Putting it into perspective...

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by alantf

Wasn't that the name of the ranch on one of those old 60s tv serials?

That would be "Ponderosa". Sheesh, we are really dating ourselves with this one.

[mrlmd1]

You had TV up there in the woods back then? :poke2:

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

You had TV up there in the woods back then? :poke2:

Ya, we smuggled some sets across the border about 60 years ago. The high large antennas were a problem though. Actually Canada was only a year or so later than the U.S. with local TV.

[alantf]

................... and England bought all the American programmes......................... cheaper than making their own.

[alanmcorcoran]

We get the Beeb over here and, we used to get the original (superior) Office before it was replaced by the American version. Plus there is this little show called "American Idol" that seems to do pretty good (that was originated as "Pop Idol" I believe, in the UK.) I think there have been many other BBC shows imported either as is or "Americanized." Wasn't "Big Brother" a UK invention? Don't sell your country short: For my money, the Brits produce just as much TV crap per capita as we do.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

the Brits produce just as much TV crap per capita as we do.

:plus1: :plus1: :plus1: :plus1:

[mrlmd1]

Anyone remember what this thread was originally about? The free association on here is amazing.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

Anyone remember what this thread was originally about?

Nope!

As a matter of interest (or not, as the case may be!), if you own a television in England you must pay the government a "licence fee" of £142.50 ($215.00?) every year. As the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) doesn't have advertisements, the government pays all its costs etc. out of this "licence fee". This means, in effect, that the bosses can pay themselves exhorbitant wages, & waste money in whichever ways they like. In the news, lately, have been reports that despite having sufficient studios etc., they've spent billions & billions of pounds on SEVERAL (billions EACH!) luxurious new studio & office blocks in London & several other major cities. They've all gone way over time, & way over budget, but that's no problem to them - it's tax payers' money, so they don't have to account for it - just tell the government what they want.

The other side of the coin is that everyone without a tv licence is on a data base, so they send out demands & threatening letters to people without a licence (and, believe me, some people in England DON'T have a tv. I myself didn't have one when I got divorced, & was moving home - but they still sent out the threatening letters) If you still don't get a licence they then send out detector vans to try to prove that you're watching tv. It doesn't matter if you NEVER watch BBC, you still have to pay up. If they catch you out (since it's the government you're "defrauding")you get a stiffer penalty than if you'd beaten up a little old lady.

All of this wouldn't matter so much if they provided halfway decent programmes, but the current trend of dumbing down, and filling as much space as possible with soap operas, and repeats of soap operas, and repeats of repeats of soap operas means that there is probably only around two hours of BBC a week that I find watchable. Luckily, we've got a system that gets us the four main English tv stations. This costs us €90.00 ($135.00) a year, to the company that fitted the system for us, so, even in Tenerife, it's only around half of what we'd pay in England.

[alanmcorcoran]

I'll watch TV when it is on, but I never turn one on. Except for maybe the Superbowl, or if we were to land on Mars or something. When the wife goes out of town it stays dark for the duration. I have a lot of other distractions that I find more appealing.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

I'll watch TV when it is on, but I never turn one on. Except for maybe the Superbowl, or if we were to land on Mars or something. When the wife goes out of town it stays dark for the duration. I have a lot of other distractions that I find more appealing.

:plus1: I prefer to watch movies that I've downloaded from the internet. That way, I can watch what I want to watch,whenever I want to watch it.