Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe USA S2E5P2

[reznor12]

They could have shown some of our good TV :(

[TheGudZeBadAnDaFozzy]

I love how Charlie has purposely chosen old clips an says bullseye broadcast last week XD

[Oscarg936]

Countdown doesnt need flashy lights or CGI its about participating not mindlessly watching flashy carp

[asubjectiveopinion]

@Oscarg936

I'd watch some flashy carp.

[perfacetus]

I'm kinda surprised, I think they actually liked a few of them even if Brooker was trying to make it sound slightly worse.

Although the whole point of 'countdown' with the woman doing the calculation is to show is actually has a brain, rather than being a standard air-head.

[fiendfury]

Would I lie to you, Fresh Meat, not to mention multiple interview shows, lots os shows of underground artists and musicians whom are out of this world! the list goes on, but.. we do have quite a lot of bad shows also :)

[fiendfury]

I much prefer british television, the programmes that were showed in this clip are crap (my oppinion) I love British shows like 8 out of 10 cats, Never mind the buzzcocks, Misfits, QI, Inbetweeners, How not to live your life, Skins (the first series), Bear Grylls born survivor & well, there are simply loads of greats if you keep searching :)

[jlbergqvist]

@fiendfury Well Americans can't handle Skins. It was toned done anyway for the US version and they still kicked up a fuss.

[SeanRossHarvey]

10:30 Oh wow, the guy's face just after the clip; completely and utterly perplexed.

[jeevesthepunk]

I've never really watched countdown but damn it if Americans start mocking it I'll defend it to the death!

[Bloodlovefreak]

Should have showed QI, but countdown is good!

[RFC3514]

The reason why Countdown (and other shows) use physical cards with letters on them is the same reason why most countries use real ballots for elections: Because that way everyone can see the letters aren't actually being chosen by Dick Cheney in his underground lair, and some people still care about that sort of thing.

[SliceOfTitch]

"I have just pissed my own balls inside out"....amazing

[padathir]

ゆっくりしていってね！！！

[Fedaykin24]

totally true about hit US comedies being an accident, Friends was almost cancelled in season 1. It was only saved due to there being nothing else to replace it with.

[RubbishElectrons]

Really funny and strange how people in other countries react to what we do here. It is interesting to see other people's opinions! :P

[drplbiftin]

that woman in yellow laughing at everything is a fucking annoying cunt

[drplbiftin]

how dare they laugh at Countdown. It's amazing.

[collision934]

@drplbiftin Their intellectual level can't handle it really.....

[brcx300]

Coupling from UK is way better than Friends

[jonboyjon1976]

@brcx300 I imagine though if they got Stephen Moffat writing the scripts for Friends it would have been a whole lot better.

[MrDeludedPenguin]

That aired a few weeks ago.

Love you Chaaaaarlie!

[TheAbominater]

They LIKED Eastenders? Jesus.

[wybo2]

Peepshow? Top Gear? Would I lie to you?...

[Kanonite]

@wybo2 Top Gear a bunch of guys acting like they are 14 driving cars too fast to the point of near parlarasis?

[ScottsGoldClub]

When that guy asked if the show was about throwing darts I felt ashamed to be an American.

[admiralt]

I would have thought some of them would have enjoyed Countdown. Especially if you try and play along, its a good show to get your brain working.

[burnzy3210]

american focus group, more like people trying to show off to each other with who can make the best jokes

[aaron9099]

I facepalmed from embarrassment when Countdown came on.

[HaraldJoe69]

SPRINGWATCH WAS MY SHIT!!!

[smellygoat]

seems like a conflict of interests going on. One country is all about the visual side and the other is more about the plot.

[jeanpaulsinatra]

"The acting is so much better than in our soap operas."

Lucky you weren't shown Emmerdale, lad.

[Nautilus1972]

@jeanpaulsinatra Miss Diane won't like you saying that she won't.

[davidofchinkov41]

i cant believe Malcolm in the middle wasn't mentioned :I

[jim191185]

@davidofchinkov41 whats the surname of malcoms family? always wondered. is it ever mentioned?

[TheWrathfulHippie]

Someone should'a explained to the red shirted fella from the focus group, that the average viewing age of Countdown is... well, let's just say old. So yeah, early 70s is about right.

And The Bill was never gonna impress, they're used to cop shows with guns.

Did he also tell them that most British people think those shows are rubbish too? Xp

[townsjim]

why did he only show bad british shows to those yanks?

[oneminutetomidknight]

@townsjim for comedy value?

[00die00991]

i love peter kays jokes on bullseye

[stevezpj]

how dare they mock Countdown!! It's the best show ever and why would we want Carol Vorderman or Rachel Riley replaced by a computer???

[jennie8908]

I would have loved to see him show some mitchell and webb or 8 out of 10 cats or QI...

[slamster]

I hate it when the US watches programs like Springwatch they assume the rest of the country all talk like the queen

[SuperMatureUsername]

The guy in the red shirt was such a jerk. He probably doesn't understand why people ever go outside when they can watch everything on their TV.

[WalterLiddy]

I think he deliberately picked lame shows to screen for the US audience.  I spend tons of time watching British shows on youtube that are great.

[aaron9099]

"Please relocate to the pavement"

lol, theres a man you'd be terrified to meet in a dark alley.

[959chris]

wow no tits no action not intrested- i think thats the definition of corporate slave

[SeventhEve]

Americans don't play darts except when they're drunk, and they certainly won't watch it. I would actually like Countdown, but I'm a nerd, I suppose. I would watch Springwatch, too, but I'm also a wildlife geek. Maybe there's a reason I spend all this time tracking down British shows on the internet...

[JediSlayer22]

He should have shown them Doctor Who.

[SeventhEve]

@JediSlayer22 psst... we have Doctor Who. Quite like it, too.

[davidofchinkov41]

he should had shown them mock the week XD

[Sozlled]

That woman in the blue shorts and yellow top, i have seen her before somewhere. I thinks he is one of those Hollywood "members of the public" whore or something.

[Skinnyoompalumpa]

I'm shocked by the lack of OMG FUK TEH US111! comments

[georgia00ful]

I love the bill! But I'm an Aussie

[lauracida]

this bunch of americans are twats. countdown is awesome.

[SeventhEve]

@lauracida Remember that their reactions are EDITED. If I hadn't heard of Countdown before, and were shown it with the purpose of comparing it to American TV, I'd probably laugh too. Not because I thought it was bad, because when you see our version (Wheel of Fortune) it is dumbed down to the point of bang-your-head-against-a-wall vacuousness. Imagining it being shown to Americans makes you embarrassed for your countrymen. ;)

[ardiar2011]

@cpfairleyodd I imagine that any Americans who have stumbled onto BBC4 cult TV show Screenwipe are already familiar with some of the better (and better-known) British offerings.

[GasparoContarini]

I have just pissed my balls inside out

[coolalecman]

He should have shown them Peep Show!

[SeventhEve]

@coolalecman Showing them good things isn't going to be as funny...

[SuperWhacka]

In Australia we have recently got our own version of Countdown; Numbers & Letters.

I watch it almost every day :D

[betatalk357]

Rob Long said, "Well, you don't have to have ANY imagination at all; I just want to say it works somewhere else. So, we'll try it here. And if it doesn't work here, you won't look stupid. Because it does work in Britain." Well, he hasn't watched Top Gear America. Top Gear UK, however, is the best program the world has ever known!

[DontGoQuietly]

I've had friends who lived in America for a while and said that in every US soap 'everyone has an evil twin'. Even though British soaps are sensationalist, I can totally understand why the people here would take more kindly to them.

[wencer]

@DontGoQuietly Generally, US soaps are about wealthy people with middle and upper class problems which either stretch credulity or at least with which the audience cannot personally identify, whereas UK soaps seem to focus more on working class people or people with rawer problems and are far more sociall relevant. I suspect they serve very different social functions in their respective markets.

[DontGoQuietly]

I'd definitely agree with that. There aren't really any shows over here about middle or upper middle class 'issues'. In fact, the only really popular ones are from the US I'd say, like 'The OC' and 'Gossip Girl'.

[SeventhEve]

@DontGoQuietly The only good thing about American soaps is how easy they are to mock. They're trope-machines. It's true about evil twins, coming back from the dead, and all that other manner of melodramatic "plot twist" the writers can think up to fill the obvious plot holes.

[FantasmaBAnco]

He *does* look like Lawrence Fishburne!

[005Dresden]

Why didnt bullseye offer a Speeeeeeedboat!?

[charleroi66]

i think Bullseye still had more plot than Lost.

[engleshen]

@charleroi66 Aww someone else got offended by the ending :D

[Doom2Guy]

Interesting how the main complaint was the cheapness of it all, whereas I tend to like my shows like that. Visuals aren't important, the context of the show is.

[thelyniezian]

@Doom2Guy True that. Especially Countdown- yeah, production values might look poor, but it requires a fair amount of intelligence to actually participate in. Could many US shows match that?

[pittapitta]

it just shows how ignorent they are.....only if they have seen Topgear

[captcheesy]

@pittapitta HAHA I would have loved to have seen what the yanks would of though of Top Gear lol.

[Gleebo]

@captcheesy A large amount of Americans (and Canadians) watch Top Gear, actually.

BBC Canada finally started showing Alan Partridge, I'm thrilled :)

[captcheesy]

@Gleebo oh cool, didn't know that lol

[Supergrasser1]

People who are complaining about this do not understand sarcasm at all.

[Monumentum616]

@Supergrasser1 They're probably American. METAJOKE!

[milkyrules]

erm, wasnt that the point that he deliberately chose rubbish shows. If he chose good ones that sequence wouldnt work at all would it? Jesus

[0m12]

I could also go on about the need many Americans seem to feel for the constant injection of special effects, noise and action into their very veins, unaware of the backward state this seems to be driving their minds to. But I won't.

[rubino83]

@0m12 Honestly, a lower-order primate like yourself could probably stand to put down the vinegar you douse everything in and watch something that'll shock you out of your stupor. I fear your brain may have started cracking under the weight of living up to every class-conscious passive-aggressive Generalized-Euro inferiority-complex stereotype not requiring a dung-stained tunic and a long-burning torch.

[0m12]

@rubino83 I'm sorry, I don't think I see what you're getting at, and I suspect this isn't my fault, either. I'm not European, for starters, nor do I see any evidence of my living up to any stereotypes. Class-conscious? What's a Generalised Euro, anyway? You appear to have reeled off a long list of words without any particular interest in their meaning or bearing towards anything. Which is an applaudable venture in the world of avant-garde, but rather of little currency on the interwebs.

[0m12]

@rubino83 Furthermore, I hope you understand, sir, that it was that particular aspect of American society that annoyed me, and my intention was not to tarnish all its citizens with the same brush. Oh and what do you suggest for the out-of-stupor-shock that I desperately need administered? I do look forward to your reccomendations.

[SeventhEve]

@0m12 @rubino83 Good sirs, I wish to advise you that the formality of your arguments has caused great mirth in my person. I do say, have you two chaps sorted all this out with a good old-fashioned fisticuffs, or shall I be the one to throw down the gauntlet?

[0m12]

I said something to the same effefct on the original xthemusic upload of this, and I feel it's worth repeating: I genuinely think I'd struggle to contain my jubilation if that American cow in yellow actually died. And someone else takes the credit for pointing out the cretinousness of someone who uses the word "family unit" without the silghtest hint of irony.

[ajaggard]

He seems to have chosen the most boring English shows around!

[jgfpony]

@ajaggard I agree! There's a goldmine out there and I feel like he chose a buncha duds.

[BobbyRice2]

@ajaggard

Aye, you are a retard.