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Sherlock

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This subreddit is for discussions on Sherlock, a British television series that was created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.

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Related subreddits

For all things related to the books or other translations thereof, please check out the Sherlock Holmes subreddit, /r/Holmes

For discussions on Steven Moffat's work on the Doctor Who series, see our friends at /r/doctorwho, or if you like crossovers, try /r/Wholock

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all 74 comments

[–]dbt4949 44 points45 points ago

As an American I can say that it is American television that is the more boring. The same boorish sitcoms year after year. A few decent hour long dramas but I thank PBS for bringing something so well written, directed and acted as Sherlock. BBC America is bringing more British television and hopefully America will start to see its television for what it is and move toward the better television offered on PBS and BBC America. PS Red Dwarf Rocks and so sorry about America's attempt to take over Sherlock's place.

[–]Sip_That_Haterade[S] 19 points20 points ago

Agree. But American television still has a few great gems.( Breaking bad, Firefly, Arrested development.)

There's no denying that British and American television have different Styles.

Edit: As an American I was told to watch Sherlock from Whovians (I myself am a Whovian) and I have since been watching many British shows and say I throughly enjoy a lot of them.

[–][deleted] 20 points21 points ago

The way I see it, as a American we have to shuffle through all the crappy shows to find a good one on our tv and usually only the best shows from England are aired over here.

Each is filled with good and bad, we just don't get exposed to the bad from England.

[–]LastOfTheTime_Lords 4 points5 points ago

Not to at all belittle the British, but some American TV is phenomenal in its own right. TreeofLife is very right. For an example, check out The Newsroom on HBO

[–]darkflavour 1 point2 points ago

The Newsroom is absolutely exceptional.

[–]JMaboard 1 point2 points ago

That sounds like something along the lines of The Daily Show.

[–]animorph 5 points6 points ago

You're right, it's the same for us! We have to shuffle through all the crappy shows to find some good stuff, while we only get the best shows from America aired here.

[–]nickav16 3 points4 points ago

What about Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire?

[–]SharkBaitDLS 0 points1 point ago

I'd add Stargate and White Collar to the list of quality American television. But much beyond that, all I ever turn on is BBC America and Netflix. American television just irritates me most days.

[–]p0rkch0pexpress -2 points-1 points ago

Ahem "A Person of Interest" is excellent

[–]dent4da08 3 points4 points ago

I thoroughly enjoy Jonathan Nolan's take on real-world Batman and Oracle based around NYC. I can't wait for season two to air!

[–]swrdswllngwhr 2 points3 points ago

Sorry this might come off as mean... but am I the only person who downloads all the foreign shows they want to watch? I just can't imagine relying on PBS or BBC America to air programs in their entirety without cutting content for advertising or runtime or whatever.

Personally I just "obtain" the show in question, and if I really like it I'll purchase it off Amazon or Netflix when it becomes available to support the creators. I mean I guess if you have some sort of moral objection to filesharing the decision to wait for the television airing makes sense, but in that case damn you must have some kind of strong sense of conviction to withstand that kind of inconvenience. I'd have gone insane having to wait so long between episodes when I knew full well they were available elsewhere.

[–]2718281828 1 point2 points ago

I just can't imagine relying on PBS or BBC America to air programs in their entirety without cutting content for advertising or runtime or whatever.

BBC America actually sped up parts of Doctor Who on at least one episode. Fuck that noise. Piracy might not usually be right, but I'm not going to watch commercials and then get a degraded show.

[–]swrdswllngwhr 1 point2 points ago

Seriously! It's total bullshit. We should be able to pay for a proper BBC channel like we do for HBO. I'd happily tack an extra however-many dollars a month onto my cable bill for a few unaltered foreign channels. But of course that's never going to happen because OH NO WE NEED OUR COMMERCIALS.

And pah! In my mind piracy is "right" for as long as it takes the big corporations to wake up and revise their business plans. I've got plenty of money to buy what I want, but obtaining it illegally is far more user-friendly and convenient. That absolutely should not be the case. Downloading hella stuff is my passive-aggressive way to protest the system... and also get free movies.

[–]dbt4949 0 points1 point ago

Its called a DVR.

[–]swrdswllngwhr 0 points1 point ago

That doesn't solve the problem of having scenes cut or waiting ages between episodes. Your commitment remains astonishing.

[–]BigBenB123 7 points8 points ago

If I means anything, I love TopGear! It's by far, my favorite show. I'm an American by the way.

[–]TedFromTheFuture 5 points6 points ago

There are tons of explosions, car chases, and falling pianos. What American could resist?

[–]SharkBaitDLS 1 point2 points ago

Not to mention the sort of humor that would get someone crucified in the US, which is very refreshing to get to enjoy. I made a twitter solely to follow the TG presenters because they're just so damn entertaining.

[–]swrdswllngwhr 3 points4 points ago

I don't even own a car and I still watch TopGear. Hell I like it enough to have downloaded a bunch of episodes to watch when I'm bored at work. Jeremy Clarkson is the King of Trolls, Hammond is alternately adorable and insane, and James May is what you would get if you transformed a springer spaniel into a person. There's literally nothing not to like!

[–]Spygirl690 0 points1 point ago

Oh god yes (from NH, USA) we love TopGear. If only we didn't have to wait so long for new ones! we are keeping ourselves occupied watching the old seasons. It is so amusing to hear them reviewing cars that never ended up seeing the light of day. Also <3 Hampster love! <3

[–]Cheesejaguar -2 points-1 points ago

I love top gear, but I honestly haven't found another British TV show that I can sit through without feeling physical pain. American TV can be just as bad, but at least we had a few more awesome shows.

[–]platypuspracticus 7 points8 points ago

Your American friends have no clue or are pulling your chain. Not just Sherlock, not just Doctor Who but also Blackadder, Spaced, Black Books, pretty much anything that Charlie Brooker has made recently (any of the Wipe series, How TV Ruined Your Life, Black Mirror), Misfits, The Inbetweeners (well, the first couple seasons, the movie wasn't as good), The Office, The Thick of It, Young Ones, Top Gear, Nevermind the Buzzcocks.

Plenty of good British shows out there past and present.

Even the very brief but recent Dirk Gently show was very solid.

/an american

[–]maru_noodles 0 points1 point ago

There are some good Americanshows, however I don't want to find bad British shows.

[–]platypuspracticus 2 points3 points ago

Most of them are reality shows that make their way here.

[–]Sate_Hen 1 point2 points ago

Celebrity Big Brother started last night. Right after the regular Big Brother.

[–]Ilstig -1 points0 points ago

Get new friends.

[–]Karfanatik 0 points1 point ago

Im watchin top gear right now

[–]Drutarg 0 points1 point ago

Has anybody ever met a Brit that prefers American television programs over British ones?

[–]simonjp 4 points5 points ago

Oh absolutely. We've plenty of people who will only watch Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Star Trek, Stargate...

[–]Sate_Hen 2 points3 points ago

Yep. The fact is we import the best of the US and you import the best of British. The grass is always greener etc.

[–]ranchochupacabraj 0 points1 point ago

Yeah... this is me as an American to my American friends.

[–]ajemahaj 0 points1 point ago

as an American i can confirm this

[–]njndirish 1 point2 points ago

its all about character development. In most popular british tv shows, characters change over time and evolve. The most popular nonreality shows in america (two 1/2 men, tbbt, etc.) the characters have only changed physically since season 2. Most popular shows rarely have their mold fitting character's evolve.

[–]swrdswllngwhr 1 point2 points ago

I don't know, House underwent a pretty drastic character arc over the course of the series. Pushing Daisies (as short as it was) had so much character development you needed a flowchart to keep track, and even Scrubs had a lot of poignant moments and dramatic growth over its run. I haven't watched any American dramas since House ended though so maybe the newer stuff has gone downhill without my noticing.

[–]Khalku 1 point2 points ago

I haven't seen the latter seasons of House (the series started to bore me), but I do agree about his development up to what I'd seen (he went to rehab I think). Scrubs had development, but it also had that feel of "the more things change, the more they stay the same".

Don't know about your other examples though.

[–]swrdswllngwhr 0 points1 point ago

Hah, yeah I got bored with House after awhile too. I actually haven't even watched the last season yet, just read a synopsis to get the general gist of things and then went "yeah I'll get around to that later". It's now several months later and I still don't care. :\

[–]platypuspracticus 2 points3 points ago

I was a fan of House but I don't think there was that much character development. Whenever they threatened to do it, they just hit the reset button somehow.

[–]swrdswllngwhr 0 points1 point ago

Yeah he did tend to get yo-yo'd back and forth between character growth and devastating whatever-the-hells that set him back again. That's part of the reason I lost interest. It's not very satisfying seeing him finally get sober and find a girlfriend when you know he's just going to get screwed over again in a few episodes.

[–]platypuspracticus 1 point2 points ago

Though it did fit one of House's many beliefs that people never change.

[–]TheScarletPimpernel 1 point2 points ago

Pushing Daisies was great, I was sad when it was cancelled. It was my only reason for switching on the ghastly iTV2.

[–]swrdswllngwhr 0 points1 point ago

Oh man the whole premise was just so wacky and dark and whimsical! Plus the set work and costumes, the characters. Most under-appreciated show of the decade, really.

[–]TheScarletPimpernel 1 point2 points ago

It was excellently written, well acted, and beautifully shot. A masterpiece cut short imo.

[–]njndirish 0 points1 point ago

Im talking real popular, house had a strong beginning, but if memory serves me, it tailed in the ratings. Scrubs was always never strong. When i discuss popular, i refer to ratings, which is what execs measure popularity with sadly.

[–]electricmice -2 points-1 points ago

did you just mention two 1/2 men as being a good american tv show? what's wrong with you? people watch that show for tits and ass that's it.

[–]ZabadoGiggy 1 point2 points ago

Go back and read it. They said most popular noble reality shows in America.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

Nope, not gonna let this slide. A huge majority of the british television audience are Americans, so don't even go there. You're hanging out with the wrong Americans.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

Sherlock, Dr Who, all that shit is stuff i LOVE, so as an American, your post offends me :)

[–]Sip_That_Haterade[S] 1 point2 points ago

I love these shows and finally got my friends to try them, Got told they were too boring, need new friends.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

One hundred percent you do :)