeth that look like chiclets. It is distracting to the point of pretty much the exclusion of all else. So funny! A friend just posted a selfie with Hoda Someone from the Today Show. My friend looks perfectly normal with nice teeth, but Hoda's teeth take over the entire selfie. They're so WHITE and PERFECT. They make my friend's teeth look yellow, but in real life they aren't at all.
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anniebygaslight
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I'd love a cup of tea. #1966
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Post by anniebygaslight on May 3, 2016 6:28:30 GMT
Not really on topic, but the teeth have gotten just out of hand. There is a lot of really over the top, distractingly white teeth going on- it looks like they have added in extras and you just see a blinding flash of giant teeth. It's really weird looking, IMO. I can't even tell if the person is attractive or focus on anything they are saying because all I see are improbably white hundreds of teeth and brain is trying to figure out if the person is part shark. I totally agree with this. So often people look as if they are wearing dentures, which have been bleached in a glass by the bedside overnight. A colleague had her teeth whitened a few weeks ago, and it just looks wrong. She now looks as if she is modelling dentures for a racehorse. It cost her a fortune, and she said it hurt whilst it was being done. What is the point? Don't get me started on her eyebrows. She tells us that she powders them, applies some sort of wax, fills in the gaps with pencil and then gels them. She looks as if they have been drawn on by a child with an indelible marker. You see her teeth and eyebrows before you see the rest of her.
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2016 7:32:15 GMT
Don't get me started on her eyebrows. She tells us that she powders them, applies some sort of wax, fills in the gaps with pencil and then gels them. She looks as if they have been drawn on by a child with an indelible marker. You see her teeth and eyebrows before you see the rest of her.
[/quote][
I'm always fascinated by drawn on eyebrows. Particularly done badly. Carla from Coronation Street always has perfectly drawn on eyebrows - even when she was in hospital!! My sister draws hers on too - really badly:( I'm contemplating mentioning it, but I know it won't go over very well.
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Post by gar on May 3, 2016 8:09:25 GMT
Not really on topic, but the teeth have gotten just out of hand. There is a lot of really over the top, distractingly white teeth going on- it looks like they have added in extras and you just see a blinding flash of giant teeth. It's really weird looking, IMO. I can't even tell if the person is attractive or focus on anything they are saying because all I see are improbably white hundreds of teeth and brain is trying to figure out if the person is part shark. No, not really on topic but funny I have actually gotten used to all the perfect teeth. Its not just on TV, at the company I work for, all of the younger people seem to have blindingly perfect smiles. It does look great. Do you think so? i think it often looks really odd. I guess I must be a fan of the more natural look - what with whitened teeth and eyebrows that don't look like 'hair' I find a lot of people's looks are fascinating these days
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Post by jackie on May 3, 2016 10:54:50 GMT
I'm not sure why it's completely insulting for someone to say that they think US shows have higher production values, but a diatribe about how awful American TV is and that we muck everything up is perfectly acceptable.
Sometimes it feels like it's unacceptable to say that you prefer something American.
I personally understand why people prefer either. I have shows that I love from America and from other countries. If I had to only watch one though, while I wouldn't want to limit myself, I would choose my American shows. Isn't it okay to prefer either?
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Post by pjaye on May 3, 2016 11:32:47 GMT
I'm not sure why it's completely insulting for someone to say that they think US shows have higher production values, but a diatribe about how awful American TV is and that we muck everything up is perfectly acceptable. They are two different things. One is an opinion about whether or not I like that sort of TV show/those actors/that type of storyline- we're allowed opinions. Claiming that an entire country is unable to produce TV up to the perceived "high standard" of American TV using the assumption that American TV is the gold standard is insulting to the Brits in this instance and generally to everyone else, and it's that attitude that gets people fired up. One is "I don't like that type of TV show/s or those types of actors in TV shows" The other is "your country isn't capable of producing good quality TV shows" Big difference. So yes, if someone starts making those sorts of comments it invites a retaliation and they shouldn't be surprised when that is equally insulting in reply.
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tincin
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Post by tincin on May 3, 2016 12:00:10 GMT
I just got back from a business trip in Europe. I wind down at the end of the day by watching TV, so I was happy that there were a few channels that had English language, which is not always the case. There were 6 channels that had BBC programming, and I spent the week watching some really interesting programs. The one thing that struck me was that I was constantly seeing the faces of gasp! older women. Most of them were not especially attractive, and did not have anywhere close to perfect teeth. A good number of them were overweight. And there they were, on the TV, as if they had the right to be. Imagine that! I found that to be so refreshing. If you watch TV in the US, you would think that everyone is assembled from a kit of perfect parts and dies after the age of 40. If you ever see an older woman, she must be superhumanly preserved. If she LOOKS like an older woman, she is only there to be either the kindly grandmother or else is to be ridiculed. The men can be old in America. In fact on television it seems that the women prefer men at least 20 years their senior.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2016 12:05:20 GMT
I think that's very pervasive, in the movies as well. For an older, well known actor in either medium to be paired with a woman who is remotely age-appropriate is almost nonexistent.
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Post by Zee on May 3, 2016 14:02:52 GMT
No, not really on topic but funny I have actually gotten used to all the perfect teeth. Its not just on TV, at the company I work for, all of the younger people seem to have blindingly perfect smiles. It does look great. Do you think so? i think it often looks really odd. I guess I must be a fan of the more natural look - what with whitened teeth and eyebrows that don't look like 'hair' I find a lot of people's looks are fascinating these days With all due respect, your countrymen aren't particularly well-known for their good teeth, so I suppose it might look odd to you. To us, we are used to nice white smiles, even in the general public, so it's more odd to see someone with stained or bad teeth. I don't care for the BLINDING white you occasionally see, but that's not as common as you might think. I whiten my teeth about once a year. They're not super bright. It makes me feel more confident in my smile. I also fill in my brows because they're rather sparse, and the eyebrows are the frame of the face. The key is choosing the right color and shape so you don't end up looking like Groucho. What you think is excessive is just a standard of grooming to me.
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Post by gar on May 3, 2016 14:18:25 GMT
Do you think so? i think it often looks really odd. I guess I must be a fan of the more natural look - what with whitened teeth and eyebrows that don't look like 'hair' I find a lot of people's looks are fascinating these days With all due respect, your countrymen aren't particularly well-known for their good teeth, so I suppose it might look odd to you. To us, we are used to nice white smiles, even in the general public, so it's more odd to see someone with stained or bad teeth. I don't care for the BLINDING white you occasionally see, but that's not as common as you might think. I whiten my teeth about once a year. They're not super bright. It makes me feel more confident in my smile. I also fill in my brows because they're rather sparse, and the eyebrows are the frame of the face. The key is choosing the right color and shape so you don't end up looking like Groucho. What you think is excessive is just a standard of grooming to me. I know we're not known for having good teeth but we're catching up The quote I used said 'blindingly' white teeth....so that was what I was picturing but yes, mildly whitened teeth do look good, but I guess my thought is that if they jump out at you as very white then maybe it's a step too far? As for eyebrows - we're talking about different things probably. I fill my eyebrows too, I'm well aware as we age that lip colour fades, eye colour fades etc and I need that 'frame' but as you said - choosing the right colour, shape etc is crucial IF you want to look natural. Many of the girls and women I see with incredibly heavy eyebrows certainly are not intending to look natural, they like the heavy, emphasised brow. I think grooming eyebrows is normal certainly, including penciling or whatever method you choose but when they look like they've been stuck on and don't even look like hair I just think that's an odd look to go for, it's a strange trend, above and beyond having groomed brows.
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Post by pjaye on May 3, 2016 14:28:17 GMT
I do think the teeth thing seems to have been taken to extremes in famous people - I can't comment on what the average American on the street does because I have no experience of that, but I do see American celebrities on TV and in movies & magazines.
What you see now is not only super white, but a lot of them have perfectly even, same sized teeth that are completely level across the bottom. Teeth are designed to be different shapes and sizes for different functions, and when they "fix" them to this degree it just looks so fake and well, "horsey" I get fixing bad teeth or really crooked teeth etc, but now people (by that I mean famous people) are going too far and fixing teeth are were perfectly OK to start with and it takes a lot of personality out of their face. Plus it just feeds into that whole beauty industry/ideal that what we have naturally is not good enough and we need to spends thousands of dollars to make it perfect.
I do think it's a problem that people see this in celebrities and think this is normal when pretty much no one is born with teeth like that. Then it comes up in threads like this where people say 'the English have bad teeth"...no they don't, they have normal teeth, the type that people are naturally born with, they just don't have falsely altered big white teeth.
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Post by jackie on May 3, 2016 15:46:52 GMT
I'm not sure why it's completely insulting for someone to say that they think US shows have higher production values, but a diatribe about how awful American TV is and that we muck everything up is perfectly acceptable. They are two different things. One is an opinion about whether or not I like that sort of TV show/those actors/that type of storyline- we're allowed opinions. Claiming that an entire country is unable to produce TV up to the perceived "high standard" of American TV using the assumption that American TV is the gold standard is insulting to the Brits in this instance and generally to everyone else, and it's that attitude that gets people fired up. One is "I don't like that type of TV show/s or those types of actors in TV shows" The other is "your country isn't capable of producing good quality TV shows" Big difference. So yes, if someone starts making those sorts of comments it invites a retaliation and they shouldn't be surprised when that is equally insulting in reply. Oh come on! They are not different. It's silly to say that someone's opinion that American shows are slicker and have higher production values is insulting to an entire country, but it's merely "your opinion" that America (and yes, the entire country--just like you complained about) will "shove any actor in a role" and that they'll mess up a book if they make it into a TV show as opposed to the Brits, who will do a good job with it. Both of these things are opinions, both are not very positive descriptions about how one country produces/creates a TV show. How you can think one is insulting and the other is okay makes zero sense. We're all generalizing here and we're all expressing our opinions--most favorable to British TV and very little not. I would say American TV is taking the harder knocks here. Actually I think that calling American TV slicker with higher production values is part of what everyone is saying they have problems with. Some people might prefer that but others don't like it. The British TV shows feel more real to people and I think this, in addition to the actors' appearances, sometimes plays into it. I just watched Doctor Foster: A Woman Scorned on Lifetime recently. As soon as it came on, my thought was "this looks strange, almost more like a play or a soap opera than what I'm used to when I see a movie on TV". I looked it up on the Internet and it was a BBC miniseries that Lifetime was airing. It did have that different kind of production value that I'm often used to seeing with British TV. It didn't matter--I loved it. It was well-acted and well-done. By the way, did anyone else watch it? I keep meaning to start a thread to talk about it--it was really good!
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Post by bc2ca on May 3, 2016 15:58:03 GMT
I just got back from a business trip in Europe. I wind down at the end of the day by watching TV, so I was happy that there were a few channels that had English language, which is not always the case. There were 6 channels that had BBC programming, and I spent the week watching some really interesting programs. The one thing that struck me was that I was constantly seeing the faces of gasp! older women. Most of them were not especially attractive, and did not have anywhere close to perfect teeth. A good number of them were overweight. And there they were, on the TV, as if they had the right to be. Imagine that! I found that to be so refreshing. If you watch TV in the US, you would think that everyone is assembled from a kit of perfect parts and dies after the age of 40. If you ever see an older woman, she must be superhumanly preserved. If she LOOKS like an older woman, she is only there to be either the kindly grandmother or else is to be ridiculed. This is so true, especially if you compare Coronation Street or another British soap to any American soap opera where only the most beautiful people live in a perfectly made-up, coiffed, buffed and dressed world. I remember years ago when Botox first came out a soap star talking about the dilemma of using it for the wrinkle free forehead and then realizing she looked ridiculous trying to act with no facial expressions.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2016 16:40:05 GMT
I just watched Doctor Foster: A Woman Scorned on Lifetime recently. As soon as it came on, my thought was "this looks strange, almost more like a play or a soap opera than what I'm used to when I see a movie on TV". I looked it up on the Internet and it was a BBC miniseries that Lifetime was airing. It did have that different kind of production value that I'm often used to seeing with British TV. It didn't matter--I loved it. It was well-acted and well-done. By the way, did anyone else watch it? I keep meaning to start a thread to talk about it--it was really good! You were right in your original thought. It was a five ( if I remember rightly) part Drama series called Doctor Foster. It was Lifetime that attached all the episodes together into one and added the title A Woman Scorned. It was never a TV movie here.
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Post by pjaye on May 3, 2016 17:19:09 GMT
Both of these things are opinions, both are not very positive descriptions about how one country produces/creates a TV show. How you can think one is insulting and the other is okay makes zero sense Makes the same sense as you thinking it is completely OK for someone from your country to post the British TV isn't as high quality and "wouldn't fly" in the USA, but then get completely bent out of shape when someone from another country criticizes how your country makes TV & movies. You seem to think it's OK to dish it out, but you can't take it yourself. So your own argument by your own definition "makes zero sense"
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Post by flanz on May 3, 2016 17:30:44 GMT
Agreed, OP! And I would add to that by saying that I love watching the news on Canadian tv. Reporters and anchors come in all ages, sizes, colors - truly diverse and beautiful! AND they actually report facts instead of share opinions!
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Post by jackie on May 3, 2016 18:08:47 GMT
Both of these things are opinions, both are not very positive descriptions about how one country produces/creates a TV show. How you can think one is insulting and the other is okay makes zero sense Makes the same sense as you thinking it is completely OK for someone from your country to post the British TV isn't as high quality and "wouldn't fly" in the USA, but then get completely bent out of shape when someone from another country criticizes how your country makes TV & movies. You seem to think it's OK to dish it out, but you can't take it yourself. So your own argument by your own definition "makes zero sense" Either you aren't reading what I'm saying or I'm not expressing myself well. I actually never got bent out of shape at any of the comments made about American TV, in fact I think I agreed with many of them. The only thing I was "bent out of shape on" is the hand-slapping for negative generalizations about British TV (less slick, poorer production values) immediately followed by negative generalizations about American TV (always mess up productions from books, just throw any actor in because they're famous). Seemed a bit hypocritical to me. I think everyone is just expressing their opinions or perceptions of the two styles of TV and they are all entitled to those opinions. I don't think Lifetime attached them all together here either, at least not the way I viewed it. It was presented as a miniseries here too--but in three parts, not five. So perhaps I should have used the term mini-series instead of TV movie. I didn't realize that Lifetime added the "A Womans Scorned" to the title though. That part makes me laugh because it is such a "lifetime movie" thing to do. I almost didn't watch it because of the silly "lifetimey" title. I'm glad I did because I loved it and thought the main actress (cannot remember her name) in particular did a really good job.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2016 18:14:03 GMT
I was just thinking about this last night. High Def is not kind to actors, but it's only because we're used to seeing them so airbrushed.
I saw an ad for Matthew Perry's current show last night and I didn't get drawn to him the way I did to Chandler Bing. And then I realized that through the power of reruns, Matthew Perry is still 35 in my head.
Between makeup, technology, and reruns, it's no wonder aging is so hard on actors and their careers. How can biology compete with those things?
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2016 19:24:40 GMT
I know exactly what you mean! It's so hard to explain, but I know it when I see it (which is also what they say about pornography). It's like we're used to seeing a flatter image; and in these cases it has more depth or something. I always wondered why that is, is it a different kind of camera or something they do to the film afterwards.
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Post by jackie on May 3, 2016 19:35:46 GMT
I know exactly what you mean! It's so hard to explain, but I know it when I see it (which is also what they say about pornography). It's like we're used to seeing a flatter image; and in these cases it has more depth or something. I always wondered why that is, is it a different kind of camera or something they do to the film afterwards. Yes, I don't know it is but it's instantly recognizable. I'm sure there's an explanation for it..."oh, they're shot in blah, blah, blah..." I just don't know it. I agree Jen about the high def thing. I feel bad for actors when I see those images. Every flaw and imperfection is clearly magnified in high def.
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