Global Television

A post for my Media + Communications class

Admittedly, all the television shows I watch or have watched in the past have been American shows. And honestly, besides Downton Abbey, I haven't really heard of any other TV shows from abroad. I suppose it's not entirely my fault, since American TV networks (with the exception of PBS) only really play nationally made shows, and most Americans do only watch these programs. This article, by June Thomas, is about several TV shows which Thomas argues are captivating and well worth watching from overseas. She says "If you're not watching foreign TV, you're missing out", and this is probably true. Why is it that American TV is so limited to American programming? Thomas suggests a myriad of reasons- the language barrier, cultural differences that just don't work in other countries, and "appropriateness", or levels of sexuality, foul language, etc., that American programming usually does not include.
While these reasons may be true, I also hold the opinion that it is a level of aesthetic taste that vary from culture to culture. Something that is fairly inexplicable happens on a psychological level when simply LOOKING at something, that differentiates in people based on where we grew up. When watching trailers for various foreign TV shows, something just didn't click for me, and I later noticed that it had nothing to do with the language or content, but rather the VISUAL aspect of the program. This could involve differences in lighting and settings, and even the pace of cuts between shots. Of course, I have formed this opinion based only on trailers for the programs, and would be curious to see if this diagnosis would carry out during an actual episode of said television shows. But, honestly, the trailers I did watch unfortunately did not intrigue me to the point of actually wanting to begin a series…
Hmmm… Maybe my theory on cultural differences in aesthetic taste corresponds with the phenomenon of American remakes of foreign television (you can read about the remake of France's The Returned here). Another remade TV show is, of course, The Office (one of my favorites), but the reason behind that one being recreated based on it's British predecessor has something more likely to do with language and humor barriers….
I do agree with Thomas that the language barrier could pose a problem. While I have no problem reading subtitles in a foreign movie, I do think it might become a bit of a hassle after hours and hours of episodes. Even foreign English language television shows (from Australia or England, for example) could be difficult for American audiences to grab onto. First, there could be an issue with heavy accents (which sometimes sound like a foreign language- but with no subtitles), and secondly, slang varies from country to country, even if said countries do share a language. Humor, and how an audience translates humor is vast and varying, and sometimes, what one person finds hilarious may be completely incomprehensible to another. This difference in "what is funny" becomes an even bigger gap when considering different countries. 
While I am a fan of watching foreign films, I admit that most foreign television does not interest me… Maybe this does make me a little short sighted, but I suppose my reasoning is along the lines of not wanting to commit to watching a series in a language that makes no sense to me (Even though subtitles are handy, it's not the same!). My issues with the visual aspect of moving image arts also plays largely into this.
…I may also just be worried I'll find a TV show I really get sucked into, and there goes a whole weekend.