Comments on: Despite Some Missteps, Brits Still Have Cooler TV Than Us

By: MayhemintheHood

MayhemintheHood — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:48:51 +0000

@Lucas Jensen: I really just thought it was funny that I always notice when Maura writes that, and now I've seen you drop a couple. To be honest, I've said it a few times recently but only as an Idolator inside joke sort of thing...unfortunately none of my friends visit this site so I guess I'm just amusing myself.

Fuse had been airing episodes of Later... but a) either they were compilation shows or they seemed to show the same ones all the time and b) haven't seen it in the listings awhile, so maybe Fuse is over it. Better than no Jools I guess.

By: Maura Johnston

Maura Johnston — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:33:17 +0000

@MayhemintheHood: I do too! I swear.

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:59:57 +0000

@MayhemintheHood: I DO do that. I had to wean myself off "eh?" a number of years ago, which I picked up from talking to Canadian radio stations. I'm from Alabama, so it didn't fit. I figured "no?" was a suitable replacement. Thanks for making me even more self-conscious than usual.

And they do know what they're doing, those Later... engineers.

By: MayhemintheHood

MayhemintheHood — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:20:03 +0000

Do you and Maura do the whole "(insert statement), no?" thing in your everyday conversations? I think this is the only place that I see that on a regular basis. It makes me feel like I'm at the party scene from Crocodile Dundee.

Later...does rule. If I'm looking for a song/video on youtube, and I see there is a version of said song from that show, It's always the first link I click. The producers/sound engineers really seem to know what they're doing, no?

By: Audif Jackson Winters III

Audif Jackson Winters III — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:31:52 +0000

@Lucas Jensen: Yeah, absolutely. I'd love a show like that over here. And a show like Top of the Pops, for that matter ... although that was cancelled a few years back.

By: moomintroll

moomintroll — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:31:17 +0000

@Audif Jackson Winters III: I don’t know, I grew up in Britain, and Later…with Jools Holland was sort of an institution. It might not be watched by a large teenage demographic, but I definitely think it’s a big deal there. I guess now that digital and satellite has taken over, BBC2 isn’t as big a ratings draw, but it is sort of the equivalent to a main network station here (ABC, NBC, CBS) can you imagine a show like Jools Holland on any of those? It is depressing that we can’t have cool shows like this in the U.S, I think it’s just a matter of time until British music TV is as bad as it is here. Most people only had 4 channels right up until 1995, satellite and cable took a while to catch on. You kind of just had to watch what was there, so it was easier to force culture and coolness onto the masses since the BBC didn’t have to worry about ratings. Now that most people have digital or satellite I think the BBC has to dumb down its programming to attract more viewers from digital channels. If their viewership goes down, they’ll have to start justifying their right to the license fee, so I’m sure in the future Jools will be replaced with “Celebrity- Big Brother- So You Think You Can Dance- Deal or No Deal- Idol Music Edition”.
I’ve always had a dream to host a Joolsesque TV show in America where I get to spin around a circular studio introducing my fav. bands…and then they’ll all be my friends…and oh we’d laugh! They might even let me jam a bit with them on my rinky-dink piano…ahh dreams…

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:17:24 +0000

@Audif Jackson Winters III: That Carla Bruni episode drew a million viewers, which ain't half bad over there, but, yeah, I suspect it's kept around for the reasons you mention. Even so, what a great show, no?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:59:05 +0000

good point. it's a shame that music television is in such a terrible place that pete wentz's FNMTV show is worth celebrating. here in canada we got our own version of MTV about two years ago and since then, our music television has been going down the toilet (at a much faster pace). in fact, the media conglomerate that's helping fund MTV canada bought our only other provider for music television, muchmusic, and its parent company, chum. to be honest, muchmusic was bad before it was bought, but it still seemed far more reputable and its content was more music-centred (particularly with shows like the new music and the wedge). now those shows have been relegated to ridiculous time slots (i think 1am for both of them), so i get the feeling that in a year or two, this station will be phased out completely in favour of the hills network.

By: Chris Molanphy

Chris Molanphy — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:53:50 +0000

Blame (as usual) narrowcasting and the death of the monoculture. Music on network TV is ratings poison.

I remember when reading The Late Shift, the book about the Leno-Letterman battle, network execs talking about why the music segment usually comes last. I'm paraphrasing, but basically they said, "We're guaranteed to lose at least a third/half of the audience."

By: Audif Jackson Winters III

Audif Jackson Winters III — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:51:34 +0000

It’s on BBC2, which is supported by the license fee, so they don’t have to worry about ratings so much. It’s always been on Friday nights (right?), late night, so I don’t suspect very many people watch it, despite it being around for something like 15 years now.