It’s always easy to look at a bygone era with modern eyes without looking underneath the surface. But no matter how much I am personally tickled by Lucille Ball, the 1950s had more to offer than just I Love Lucy, The Donna Reed Show and Leave it to Beaver. I was surprised, to say the least, when I didn’t hear a mention of Betty White and her already flourishing career and bewildered, like so often, when Mary Richards was called the first single working girl on television. Whatever happened to Connie Brooks and Della Street? After all, not every female character (despite their feminine appeal) was “just” a housewife, a job many (post-)feminists still seem to wrestle with.

Male characters of that era weren’t appraised more adequately either. I mean, Ralph Kramden may have been a prototype for characters like Fred Flintstone or Homer Simpson, but he was already a caricature back in his time and not just a regular guy. Jim Anderson from Father Knows Best, as another popular example, was also more flawed than critics often depict him today. His wholesome attitude and simple answers may have fostered the image of the omnipotent father, but only on the surface – he was wrong too often with his fatherly assessments to call him a picture perfect patriarch.

But America in Primetime doesn’t like to dig deeper and rather creates an odd summary of female liberation (and correlated emasculation of male role models) on TV. Murphy Brown, Sex and the City and Grey’s Anatomy serve as notable examples along with The Good Wife‘s Kalinda Sharma. Positive role models such as The Cosby Show‘s Clair Huxtable, Maggie Seaver from Growing Pains, Designing Women or The Golden Girls don’t even get a mention and I wonder if it’s their grace and domesticity or their love for men that interferes with the desired image of women who favor their careers over everything else.

All in all, America in Primetime – like other documentaries before – celebrates the evolution of television from the simple, archaic days of the 1950s to a supposed golden age of the 2000s (predominantly on pay TV). By celebrating the creation of broken and disturbed characters whose complexity supports the audience’s alleged desire for drama and realism, the program may appeal to anyone who enjoys shows like Nurse Jackie, The Sopranos, Mad Men or Breaking Bad. For anyone who prefers dignity, subtlety and moderation in storytelling, the documentary may draw the wrong conclusions about a bygone era and leave a taste of bias in your mouth. Personally, I was dissatisfied with the fragmented glimpse into TV history and the overwhelming number of present-day TV makers as a primary interview source. But with my fondness for vintage that may not come as a surprise.

I didn’t think that Zoey in a pink velour leisure suit could be topped as a curtain-raiser, but this week, as she rustled up breakfast for Jackie’s kids while rocking a kimono and a couple of hair sticks, was pretty close to surpassing it. (I’m going to ignore the actual start of the episode, which managed not one but two dream sequences, one within the other.) It’s another week in which “social butterfly” Zoey features extensively, which is always good news, even if her reaction to Coop finding her lost engagement ring was one which made me feel rather sorry for poor old Lenny. Coop, BTW, needs something to do: he’s just getting on everyone’s nerves at the moment, including mine. Akalitus, on the other hand, is making every second of screen time count. Cruz continues to not be the total asshole that lesser shows would make him into. And in Jackie’s world, the big news is that Kevin is divorcing her and trying to get custody of the kids. For some reason she’s upset about this: getting rid of Grace has the potential to improve her life enormously. Another absolutely sparkling episode, playa.

However, it is, of course, Zoey’s week: whether responding to Cruz’s instruction to take down her sepia-tinted posters advertising for a roomie (“Take them down… a notch?”) or looking forward to seeing Jackie’s apartment (Jackie: “You’ve seen my place”; Zoey: “Not without a dead body in it…”) she just lights up the screen, and her dance at the end might be the single best moment of the season so far – you can add “sweet” and “unexpectedly moving” to the list of adjectives above. A great episode. And it can’t be said often enough: Merritt Wever is a genius.

2.  Top Forty–This week’s number one is One More Night by Maroon 5.  I listened to it, and I find it bland but pleasant enough I guess.  It reminds me of a song that would be on in some waiting room somewhere, or in a Burger King.  The song has like three notes in it, and is very plastic seeming.  It seems to be about a guy who doesn’t like who he’s with but is still attracted to her so he wants One More Night.  I’m sure if he said this to a girl in these words she’d be all like HELL YEAH!  (Yeah right.)  Also in the back is some pseudo reggae (sort of like if your synthesizer had a reggae button on it.)  The video is just as bland, but very curious because it doesn’t seem to go with the song.  In it a couple are having breakfast, the man mooning over their baby.  It’s clear that he’s a good father.  Then he goes boxing.  Then the woman takes everything and leaves.  Then he shows up at home which has been stripped of everything.  What this has to do with the song is beyond me.  The weird things are–the woman takes EVERYTHING, the shelves off the walls, just about all the furniture, the books off the shelves, EVERYTHING, I mean, it’s one thing to secretly leave, but it’s another thing to do a full fledged move in one evening.  She even takes one fish out of two in the bowl–BURN!!!!   Also there’s no indication of why she’s leaving.  Because of boxing?  Because of attention?  Who knows!  In the end I get the impression that the bland video was just a collection of familiar storylines and no real effort was made to join it to the bland song.  If wonderbread was music this would be it.

3.  Nurse Jackie–OMG–I just got around to watching this, and I don’t know why I waited so long.  IT’S WONDERFUL!!!!!!  It’s very much like working in a hospital too.  I really dig the storytelling here, it’s not itching to have everything cliffhang in every episode.  Sometimes I just want to have a show where I watch characters interact and do stuff, and it’s perfect.

4.  Towerbloxx–Addicting tetris building game.  I don’t know why I got sucked into it, but that’s where I am.

5.  Sherlock–the British version.  Only two seasons, and in each season only three episodes (ok, maybe more like mini-movies), but they’re so good.  Keep in mind, I’ve always been someone who’s found Sherlock Holmes just a mite fusty, I’m not trying to diss Arthur Conand Doyle or anything, it’s just that the whole deerstalker cap and magnifying glass thing has been done to death, and the last thing I needed was a bunch of walrusy victorians mumbling at each other for hours on end.  This new Sherlock is NOTHING like that, in fact this show should be placed in the dictionary under “breath of fresh air.”  The show is damned smart, and the biggest rarity in television–a show that holds up to scrutiny.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Do you recall our fun project about re-enacting Twice Over Lightly, the 1972 book from Anita Loos and Helen Hayes, that we started before the storm hit?

We have not forgotten it.

To jog your memory banks, we set out our intent here and then went to re-visit the famous writer and her glam blonde sidekick, the famous actress and benefactor, as they tripped gently around the (then) scary east village.

And then, last night, we went to Joseph Papp’s Public Theatre for something of a cabaret setting but Victorian style Improving Lecture crossed with a live Radio program(me) on the BBC talking to a Writer and a Writer/Performer about Art and The City.

It was marvel(l)ous.

But firstly, let’s look at what Anita and Helen found at Joe’s Pub (as it is now called).

Remember this was 1972 (or just before as the book was Published in That Year). How brave and enterprising and glorious Anita Loos and Helen Hayes were. Read on for their adventure into the heart of downtown hippie-and-hip-cats territory where they probably saw more bell bottoms (if there are young people reading, and we know a few of you are from your kind emails and texts and ‘re-tweets’!) these were trousers. If you are an American Young Person you would call them pants (no sniggering from London, please) and they had swoopy flared bottoms usually in engaging carpet-like textiles.

The party in honor of Joseph Papp’s birthday would be at his Public Theatre on Lafayette Street in the heart of Greenwich Village. Joe’s theatre is much more than one mere theatre. It is the ancient Astor Library which he, backed up by generous theatre lovers, has converted into a theatrical complex.
P. 248: Twice Over Lightly

On this occasion, Anita and Helen had charming male companions……let’s read on…..

On the evening of any large supper party in New York, the custom is for guests to attend small private dinners before the main event. Our dinner before the Papp party was really small. There were four of us: Helen and me with our escorts, Mort Gottlieb (the successful Broadway producer, taking a look at how off-Broadway lives) and our host Guy Monypenny, who is editor of a stylish magazine of interior decorating.
P. 249: Twice Over Lightly

Yes. We stopped dead at the mention of Guy Monypenny. For a start – delicious name (very teamgloria, we think).

The honour of being the first U.T.S. Old Boy to make his name in the world of the Theatre belongs to Guy Monypenny. Guy was a graduate of ’24 U8 years at the time and, after several years of further study, settled down to make his living by selling hand-made lamps in a store in Toronto’s Greenwich Village. He made a trip to New York in June, 1933 with the intention of staying two weeks, to sell some songs which he had written and to write new ones. But while he was there he became interested in the Group Theatre, which in its turn became interested in him and gave him a part with Philip Merivale in “Valley Forge.” When the run of this play came to an end, our young actor had so impressed the Group Theatre that he went, with Mr. Merivale, into the cast of Maxwell Ander- son’s “Mary of Scotland,” in which was starred that great American actress Helen Hayes. While visiting Miss Hayes last summer, he met Noel Coward, and that amazing and Versatile gentleman took a further…..

sadly the online scanned excerpt from the 1935 Yearbook of the University of Toronto ends there! But oh! how tantalizing…….and how Unsurprising that our guardian (for tis how we like to think of Noel) was Involved….

We digress.

Their dinner ended in Little Italy where they drank a cappuccino (which must have been surprising enough to ladies up Uptown – or midtown as Anita Loos lived opposite Carnegie Hall by this point) to mention.

After….we strolled in true Italian contentment along West Fourth to Lafayette Street and there came upon the Public Theatre, ablaze with floodlights. Helen stopped us to view it from afar. “Look! Just look at this truly great example of turn-of-the-century elegance!”
P. 249

We presently learned Joe’s party had already begun in the largest of the four playhouses which comprise the Public Theatre. It had once been the main hall of the old Astor Library and is still crowned with a great domed ceiling of stained glass. This is, moreover, the historic location where HAIR began – minus its silly nude scene.
P. 252

We forgive Anita here, of course, knowing that she was a fan of Paris Couture and probably not of seeing the Young and the Beautiful weaving in and among each other enjoying Free Love and a strangely potent enjoyment of what must have been imported incense.

This next bit gave us a hoot.

Tonight the great auditorium had become a Viennese cabaret, with tiny candle-lit tables spotted among the rows of red plush theatre seats.
P. 252

As. It. Was. Last. Night!

It was So Dark (and atmospheric) that we could not take a good shot – and we did not have the grown-up-camera as we were sure none were allowed so this is the best we could do – forgive.

We weren’t sure what to expect from the Event. But we’re a Huge Fan of Anna Deavere Smith (we saw her show Let Me Down Easy about the state of healthcare previously and was struck by her Talent and force and general genius). Friends of ours who own Televisions adore David Simon (as you know, we do not own a telly – far too distracting – and we should tell you that – as who we are in RL – we got Very Far into the interviewing stage for a Big Job in Television before we had to pull out when a friend said, “when are you going to tell them you don’t own a TV?” oops…excellent point.)

Apparently David Simon’s work is utterly brilliant if rather Real (and we’re not big on Real unless it’s set in Paris and perhaps has an interlude of a musical number) but we feel it’s our Duty as a Popular Culture reporter to watch it so we’ll let you know.

The discussion on stage ranged gloriously from Cities to Creating Art to writing Television in New Orleans and somewhere called Baltimore (isn’t that where Mr. J. Waters is from?) and Storytelling and Disasters (we had a silent moment and paused to reflect, perched on the stool at the back as Anna D-S and Mr. Simon talked about visiting Rockaway and NJ shorelines which have been devastated and destroyed this past week).

The two performers embodied compassion and Empathy and Anna boldly proclaimed about the creativity unleashed when re-making your life after a disaster and the room became silent and slightly uneasy but she had a good point. She also talked about how she embodies her characters:

“I desire them – or there’s something about their world that I desire”

We feel the same about the characters who have written themselves into our screenplays through our fingers. Sometimes we think about calling them up, to chat, to see when they’re in Town next – and then we take our hand off the baby pink princess phone and remember that it’s not that they don’t exist – they do – its just we don’t know their phone number. We say this because we’ve written out characters and then met them in real life – not them, exactly, but people that have a similar Feel to them. It’s rather odd and best not to share this information at first, if ever.

Back to Anna DS – she told us the three questions she asks people when she starts to create a show around a theme using monologues drawn from Real Lives:

Have you ever come close to death?

 Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do?

 Do you know the circumstances of your birth? 

We were almost going to answer these questions for you – about us – but we paused. Two of them are not suitable (no bright spots or Doris-Day-like pastels shiny memories to impart – just a cold reality that we’d rather Not remember) and the other we already shared with you about Tobias. For if Tobias had grown, undetected, and found his way up and into and through our main artery. Well. Heads would have exploded. Shudder.

It appears Mr. Simon is Terribly Dark himself and writes a blog (quelle joy!) called: The Audacity of Despair (tres Rimbaud). It’s here.

We move on……..back to the Theatre.

Actually we can sum up now, just in case you’re wondering if there’s time to make tea and come back – no – we’re almost Done.

The most exciting part of the evening was not just the sheer joy of watching fascinating people talking about Smart Things in a very intellectual and yet also Visceral blood-filled-and-Real way but the bubbling up gorgeous feeling that here were two people who make their living as Storytellers.

Anna D-S and Mr. Simon pay close attention to Life and to People and their pain and joy and the Feelings that they have and the Adventures and the Sorrows and the sheer excitement at being ALIVE and they share it, through their Craft and their Art into stories which bring these small pockets of humanity to people across the planet (we heard that Mr. Simon does awfully well in Foreign Syndication you see).

Paid to tell stories.

Isn’t that the most delicious way to spend a lifetime?

thank you to Joe’s Pub aka the Joseph Papp Public Theatre for a Most Engaging evening of thought and ideas and storytelling.

divine.

another in a series of goodbye to new york from teamgloria.

cue titles.

fade to black.

(yes, we’ve been re-watching The Hour, over and over again – it’s Jolly good).

oh! we just realized – Mr. D. West is not just in The Hour, he’s also in Mr. Simon’s rather Shocking expose of the underbelly of Baltimore. how clever.

In an entertaining if unexceptional episode, there are two patients to be dealt with: dude who’s had an unfortunate accident while self-pleasuring, who’s there largely to allow everyone to crack jokes; and a woman who appears to be both pregnant and obnoxious but turns out to be neither. She’s played, in an slightly self-consciously starry piece of acting, by Rosie Perez, who certainly ladles on the charm; I couldn’t help but feel, though, that the outcome of this storyline might have been even more moving had it involved a lesser-known actor.

Kaufman Astoria Studios.

Though the city has disallowed exterior shooting until Friday at the earliest in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, at least one studio is back open. Kaufman Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens, is planning to welcome the crews of Showtime’s Nurse Jackie and Netflix’s Orange is the New Black tomorrow, though the studio was open today as well.

“We’re no different than any other business. And all your favorite shows will be on the air and won’t miss a beat,” said studio president Hal Rosenbluth, noting that the outer-borough institution did lose a couple of banners. “We weathered the storm better than I ever would have dreamt. Our building is more than 90 years old. They don’t build them the way they used to!”

Mr. Rosenbluth speculated that shows would adjust their shooting schedule in order to shoot weeks’ worth of interior shots at a time and pick up exteriors once the mayor’s office had cleared it, noting that wiggle room was built into TV shows’ schedules. “They have some room for the what-if. What if an actor gets sick?”

The studio was open today, sans the lighting crew, who were allowed to stay home given that there were no shows for them to light.

Meanwhile, NBC representatives tell The Observer that 30 Rock went back into production today, with Smash and the upcoming series Deception starting tomorrow, and Law and Order: SVU playing it by ear but still on shooting hiatus.

UPDATE, 11/1/2012: 666 Park Avenue, the New York-set show shot at Cine Magic Riverfront Studios in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, reportedly suffered damage to its sets after flooding, with the head of Cine Magic suggesting it could be three weeks before the show returns to filming. Sources connected to the show told The Observer that no date has been set or suggested internally, and that producers are still assessing the damages but that the production office is running.

Jackie Peyton (Nurse Jackie) played by Edie Falco

“Make me good, God. But not yet.”

Ah, Nurse Jackie. I cannot describe to you how much I love this show.

When beginning to write about Jackie I found it really hard to verbalise exactly what I loved about her character. Jackie is a pill-popping nurse who is cheating on her husband. However, she is so effortlessly feisty and hilarious that she is immediately endearing and I cannot help but root for her. After spending 2 days re-watching Nurse Jackie I went to the internet. I was actually surprised to see that many fans of the show really disliked Jackie’s character as she was so self-destructive. She wants to hit rock-bottom and even goes so far as to take her daughter‘s medication for a high. It then hit me; this is what I love about her. Whilst Jackie represents the Addict and the journey of the addict, her story and character are so un-clichéd.

In so many stories about addiction, the Addict is shown to struggle with their addictions and possess a very present self-hatred. Jackie seems to be the opposite. She isn’t proud of her reliance on medication, but she definitely doesn’t loathe it. This is a woman who hides pills in her children’s Easter decorations!

Jackie isn’t the traditional idea of the mother, put forward by Florence Henderson as Carol Brady, but instead she is a lioness. She is so warm and nurturing towards her children, but when a threat approaches, she pounces. Even when that threat is a little girl, Jackie isn’t afraid to start throwing the ‘C-word’ around.
The scene in which I feel really encapsulates Jackie as a Character is one of the opening scenes in episode one of season two. She is shown as both the loving wife and mother, but also the aggressive and guilty lover. Edie Falco seems to switch so effortlessly between the two, but everything you need to know is in her eyes.

Mary Breckinridge Statue (Photo credit: jimmywayne)

One of the most e-mailed NYTarticles/blog posts over the past twenty-four hours was Tina Rosenberg’s Opinionator/Fixes post “The Family Doctor, Minus the M.D.” (10-24-12). In her online article, Ms. Rosenberg focuses on the expanding role of nurse practitioners in providing cost-effective, accessible, comprehensive, and quality primary health care—especially in rural and underserved urban areas of the U.S. where physicians typically do not want to work. There is already a severe shortage of primary care physicians in the U.S., a shortage slated to grow with the ‘perfect storm’ of the aging/chronic disease-challenged population combined with Obamacare’s expanded coverage of previously uninsured patients.

Ms. Rosenberg, who is a journalist and contributing writer for the NYT Magazine (and not a nurse), points out that nurses “take a different approach to patient care than doctors(…)”—and that nurses’ more holistic approach to patient care is particularly useful in the management of chronic disease, especially in patients with complex socio-economic barriers to care. She included organized physician resistance to nurse practitioner-run clinics, citing a recent position statement by the American Academy of Family Physicians in which they oppose independent practice by nurse practitioners. Ms. Rosenberg points out that in sixteen states plus Washington, D.C, nurse practitioners have complete independence. (Of course, what she left out is the fact that nurse practitioners have to maintain their RN license; as RNs they are independent practitioners within commonly accepted nursing functions.)

It is a well-researched and well-written article. Perhaps equally interesting are the reader comments—all 295 of them. Unlike local newspapers, the NYT carefully moderates all reader comments. They screen them before allowing posting of only the “thoughtful, civil and articulate” ones. Most of the comments to this article were on-topic. There were the usual vitriolic negative comments by some physicians about care by nurse practitioners being “second rate care,” and how nurse practitioners were dangerous unless “under the direction of a fully trained and clinically seasoned M.D. or D.O.” There were the physician assistants weighing in with “what about me?!” and saying that since they were trained under the medical model they provided superior health care compared with nurse practitioners. There were patient testimonials (for and against) care they received by nurse practitioners. There was an off-topic comment about how all nurses are into narcotic diversion and are addicted (Nurse Jackie, you brought on this misconception). And there were more than a few comments about how professional “turf wars are only hurting the patients and the nation.” I agree with that sentiment. I also am glad to see a healthy debate about the need for more primary care providers in the U.S., as well as about the important role that nurses can (and do) play in our health care system.

Cable drama from the States has traditionally struggled to find an audience here in the UK. When considering why, a number of factors are at play, but it largely comes down to a reluctance to invest time and money into content that has usually only gained a small audience domestically. The inherent risk of airing content previously only successful with a niche audience, coupled with our major broadcasters’ disdain for imported programming, leads to a primetime programming landscape that’s rather low on made-for-cable series from the USA:

Yes, reader, I too am intrigued by “Jewish Mum of the Year”.

The lack of interest in American cable drama is an institutional thing, though; a Wire-like sprawling web of bias against niche imported fare exists among every corner of our media. I wouldn’t go as far to say it’s unfair – most countries value local output over external content, and that’s fair enough. Nor am I saying that all US cable drama series are worthy of attention, praise and “front row, centre” scheduling. But pop-culture intellectual outlets like The Guardian and now-defunct The Word aside, the British press are simply generally unwilling or unable to sing the praises of quality American television. Of the dozen TV listings magazines available here, only one (TV & Satellite Week) ever deigns imported fare worthy of the front cover.

Dexter might not be as good as it once was, but allow me to reassure you that it’s still superior to the primetime soaps and British-variant mancession-fuel depicted by the other covers.

When it came to coverage of the 2012 Emmy Awards, even the BBC couldn’t resist giving Damien Lewis and Maggie Smith top billing, despite both being far from the most significant of the evening. They even mentioned Downton’s Creative Arts awards before Homeland’s category win. And Sky? Even worse.  “British stars scoop honours”? “Lewis and Smith beat Hollywood stars to win television acting gongs”? Neither of these outlets are even associated with Downton Abbey (an ITV show); they gave her and Lewis more attention by mere virtue of the fact they’re British.

Still, it’s not difficult to understand these attitudes, given the TV shows that rate highest here: long-running primetime soaps (Eastenders, Coronation Street) and overplayed talent contests (Strictly Come Dancing, The X Factor) dominate the competition. Unlike in the USA, there aren’t really even any sitcoms or procedurals that even come close to competing (the main non-soap scripted player? Downton Abbey, of course!). It’s a vicious circle, an archetypal chicken-and-egg scenario.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and a number of US cable dramas have hit the (relative) big-time here in Britain, albeit typically on niche channels. The Sopranos managed to connect with discerning viewers, becoming an identifiable pop-culture touchstone over here thanks to strong (for its channel) ratings, rather similar to how it played out in the USA. True Blood has been a smash-hit for FX, trouncing everything else on their channel; Britain has embraced the vampire craze as thoroughly as America, so this isn’t a surprise. Co-funding has seen a number of productions funded by both sides of the Atlantic gain traction, too – Sky1′s co-financing of Battlestar Galactica led to a hefty marketing push and a decent result (around 3/4 of a million viewers). HBO/BBC co-productions have also been given reasonable attention; though still never given primetime BBC1 slots, the likes of Rome and Band of Brothers did great numbers for the less-mainstream BBC2. In addition to the extra marketing heft the BBC would’ve placed behind the shows, given their financial involvement, it’s also likely that the BBC’s role gave the shows a cachet they would have otherwise lacked on this side of the Atlantic, “HBO” meaning little to anyone outside of media and TV criticism circles.

The disappointments, though, are far more numerous. Some aren’t a surprise – The Wire failed to connect over here on both cable channel FX and free-to-air channel BBC2. Content and scheduling issues dictated it aired at varying late-night times on the latter, which certainly didn’t help it gain an audience. But some are a rather more confusing. Monk, for example, tied into a long transatlantic tradition of criminal investigation show, and felt like it should have been a perfect fit for mid-afternoon and teatime slots previously home to the likes of Diagnosis Murder. But it never broke out, and despite trials in various other slots on many and sundry networks, it’s settled in to ad-nauseum repeats on barely-watched Universal TV, never attracting an audience anything close to similar Brit show Jonathan Creek. (Maybe the on-paper premise of Monk sounded too similar for audiences familiar with Creek; there’s very much an attitude in Britain that the US rips off our telly far too much.) The situation was even worse for USA Network stablemate Psych, which free-to-air networks shunned even faster.

First-run Psych: the eighth-most watched programme on a channel no-one watches.

Meanwhile, on the prestige side of things, Breaking Bad is the most notable disappointment, an especially bizarre situation considering its success elsewhere in Europe. (Maybe it’s because we Brits are more attached to Malcolm in the Middle than most, and we just can’t forget Cranston as Hal.) The first two seasons aired in late-night slots on niche (but free-to-air) channel Five US; alas, no-one watched, and subsequent seasons haven’t even aired over here at all. The DVDs of the third and fourth seasons finally came out over here this year, suggesting Sony has finally given up on finding a broadcast home for the show. Was the subject matter too dark for British audiences? I doubt it, considering our embrace of The Sopranos, but its cult following is small here even compared to other niche shows. Another Sony-produced critical darling, The Shield never exactly broke through to the mainstream in the USA, but it gained a decent amount of buzz and attained respectable figures for its home network, FX. Over here, later seasons were relegated to post-primetime slots on Channel 5, something of a broadcasting ghetto traditionally associated with exploitation and soft porn. And Dexter was given a decent marketing push when ITV1 picked it up, but poor ratings ensued, and they dropped it after the third season.

Despite these disappointments, the last couple of years have seen the waters turning, albeit slightly. The most significant improvement has been seen with the creation of Sky Atlantic, a Murdoch-owned channel largely dedicated to American fare, and most notable for a golden-handcuffs deal with HBO for first dibs on UK broadcast of their output. They’ve given shows from Boardwalk Empire to Bored To Death a home for the first time; viewership-wise, results have been mixed, but critics have approved. Thus far, they’re persevering with their approach, and despite a concession to also feature original British programming (betraying their name faster than any other channel in cable history – sorry, TLC), they’re beginning to reap rewards, especially thanks to Game of Thrones, which has gained a considerable student and fantasy-fan audience here.

This success must of course be given context: we’re generally still talking about an even smaller proportion of the population watching these shows than in the USA. (0.03% of Britain watched the most recent Nurse Jackie season premiere, vs. 0.3% of Americans.) It probably doesn’t help that the younger, media-savvy viewers who a lot of premium cable shows target are also those most likely to be familiar with peer-to-peer sharing and DVD importing. Why cross your fingers that Five US will one day deign to see it fit that Breaking Bad’s third season airs after midnight when you can torrent the episodes or Lovefilm the discs? Still, there are signs that the seas are changing in institutional terms, too: Homeland has become arguably the first cable US drama hit since The Sopranos over here, gaining considerable mainstream attention, if often thanks to Damien Lewis’ role. In the same vein, Mad Men’s not quite a watercooler show here yet, but has gained a devoted and loyal audience thanks to the being embraced by a number of media publications not usually prone to singing the praises of imported goods. Slate wrote a piece about its UK ratings being disappointing, but they failed to take into consideration the context in which American cable shows exist over here – Mad Men does triple the average viewership for Sky Atlantic, and the show has gained serious visibility in the wake of the media promotion Sky have invested in. Maybe the restrained, deliberately paced atmosphere of Mad Men is better suited to our relaxed, calm nation thank the likes of The Shield and Breaking Bad – it’s certainly a more palatable, less archetypally “American” premise on paper, which might have helped it escaped the paintbrush so many Brits liberally tar American programming with. Or maybe we’re just really fickle.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be taking a look at the role American music plays in our charts, and our relationship with American “indie” movies.

More from the week that was:

• Madagascar 3 won the UK box office last weekend, with a very strong £6m (including previews from the previous weekend). Animated franchises remain strong here. Paranormal Activity 4 did barely OK, but its £2.5m take really should’ve been higher; it too had two days of previews included in the count. Based on weekend figures alone, Taken 2 was second. Frankenweenie opened in sixth with £740,000, a disappointing start considering how well Coraline did here; Beasts of the Southern Wild did great numbers in arthouses, opening in 9th from just 28 sites, and is likely to expand to multiplexes. (numbers from Box Office Mojo)
• Nearly 900k for Arrow on its opening bow this past Monday on Sky1, very good start. I haven’t seen figures yet for Girls, Elementary and Chicago Fire, all airing on various flavours of Sky, but I doubt they will have set the world alight.

Dallas Roberts and Anika Noni Rose are heading to “The Good Wife.”

According to TV Guide,  Alicia’s baby brother Owen will return to the series when Stockard Channing makes her debut as Alicia’s mum.

Dallas Roberts Joins ‘Walking Dead’

Also reprising her role on the drama series is Anika Noni, who played Wendy Scott-Carr. Noni, who recurs on “Private Practice” has been cast of an episode but, TV Guide reports Executive producer Robert King said Noni’s return “could extend to three” episodes.

More casting news…

“Rescue Me” vet  Adam Ferrera is joining “Nurse Jackie” in a recurring role as a love interest for Jackie. Ferrera will play an NYPD officer and is set to recur throughout Season 5. [TVLine]

“Guys With Kids” nabs Erine Hudson. The “Ghostbusters” vet will play Marney’s (Tempestt Bledsoe) dad on the comedy series. [TV Guide]

Annie Wersching will recur on “Dallas.“ The “24″ alum actress will recur as an “ambitious and sexy transportation commissioner” with a  possible love interest for John Ross on the soap. [TVLine]

“ER” alum Ming-Na has been booked in ABC’s “S.H.I.E.L.D.” She will play Agent Melinda May, a damaged, but soulful solider who is an ace flier and weapons expert. [Deadline]

TVLine has learned exclusively that Rescue Me‘s Adam Ferrera is joining the Showtime dramedy’s Season 5 cast as a love interest for Falco’s titular nurse.

Ferrera’s character, who is an NYPD officer, will recur throughout the season.

Also checking into All Saints Hospital in Season 5 is Morris Chestnut. The American Horror Story alum will play a former Army medic who is hired as a trauma doctor.

Nurse Jackie is slated to return in early 2013.

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Last week, I looked at the movie classification system in Britain, and the way the British Board of Film Classification go into great detail about why they rate films the way they do. It’s a pleasant surprise in a sea of secretive, politically-driven media institutions. In an interesting contrast, though, TV classification is near non-existent in the UK, especially when compared with the exhaustive and universal BBFC system. There are certainly still rules and regulations, but in terms of a universal grading or rating system, there’s virtually nothing, a situation that has both upsides and downsides.

The major component of our broadcast codes is the “watershed“. Before the watershed, material broadcast should be (broadly) suitable for older children. In practice, this means that anything rated U or PG by the BBFC is fine. Some 12-rated material may also be OK – a lot of American sitcoms fall into that category – but not all, especially when there is particularly strong language or violence that sits in the upper reaches of that tier.

After 9pm, however, almost anything goes. In practice, of course, most mainstream channels over here have reputations to uphold, and you won’t find any hardcore porn or video nastys of an evening on BBC One. But “fuck” and variants are commonplace, especially on those channels with niche audiences; the level of sex and violence typically found in an R-rated movie is also allowable, if not even expected. Considering our uptight reputation, we’re surprisingly open and uninhibited when it comes to our free-to-air broadcast programming. American premium cable drama can almost be broadcast uncut on any UK channel, as long as it’s late in the evening; everything from Dexter to The Wire has aired on one of our five “main channels“, with little-to-no ballyhoo over content concerns.

There are also generally no differences between what a regular, free-to-air channel and a premium cable channel can broadcast, with the exception of specially-classed “adult” and movie channels, and other PIN-protected networks. Our closest relative to HBO, Sky Atlantic, is bound by the very same rules as everyone else, so it’s something of a trade-off – they’ve had to cut language and violence from the likes of The X-Files and Mad Men for daytime repeats, for example. Some more mainstream channels remain a tad stricter on daytime programming than necessary, too, erring on the side of caution when editing shows for compliance, sometimes removing a “bastard” or “bitch” that probably could’ve aired without complaint, but perhaps wasn’t as contextually justified as the compliance team would like. But over-zealous programmers aside, on the whole, our system allows adults to have a far greater choice about the content they consume during the hours when children are far less likely to be viewing, which seems a fair deal.

We don’t have an FCC-style TV classification system, though (and if The Independent have their way, we never will). The 9pm rule-of-thumb was traditionally deemed to be sufficient guideline to ensure any worried parent could remove their offspring from the warming glow of the idiot box; as content has progressively pushed the boundaries further and further, a few TV networks have come up with their own ad-hoc ratings systems, particularly for movies, but nothing is really codified. It’s common for programmes to be preceded by an on-air voiceover in Britain, introducing the show; if the programme is expected to contain problematic content, there will often a warning during this intro (e.g., “And now, the latest episode of Zombie Simpsons, which features flagrant disregard for all that is good and holy, from the start and throughout”). With the rise of streaming and timeshifted viewing, the likes of the BBC have also started incorporating red “Guidance” notices into on-demand versions of their shows, noting the presence of language, sexual content and violence in text form.

Where this system falls down is when the public voice comes in to play. The BBFC have wielded the opinions of the lumpenproletariat into a system worth celebrating, a genuine achievement that’s fair and objective, given the inherent constraints of classification as a tool. Unfortunately, by contrast, the public’s role in defining our televisual rules and regulations has taken on more of a mob mentality, complaining to our media regulator Ofcom and generally making a bit of a hash of what broadcasters can and can’t do. Fortnightly, Ofcom publish a list of complaints from the public regarding television broadcasts; these run the gamut from logical (tuned into jazz music, got porno, p35) to picky, but legit (too many commercials per hour, p14) to nanny-state niggles (“that blasted Gordon Ramsay said the f-word after the watershed, but it was STRAIGHT after, and my beloved Timothy’s ears have been forever soiled. Yours, Outraged of Tunbridge Wells“, p16).

It’s those nanny-state niggles that have frustrated the most. I take particular issue with the trend to delegate particularly strong content (“cunt”, graphic sex, extreme brutal violence) until after 10pm, and to disallow strong language immediately after the watershed. What is the point of relying on a single, defined rule if you aren’t willing to stick to it? The latest Ofcom rules even state that broadcasters should avoid the “strongest” content for an undetermined period after the watershed – the transition should not be “unduly abrupt“. Meanwhile, even in the middle of the night, programming should not exceed “generally accepted standards“, one of the most wishy-washy terms I’ve heard and a term primed for abuse from our indignant middle classes. (It’s that kind of ambiguity that leads to Mary Whitehouse-style censorship. Red Triangle arthouse slot, we hardly knew ye.)

I am all for flexibility (counting the number of “fuck”s in a show is a fool’s game) but I’m not OK with kowtowing to Daily Mail readers’ expectations. It’s the very definition of the thin end of the wedge; it’s patently absurd to expect broadcasters to comply with this vague, ambiguous guideline, and leaves the door open for greater and greater encroachment on what adults can choose to watch. The public bang the drum in the name of keeping childrens’ ears and eyes safe, with “protecting society” their name and mission creep their game.

It’s nowhere near as absurd as the situation in America with pressure groups. I get that. At least we don’t have those Parents Television Council nutters lining up every time the publicly-funded BBC airs a Family Guy repeat. But these problems need ironing out. If that means codifying some more specific guidelines and consulting the public en masse, so be it; I do like that our current ones are flexible, but a minority of viewers willing to complain over almost literally nothing (look at page 37: yep, someone was offended by those blasted Simpsons and their foul language! bet it was a Zombie episode) are forcing our TV channels’ hands over issues that the majority may well not care about. I don’t personally agree with every last guideline the BBFC have, but they’ve openly combined public research – of the many not just the vocal few – with the opinions of genuinely qualified experts (not MPAA-style) in a bid to come up with sensible guidelines. Only a quarter of Brits feel there’s too much sex on TV, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they’re the ones sharing their feelings with Ofcom unprompted.

It’d be easy to conclude that the stark differences between our movie ratings and TV rules add up to a conflicting mechanism, but the two systems tend to work well in tandem with each other. As I’ve previously made clear in this column, I embrace American culture more than the average Briton. But when it comes to classifying material’s suitability for public consumption, Britain’s got it down a whole lot better than the States. We inform and educate about movies and DVDs, and use easily-understood guidelines to protect children from broadcast material that parents might deem unsuitable. I’m keeping a watchful eye on developments regarding the watershed and other TV content restrictions, though.

Back to more typical Imported Goods material next week, as I look at the UK’s oft-inconsistent relationship with American cable drama; after that, I’ll cast a glance over the role US music plays in the contemporary British music charts.

More from the week that was:

• Brits just don’t like Kiss all that much; their latest LP placed 21st in this week’s album chart, far worse than the 9th it managed in the USA. Their profile here has been raised considerably among Generation Y since the arrival of Family Guy, though; a decade ago I doubt you’d find a teenager in the country who’d heard of them.
• Us Brits love us some animated kids’ movies, so it will be no surprise to anyone that Hotel Transylvania and Madagascar 3 turned out stellar numbers on opening weekend. The former did a decent £1.8m; Madagascar 3, which was officially only “previewing” on Saturday and Sunday, did an unofficial £2m. (Those “preview” numbers will be combined with its official opening-weekend gross come Monday.) CGI movies are a box-office dead cert here in the UK, and both will hold well in the coming weeks, as Halloween and half-term (one-week autumn school holidays) approach, despite potential competition in the form of Frankenweenie. I suspect the latter will perform better here than in the US, as we tend to be more open to more unusual animated movies – for example, Coraline did proportionately better here in Britain by around 50% vs the US.
• Ruby Sparks got a surprisingly wide release, and did fine in 6th; On the Road brought out the arthouse audience in OK numbers, and showed up with £218k (from a limited-release 100 screens) at 7th; but Brits didn’t really care for Hit & Run, which took only a few hundred pounds per screen, instead turning out to Taken 2 in great numbers for the second-straight week. (Figures from the excellent Charles Gant.)
• The premiere of the latest Vampire Diaries season was seen by 580,000 viewers in Britain, quite strong considering the channel (ITV2). It was up from last season’s premiere. Only 17,300 tuned in to Nurse Jackie‘s fourth-season premiere (a 0.1% share of the viewing audience at that time); it’s on a premium, Sky TV-only channel (Sky Atlantic) but those numbers are still poor.

The something it’s missing, meantime, is trying to come to terms with her reason for hitting the drugs in the first place: it wasn’t the back pain, it was the pain in the ass that is her eldest daughter Grace. But then Jackie manages to convince herself (and Eleanor) that what she really needs is to see Grace, and that what Grace really needs is to see her, a piece of typically self-justifying bullshit that her counsellor (a rather excellent Laura Silverman) calls her on. Sobering stuff, in every sense, and another good episode, although I don’t want Jackie to be kept away from the hospital for too much longer.

It’s certainly arguable that by the end of season 3 the show had got itself into a bit of a rut: Jackie does what she likes, gets caught, evades consequences; reboot for next season. If the writers have decided to mess with that formula I’m on board with that, and after this excellent episode I’m looking forward to the rest of season 4. One thing never changes, though: Zoey (the remarkable Merritt Wever, finally Emmy-nominated herself) still threatens to walk off with every single scene she’s in; which, given the acting talent on show, is saying rather a lot.

Ever since I was a kid, this time of year got me jazzed for the new TV season. I pored over entertainment articles about upcoming shows and eagerly anticipated my returning favorites. I pitied  friends and family who claimed they didn’t have the time or interest to keep up with TV.

I fear I have become one of those people.

My brother (also a TV junkie) asked me the other day which new shows I liked and whether I had started “Homeland” and “Modern Family.”  I panicked. This is the first time in a long while that I’m completely behind on my TV repertoire and it’s stressing me out a little bit.

Life’s busy now that I’m back to work, and at this time of year the school and sports activities are endless.  And I also need to find time to blog for you people! My TV-watching window has decreased significantly and I don’t feel quite myself.

Thanks to modern technology, I can be behind on many shows and still catch up, between the DVR and OnDemand channels. Is this good or bad…I’m not sure.  In some ways I’m comforted by the knowledge that the shows are there waiting for me….but also feel the pressure to watch.

Over the summer, I had grand plans of picking up a bunch of shows I missed last year and finishing up others I left mid-season. I did manage to watch some but yet more eluded me.

I’m done harping on this digital dilemma. Instead I’ll cut to the chase and give you my overly obsessive list of where I stand in my TV commitments….

Shows I’m devoted to no matter what:   Mad Men,  Parenthood, Boardwalk Empire, Modern Family, Nurse Jackie, How I Met your Mother, Daily Show, Saturday Night Live.

Shows I enjoy occasionally but can’t commit:  The New Normal, X Factor.

New shows I’m determined to try and know I’ll love:  The Mindy Project, Nashville, Revolution, Call the Midwife.

Shows I caught up on this summer and won’t give up:   Boss, Smash, New Girl, Homeland.

Shows piled up on my DVR because I want to watch them but somehow get pushed to last priority:  30 Rock, Gossip Girl, Oprah’s Next Chapter.

Shows that have jumped the shark or gotten stale but I just can’t quit:  Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, The Office, The Big C.

Shows I would love to watch if Wilson wouldn’t judge me and leave the room:  Real Housewives of NJ/NY, Katie, Oprah’s Lifeclass.

Shows I regret missing completely:  American Horror Story, Glee, Weeds.

Shows I have missed but will find time to watch before I go gray: Breaking Bad, The Wire, Downton Abbey.

Here’s a link to some of the new shows this season with brief reviews. I’d love to hear which shows you’re watching and which you think I can let go. Tell me in the comments.

Judith Light is moving to “Dallas.”

Brie Larson will visit “Community.” The “United States of Tara” actress’ role has been tapped to guest star on the comedy series, but her role is being kept under wraps. [TVLine]

“Veronica Mars” vet Ryan Hansen has been cast to recur on “2 Broke Girls.“ Hansen will play Candy Andy, a potential love interest for Caroline (Beth Behrs). [EW]

Adrienne Barbeau has joined ABC’s “Revenge” as Victoria’s mother. [TVLine]

Tammy 2 is returning t0″Parks and Recreation.” Megan Mullally “Will & Grace” alumna will reprise her role as Ron’s (Nick Offerman) second ex-wife in this season’s ninth episode, titled “Ron and Diane.” [TV Guide]

Tim Meadows and Paula Newsome are heading to “Suburgatory.” Meadows and Newsome will play Malik’s parents. [TV Guide]

Currie Graham is guest starring on “Arrow” as King/Derek Reston, the leader of a crime syndicate. [THR]

Mike Starr is heading to “The Mob Doctor.” Starr, has been cast to play Sal, the Westside boss. [THR]