British Television Is Awful

It's hard to overstate how poor the programming is on Sky, the UK's satellite TV provider. There are hundreds of stations but nothing to watch. Many of the stations play a lot of American television, but choose -- during prime time no less -- to broadcast the likes of Murder She Wrote, MacGyver, and Hope & Faith. There's of course the long arm of the Law & Order juggernaut, but I have the sense that I'll be seeing more of Fred Thompson than I care to over the next 14 months. And then there's the local British programs. I'm all for exploring new cultures, but this stuff is awful. Most of these shows have production values that make The Jeffersons look like it was shot in HD. And there's a difference (and not always a subtle one) between dry and boring. The kids' stations are actually okay, though there are lots of bona fide commercials, which are sometimes completely out of place. Strange to have my 4-year old son ask me if we can save money on our car insurance. The final nail in the coffin is that Sky is owned by Rupert Murdoch, perpetrator of Fox News. At least he hasn't sicked Roger Ailes on the BBC.

Our only recourse is typically movies (free, we didn't pay for premium stations) and there you get lucky from time to time. Tracy and I are now watching The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Haven't seen this in years. It's fantastic.