A week or two ago; while looking at my DVD collection in it's entirety something started nagging at my mind, then last week while watching TV another unrelated thought suddenly linked itself with the previous one and I stood up to consider my collection again.

I realised, I really don't like modern British shows and in fact the only kind of British shows I enjoy watching are sitcoms and documentaries. I rarely watch any British drama and when I do it's often with a mix of derision and scorn, I'm very harsh at poor old Doctor Who for one.

The current running shows that I manage to watch are My Family, Moving Wallpaper, Mighty Boosh and Gavin & Stacey (all which I only catch when they are released on DVD). Occasionally I also watch Q.I., Top Gear, Doctor Who and Live at the Apollo but more often than not I forget what time these shows are on and instead. I did used to watch Skins but I've decided the cast change has soured interest in the next season, and I can only mention just one decent drama in recent times - Life on Mars.

I did also watch Deadset but felt mostly let down by it, it's not something I'd ever want to watch again.

The complete list of British shows I own on DVD is even more damming:
Black Adder, Black Books, Coupling, Darkplace, Extras, Fawlty Towers, Gavin & Stacey, Green Wing, Marion & Geoff, Jeeves & Wooster, Mighty Boosh, Monty Python, Moving Wallpaper, My Family, The New Statesman, Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights/Max & Paddy, Red Dwarf, Spaced, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sharpe (I've not watched the newest two yet), Skins, Spaced and a range of BBC Wildlife Documentaries.

The vast majority of these have now ended with no sign of a return and quite a lot of them are from the previous decade as well. My American shows on the other hand covers a range of genres, drama, sitcoms, police procedurals, sci-fi, cartoons etc etc.

So I've spent a bit of time trying to figure out why I prefer shows released by our American cousins over ones from this wet, dour country that I so love.

I think it boils down to a few simple things; length, resources, depth, guns and channels.

American seasons are simply longer than British ones, often by a factor of three or more. The American show will normally have either around a dozen episodes or two dozen, while the British show will have six or eight. This time is important, you've got longer to pan out any story arcs and set up situations and it also means you get a lot more bang for your buck when it comes time to pick up the DVD set. Paying £15 for 22 episodes of Seinfeld just feels better than the same for 6 episodes of The Mighty Boosh.

Tied into this is the issue of resources, Britian has some incredible writers but suffers greatly when it comes to implementing ideas. Our country is small and lacks the natural resources America has, so not only do special effect budgets suffer and overall budgets are smaller as well. There's not much that can be done about that unless someone out there decides to create a British TV industry city. (A Brit-Hollywood so to speak)

Depth is a personal peeve and one I understand doesn't influence everyone. I like shows which are intelligent and challenge the viewer, I more than appreciate that most people just want to be entertained - and they're well catered for in the current world of quick fix TV. But for every five or so reality TV shows, sketch shows and so forth, there should be an intelligent show with a real story to tell. Where's my British show with the depth and scope of The Wire? We've got skilled enough crime authors and writers to do this, so why isn't it happening?

Guns, well guns is an interesting one. I'm not writing that guns are a selling point for me, no I don't need guns to make things exciting. But it's more the case that British shows keep trying to bring in guns, this is something that normally looks very unnatural on the screens as guns are a rare thing in the UK (thank goodness). Torchwood's penchant for the metal phallus is a great example of how not to do it, Marion & Geoff on the other hand managed to include a gun in it's story lines in an intelligent and entertaining manner. I guess I'm saying guns should be an exception in British shows, not the rule.

Channels, now this is probably where the biggest problem lies. Most British channels are essentially repeat or syndication machines designed for giving us other people's programming. There are exceptions, but a lot of new material ends up being pushed onto the side channels (E4, BBC3 etc) and poorly advertised.

Now I'm not totally bashing UK TV here, there are some bright spots, the BBC (thanks to Sir David Attenborough's influence) produces amazing unrivaled wildlife documentaries with superb narration (Attenborough again and Jack Davenport). We also do a brilliant cynical, grubby, low key comedy which often has unpleasant people being unpleasant to each other in hilarious manners. So there are bright spots, but there's a lot more trash on UK TV now than ever.

I've mentioned this before, but I'll repeat myself here. I really think that the UK needs something like a UK equivalent of Showtime, FX or HBO over here. A subscription channel that's dedicated to making quality original programming, heck do it in co-ordination with an American channel if the funding is needed. I'd love a HBO-UK for example (HBO & BBC worked together for Extras). I'd even get off my critic horse and write some scripts if that happened, I'm that starving for some quality storytelling set in the UK. Oh and Law & Order: UK doesn't cut it if that's what you're thinking.

So, what do you think? Should I just get my head out of the sand and embrace UK TV, am I wrong in my perception that it's all comedy quiz shows, reality voting shows and repeats from the past? Am I missing some real genuine gems?
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Here's the link to the entire series on the BBC iplayer, enjoy it while it's still available. For those of you who wish to watch Pacific it's located here. Slight disclaimer, I watched this episode while still mildly ill and I'm having to work from my notes, they're rather... interesting... in parts so I may miss names of people or so forth.

In this, the final episode of Stephen Fry in America, Mr Fry travels to the final five states on his journey, these are the five states that all touch the Pacific Ocean. California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii.

We pick up from where the previous episode ended in California, Stephen has travelled to San Fransisco to admire the mix of old and new transportation, he rides on the trams to China Town and takes in the sights and sounds of the place. Visiting a company called Golden Gate who have been in the business of producing fortune cookies for forty six years. After talking a little with the owner he travels to the amusingly
named Nob Hill to speak with one of the most influential Brits in recent times, Johnny Ive, designer of the iMac, iPod and iMac. Unfortunately for us, while Johnny has designed some excellent products he's not much of a television speaker and he struggles through a few lines of conversation, stammering and hesitating while trying to express his opinions. While his place may have an amazing view of Alcatraz Prison, a place that Stephen notes only Clint Eastwood escaped from, the conversation with him is somewhat lacking.

After travelling across the Golden Gate bridge Stephen looks into a major product of California's economy. While California may have the seventh largest economy in the world it also has it's (slightly) darker side, it's suspected that California's number one product and export is the show Weeds, starring the delightful Mary Louise-Parker. No, wait, scratch that. I meant the plant and illegal substance. Stephen joins the local Sheriffs with the intent of riding along for a bust. But first he gets to channel some more Clint Eastwood down the firing range as he's handed a Smith & Western Model 29 .44 Magnum as made famous by the aforementioned actors portrayal as the most excellent Dirty Harry. Stephen shows his flair for the dramatic and fun by quoting that famous scene almost word for word only breaking character when the kick of the gun surprises him. It's a bit of an odd scene in one respect, the entire thing is set to one of the spaghetti western sound tracks. After he's handed a Kevlar vest he travels up with the Sheriff for a relatively simple bust, there is no exciting chases or gunfights here, the growers surrender peacefully and after Stephen gets a chance to look at the crop it's destroyed. On the way back in the car the Sheriff muses on the problems they have with semi-legalised cannabis and wonders why the department can't make some money from the legal sales while also having a method of identifying legal plants. Slippery slope my friend, slippery.

Next he meets up with a couple of different varieties of environmental protectors, first of all is Carmen King who studies Energy Efficiency and also works hard to promote her feminist values while continuing to unwittingly widen the gap between the genders. Honestly I had little time for her and I was glad when the conversation was over and we moved on to a slightly more tolerable pair of people, who ironically were tree huggers but still more likable than Carmen. Stephen spent some time with them seeking the habitat of the Red Tree Vole, a protected species, because locating a vole nest will result in a 10K protected area of forest. They were slightly more likable than most enviro-fanatics, while I do very much believe in a sustainable and protected environment I dislike many of the methods employed by people of this persuasion, the sustainable housing of last week's episode is more the kind of environmental action that I feel is presented in a productive and worthwhile way.

From tree fanatics to another kind of enthusiast. In Oregon we get to meet up with a Bigfoot spotter! He's able to give us a chilling account of his first encounter with Bigfoot (sadly it's not Bender shouting out "Hey Fry, it's me Bigface!") and explains why he's so passionate about spotting Bigfoot. He goes on to hint about a conspiracy to cover up Big foot's existence from the park and muses why this is. Stephen is naturally cynical about the whole thing.

Next it's Seattle, Washington. Home of the 90s grunge movement that (eventually) spawned The Foo Fighters (which is why I feel grunge was a worthwhile form of music). Stephen heads to Pike Place Market to meet up with Christoff Snell, the owner of Can-Can Cabaret. After enjoying some freshly baked donuts he chats about life in Seattle and ponders with Christoff about the high suicide rate in the city all inter spaced with some scenes from a cabaret show.

He then goes to meet a twenty two year old seal called Barney who doesn't have a hygiene problem, thanks to careful brushing he's avoided the issues that plague many wild seals. After talking with the keepers a little he also goes to look at some North/Alaskan Sea Otters and feeds them a Union Jack fish surprise.

The final two legs of Stephen's journey will not use roads, so he waves a sad farewell to the little taxi which has taken him so far and heads up to the penultimate state on his journey, Alaska. His first stop is Kodiak Island where he talks a little about the historical role of the Russian Orthodoxy in Alaska, they first arrived to minister the fur traders who hunted sea otters for their incredibly dense furs but ended up working to help the native peoples after seeing how poorly they were treated. He then admires the beauty of the country and heads out on a boat, watching some live sea otters before going fishing for halibut and catching an Irish Lord.

He then travels to the northern most city in all of America, the perpetually snow covered Barrow, inhabited almost exclusively by Inuit. It's a cold and desolate looking city as most of the time people either stay indoors or head out of the city to hunt. Stephen has arrived just in time for the whaling season, the people of Barrow are permitted to hunt twenty two whales a year to provide them with food to survive. Stephen is shown a wicked looking weapon that is revealed to be a whale gun and the how and why of whale hunting is explained to him and us before we get to watch the hunters launch their seal skin boat and head out to hunt. But the weather is not kind to them today, the situations quickly turn unfavourable for hunting and due to a risk of the boats being crushed by moving ice the hunting is abandoned.

Finally Stephen travels 3,450 miles to the southern most part of America, Hawaii. On Honolulu he meets up with Terry, a real life Hawaii P.I. who has a few stories to share while walking the south beach. In the north Stephen heads out to sea and swims with some Galapagos Sharks before taking a paddle to Hula and chatting about the nature of tourism with one of the true inhabitants of the islands.

On Big Island Stephen visits the Mauna Kea Observatory and talks with Alex, an astronomer who's passionate in the manner of a true devotee, determined to make Stephen (and us) understand just how important stars are to humanity while also showing us the most powerful explosion ever recorded and waxing lyrical about mankind's possible fate.

The show ends with a flight over the lava rock formations in Hawaii where Stephen admires the raw power of the Earth itself, the volcanoes of Hawaii are still active in bringing up more land to the surface and it's here that the series ends. We've come across the entire of America in six episodes and seen every state, ending at a beginning, because every day these volcanoes create more America.

If I'm honest the episode 'Pacific' is not the best of the series, it feels a lot more like a series of talking head interviews combined with some light nature documentary, while I did still enjoy watching it and there were some breathtaking scenes shown it still felt a little off when compared to the other previous episodes. Still the series as a whole has been just fantastic to watch, Stephen is always a delight to see on screen and his passion always manages to bring out the fun and the interesting. I've enjoyed watching this and I look forward to his next endevor. I must also take some time to push the book of the series, it's a spiffingly fantastic read and is able to go into events with a far greater depth than the show does.

And last of all, if you feel like you've learnt something through this series (and I hope you do) then have a go at naming all fifty states in ten minutes here. Ross (on Friends) couldn't manage it but you should be able to now you've seen them all.

If you want to see more from Mr Fry you should check out his current project, Last Chance to See, where Stephen revisits the endangered animals that Douglas Adams visited many years back in the radio show of the same name.
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We start the penultimate episode of this rather wonderful series with a balloon ride across the Rio Grande in New Mexico. For those of you who missed it, the full episode is already available on the ever dependable BBC iPlayer here. This weeks episode has Stephen travelling from New Mexico, through Utah, Nevada, Arizona and finally arriving in California. Experiencing the cutting edge of science, the spiritual Monument Valley and much more in the space of the hour long episode.

After the aforementioned balloon ride we touch down and head to see some rather awe inspiring sustainable houses. These building have been around for thirty eight years and are designed to be highly self sufficient, using plants, recycled water and solar panels to take care of pretty much all the needs of a small family. There's very little waste in these, apart from the waste used to construct the walls surrounding the property, which are made from a mix of mud and discarded bottles or cans. It's a glimpse into one potential future for humankind, a future we may be forced into unless there is a major breakthrough in resource management, power and recycling within the next decade or so.

After touring these houses Stephen heads to Los Alamos, home of cutting edge research and the birthplace of nuclear power, where he is shown a high powered electron microscope and we learn a little about their research into quantum based computers and self repairing materials. Also mentioned is the potential of dark matter, my personal favourite form of dark matter is in Futurama and powers the Planet Express Ship.

Next up is Monument Valley in Nevada. A beautiful and spiritual place that has been the backdrop for many westerns. Stephen spends some time with the Native Americans there; trying a little basket weaving and then having a meal with them after a somewhat dusty walk. Following that he takes a trip on the Colorado River, which is an entirely artificial construct, evidenced by nature's lack of presence there right now. After enjoying another meal he's taken by the boat captain to see the world's largest natural bridge. The Rainbow Bridge is so large that the Statue of Liberty could be placed underneath it. Which is a sight I'd quite like to see if I'm honest. A big French lady lurking under a bridge is a familiar sight to anyone who's spent any time in Paris.

My joking aside Stephen next travels to Arizona via a B-17 Flying Fortress, landing at a base where several billion dollars worth of planes are retired. Kept sealed up in case they are needed in the future, they ain't dead yet, just sleeping (or out borrowing birds possibly). From here it's off to Old Tucson Studios, Hollywood's home of western filming, Stephen gets a chance to swagger about town and engage in a little gun play against a mean sheriff and his deputies, I shan't disclose who comes out of it alive but remember that Stephen has only died on screen twice (In The Young Ones and Black Adder goes Back and Forth) and off-screen an additional three times.

In Las Vegas, Nevada Stephen takes part in one of the newest forms of business entertainment management type exercises. Spy Games, he's posed as the mole and has to sabotage the efforts of his fellow spies, the odds are a little stacked against him because he's already the outsider of the group - the rest of his companions are all not only Americans but all members of the Chippendale's. He is found out fairly quickly but does try and have a good go at it. He then goes to talk with some Mormons who are photographing a Mormon Calendar and we learn a little about the Mormon faith along with the misconceptions people have about it.

In Virgina City Stephen visits a legal whore house, an award winning one no less. Where he learns about how the age old business of prostitution is undertaken when it's held up into the light. It's true that there is no getting rid of this part of society and the brothel is a surprisingly pleasant and attractive looking place. I still found the whole business very seedy, but it's a great example of what can be done to make the business safer for all involved. Oh and this way it gets taxed, which is always a good thing for society in general. Still it's a touchy subject for many, but we needn't worry here as the show doesn't attempt to crusade for the legalisation of prostitution, instead it just reveals and enlightens. It's also amusing how uncomfortable Stephen obviously is in here, especially when the "DC" is explained to him.

Last of all Stephen drives past Lake Tahoe and arrives at the Pacific Ocean in California, all ready to head North for the final leg of his journey next week.

The episode felt a lot less rushed than many of the previous ones, due to the size of the states involved there was more time to look in detail at them. It's a full twenty minutes before we even depart New Mexico, which is a nice change. The slower pacing and greater detail contributed a lot towards making this one of the best episodes of the series. But still not all states were treated equal and at times I did find it a little difficult to keep track of which state Stephen was in. But it was undoubtedly a lot of fun to watch and educational to boot.
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First of all, before I push on I'd like to mention (in a related matter) I had a wonderful message from twitter this week. The main of it was "Stephen Fry is now following your updates on Twitter." Now I know that the man himself follows around seven thousand people and I'm just one amongst the masses, but it was nice that he returned my decision to follow him as there was no obligation to do so at all. Needless to say, his tweets are infinitely more interesting than my own. It made my day.

Onto the episode, where Stephen travels through the deep south, visiting the Arlington cemetery in Virginia, a Coal mine in West Virginia, Race Horses and Bourbon in Kentucky, a body farm at Knoxville university in Tennessee, Air ballooning in North Carolina, he experiences Gullah in South Carolina, Thanksgiving in Georgia, some kind of concrete hell in Florida and an American football match in Alabama.

Much like last week there's only so much room in an hour so some states get a far more detailed treatment than others. We get a few shots of the thought provoking ceremony at Arlington and a few more of the cemetery itself before Stephen heads off to find the Mason-Dixon Line. Again during this, I'm amazed as just how beautiful America is during the travelling shots, admittedly autumn is a season that can make even the biggest s**thole look beautiful, but the rolling hills of America are certainly as far from a s**thole as they could possibly be.

In West Virginia Stephen explores an absolutely massive mine, some ten square miles in size, and we get a glimpse into the lives of people who risk everything to bring us one of the foundation resources of our current society - coal. In Kentucky we get to see race horses and of course bourbon whiskey, two of the three things the state is famous for, it seems Stephen samples a little too much of the drink, but who can blame him for that?

In Tennessee we have the most thought provoking and disturbing moments of the episode, first of all we're entertained by the wonderful tones of bluegrass music and then in Knoxville Stephen visits a body farm. Now I've seen plenty of death both in my life and on television, but this section remained the most unsettling part of the show by a huge margin. While it's all part of a noble pursuit that helps capture criminals and identify the deceased it's still a grim sight. While a fully exposed skeleton laying in the dirt isn't too hard to stomach it's a little tougher when you're looking at ant covered feet under a black plastic tarpaulin and realising that they're not some actor or fake prosthetic. Likewise with a hugely decomposed torso in a plastic bin. While it's understandable that places like this exist, it's not something I care to dwell on for too long. Life is too short to get upset about death.

Next we skip through North Carolina with the sight of a black bear up a tree and then a balloon ride that skims the treetops close enough to collect leaves before moving onto South Carolina where Stephen (and the viewers) learn about Gullah, which is a culture based on a mixture of the African cultures that came over during the times of slavery. The lady he talks to shows a great deal of wisdom and tolerance during her conversation with him, a sign of how times change but history should not be forgotten.

Stephen then spends thanksgiving with a wonderful family in Georgia, charming them in his almost effortless manner and (attempting) some horse riding. Stephen's charms do not extend to those of the equine persuasion and the horse acts up slightly, surprising the family somewhat. He then travels on to Florida and experiences Miami and Miami Beach, a pair of cities that comes across as a form of concrete hell to him. Lacking soul and beauty in it's artificial nature, I especially enjoyed his wise and accurate remarks about the ugliness of the beautiful located there.

After a trip through the Everglades Stephen travels back up north into Alabama and experiences the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles before watching the spectacle that is a college American football match. A dizzying mix of sights, actions and sounds that was capped with planes travelling low overheard at the climax. Stephen's face was much like my own when I experienced a similar thing out there, it's amazing the sheer showcase that happens in something that's really just a match between university teams. The level of enthusiasm, grandeur and overall silliness of it is just breathtaking. You feel simultaneously amazed and bemused by it all.

Despite having travelled through several of these States myself I enjoyed the first episode more than this one, there are moments that will not be easily forgotten but nothing that quite moved me as much as the beautiful architecture located in the New York cabin and Rhode Island. Still, it is a documentary that was filled with wonderful shots, conversations and just a great experience. Stephen both educates and entertains at the same time. Brilliant stuff.
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Well Stephen Fry in America was shown last night and as I have a great deal of passion and love for America (and a great deal of admiration for Mr Fry as well) I had to sit down and watch it. Which is rather unusual for me, I tend to sort of skate around British TV tutting like a disapproving grandmother and then go off to watch something American with bigger budgets, guns, superior writing or just from HBO (which normally ticks all four of those). But I have a fondness for documentaries and I've always adored the sheer diversity of America, all those wonderful contradictions wrapped up under one magnificent flag and ideal. I've always wanted to do what Stephen does in this series, take a vehicle (a motorbike in my case) and visit every single state. Thanks to Stephen I can do it from the comfort of my armchair or while taking the train to work.

There is one thing that you can always be sure of when Stephen is involved, and that's facts. You're going to get a wealth of information about the places he visits. Heck QI has revealed things I've never forgotten - like "The UK has the most tornadoes per year in the world" (of course visiting google now informs me that it might only be second behind the Netherlands, but that's stupid science facts, they always end up contradicting the ones that came previously) and my personal favourite "If you throw a cat out from a seventh floor window (or higher) it will survive unharmed". (Please, don't do this - I don't want to get blamed for cats landing on people).

Back to my point, which is once again Stephen doesn't disappoint, he provides a wealth of interest about the states he visits, especially the wonderful Rhode Island homes and a simply fantastic cabin type building located in a State that eludes me right now. It's the first in a series of six programs and there is also an accompanying book which doubtless contains a wealth of information not broadcast.

I thought it was a simply delightful way to spend an hour and it's just strengthened my resolve to go back to the US and visit some more States (So far I've been to New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama) I will certainly be watching again next week.

Of course it would be completely inexcusable if I didn't at least plug Stephen's very own blog, which is over there in my blog roll and here's a direct link to the post with an extract from his book. A book I plan to purchase tomorrow.

Stephen Fry in America is on BBC 1 Sundays 9pm - 10pm for the next five weeks. The DVD will be available from November 17th. It's also available to watch on the BBC iPlayer here.
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