Krish,
Quote:
Originally Posted by krish  I wonder how many of the foreign shows' stars were originally soap actors |
Ok, that's a fair point.
I don't know how many, or if any, were soap actors. I know it may seem like I'm bashing actors whose careers were started in soap-operas, but that isn't true. I'm
actually bashing the creators and producers of shows, who seem to be under the illusion that ONLY a soap-actor can play the role, rather than one of hundreds of thousands of other actors that would kill to be given the chance to star in a major drama.
It's almost as if drama crews, only select the acting talent from the finite pool of soap-stars, rather than looking across all of the available acting talent from any genre of TV. (Some of the best actors, star in kids TV, of all places.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by krish Mark Lawson's article wasn't Nordic-TV bashing, it was bashing the fawning attitude which results in crap like Inspector Moltalbano on BBC4. Isn't naming this thread "More Excellent Foreign Dramas To Whet Your Appetite!" jumping the gun somewhat on programmes yet to air? |
Lawson's article appears to be having a go at people who enjoyed the foreign-language shows that are currently cropping-up on UK TV channels, and was bashing those viewers for lauding these shows because they are imports.
My counter-argument, was that people aren't lauding these shows
because they are foreign. People are lauding these shows, and praising them to everyone-and-sundry,
because they are bloody good dramas, intelligently made and written, with great acting and a believable plotline! They each have a maturity and sophistication to them, that almost no British TV drama has had, since the early-90's.
The fact that the one thing these shows all have in common, is that they aren't in English, and are subtitled, is - for the most parts - a completely moot point. They're just great TV, that beat the crap out of almost every single show the BBC, ITV, or Channel 4 hae given us!
Nothing more, nothing less.
Foreign TV shows aren't better, than ones made in the UK. It's that British TV has simple become significantly worse, than most other nations!
I champion these shows, and labelled this thread in the manner that I did, because - again, for the most part - they are all very good shows. Other than INSPECTOR MONTALBANO, they've all been far superior to 99.9% of the crap that British TV executives foist upon audiences, and label as "dramas". (I don't like MONTALBANO, but that's my personal view, because I'm not a fan of light and frothy detective shows in general, from any country, but it's a view that a lot of people disagree with. They do like MONTALBANO because it's light and frothy, and is set in the sun-drenched climbs of Italy.)
If you can honestly tell me, you'd rather see more SILENT WITNESS, SHAMELESS, DOWNTOWN ABBEY, and TAGGART, rather than shows like BRAQUO, ENGRENAGES, WALLANDER, ROMANZO CRIMINALE, or FORBRYDELSEN, then I'll eat my own weight in charcoal briquettes!
But somehow, I doubt you will say that, though, because - like me - you want to watch decent, intelligent drama on your TV too. You would rather have something thought-provoking and foreign, than something with as much sophistication as a McDonalds 99p Burger, but which happens to be British!
Pooch
P.S. The 2010 Israeli drama HATUFIM (aka PRISONERS OF WAR) that Showtime remade as HOMELAND, starts on Thursday 10th May at 9:30pm! There are 10 episodes, and there will almost certainly be at least one weekly repeat of each episode too.