I Love The BBC
By SweetiePie
Ever since I was a teenager I have had a love affair with the BBC, whether it be news, documentaries, or entertaining British comedies. Many of my friends would scowl and say they did not get British humour, but I would just smile and say that is the entire point. American humor can be very cliche, and I want to see something different after hours of generic cookie cuters shows advertised on television. I enjoyed watching Montey Pathon and Absolutely Fabulous when I was in high school, even if my friends did not appreciate my interest in these programs. I used to look forward to watching BBC documentaries that were recycled on The Learning Channel, such as the program Connections. It was nice to get aside of my box, and during this time I was always reading novels and historical texts by both American and Britsh authors. The BBC helped to give me a much rounder education and broader worldview than if I had just relied on the textbooks in school. Thankfully I also had really good high school history teachers that had traveled widely and would show BBC documentaries, so as a young student I was constantly being exposed to different viewpoints.
 | Amazon Price: $25.19 List Price: $34.98 |
![Human Planet [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fcjoYAotL._SL75_.jpg) | Amazon Price: $31.79 List Price: $49.96 |
 | Amazon Price: $1.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $19.80 List Price: $79.98 |
 | Amazon Price: $47.99 List Price: $99.95 |
The BBC Is More Objective
For the last couple of years I have been reading the the BBC website to update myself on the news. Whenever I read the CNN or MSNBC website I rarely hear the other side of the story, especially when it came to how the world was reacting to the American election, so I prefer to get all sides on the BBC website. We live in a globally interconnected society and the best way to see how the world is reacting to different events is by reading the BBC website news. Sometimes CNN and MSNBC do not go as much into depth about world events as I would like, which is where the BBC can fill in the gaps. I read political hubs here on HubPages, but many political blogs tend to be negative or spun for effect to get readers to adopt the writer's viewpoint, so most of the time I skip these and go to the BBC website instead. The BBC has a clean and user friendly website that is inviting and easy to navigate.
|
Sherlock - Season One DVD (2010) 2-Disc Set * Brand New * BBC First 1
Current Bid: $22.99
|
|
BBC CHEVY ALUMINUM SHORT WATER PUMP ORIGINAL GM
Current Bid: $37.23
|
|
KATHY KIRBY BBC TV SONG FOR EUROPE 6 TRACK EP 1965
Current Bid: $1.50
|
|
BB CHEVY BBC GEAR DRIVE NOISY 396 427 454 502 TIMING GEARS CHEVELLE NOVA IMPALA
Current Bid: $41.99
|
|
LOT 2 GM CAST IRON OPEN CHAMBER CYLINDER HEAD BBC BIG BLOCK CHEVY ENGINE 427 454
Current Bid: $51.00
|
BBC America Brings Great Series To My Home
Maybe I am behind the times, but it has been a very long time since an American sitcom, drama, or TV series has captured my interest. When Seinfeld went off the air I pretty much lost interest in network TV, but then I was happy to find Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO. Thus, I enjoy HBO series such as Curb Your Enthusiasm and Sex in the City, but overall I rarely watch the network stations and have no clue what people are talking about when they are discussing the new episode of Heroes, Scrubs, or Lost. I cannot help it, I like what I like, and often this does not go with the flow. For the most part I like to watch movies if I am stare at my television set for an extended amount of time , but occasionally I enjoy watching humorous British series, and thanks to BBC America I can see these quite frequently. The British series The Office was just so clever unlike the American spin-off, and the same goes with Coupling and pretty much all of the originals British series never translate well onto American television. My favorite all time British comedy was Absolutely Fabulous because it was so twisted an odd, which is ironically what made it very amusing. My favorite character was Saffy because she was really the only normal person on this show as university student basically taking care of her overgrown and misbehaving mum. What American series could pull this off without making it sound and/or look formulaic? So here is my bias in the light of day, I enjoy watching BBC series and reading my news on the BBC website.
|
Absolutely Fabulous ~ Absolutely Everything ~ NEW DVD
Current Bid: $92.90
|
|
Absolutely Fabulous - Absolutely Everything (DVD, 2008, 9-Disc Set)
Current Bid: $67.00
|
|
Absolutely Fabulous Patsy Stone T-Shirt - Sizes S, M, L, XL
Current Bid: $20.00
|
|
Absolutely Fabulous-Absolutely Everything DVD BBC Brand NEW Factory Sealed
Current Bid: $81.79
|
Do you love the BBC series such as Absolutely Fabulous?
See results without votingComments
Thanks for sharing. Absolutely Fabulous is one of my favorites as you can see. I will continue to read the BBC and occasionally would prefer to watch comedies on BBC America. I guess I am just not a big TV series person, so I never get it when people are talking about the newest episode of Heroes.
Hi Sweetie Pie I watch BBC on DSTV all the time and there are many series I enjoy. Abfab is a scream. Waking the dead is good and spooks is great.
good hub
Sixtyorso,
Today when I was looking at clips on YouTube of abfab I forgot how much I used to laugh when I watched it. Thanks for stopping by and sharing :).
sorry, double post!
I agree with you that the BBC News coverage is far more even-handed than CNN. I'd also suggest looking at http://aljazeera.net/english sometimes too. I was lucky enough to work for the BBC for about 20 years. Apart from the work itself, it was/is a very erudite workforce. You could always get into great conversations in the canteens and club bars. Good years. I saw a few of the Monty Python episodes being recorded in the studio.
Thanks for the suggestion Paraglider. I have read the aljazeera.net website a few time, but I will look at it again. Back during the fires here in Southern California in 2007 it was actually amazing to see Aljazeera was covering that, but I do remember because I did a web search about the fires and their site came up. Their story was very accurate about the fires and at least they did not call the towns by the wrong names like one of the local news stations had done. I will look at the site again, thanks for sharing.
WOW!! I like the BBC America channel. I find it covers far more news items from around the world and they also prioritize the news well. Their coverage is also very impartial and unbiased. Great hub and apt tribute to such a great journalistic institution.
Thanks for stopping by and comment countrywomen. I also like the BBC as you can see!
I gotta admit I have loved BBC shows since I was a kid.
The Champions, Dr.Who, Torchwood, UFO, Young Dracula, Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Life On Mars and more.
Excellent Hub!
thanks for stopping by and sharing sabreblade :).
SweetiePie,
I agree entirely with your comparison between BBC and CNN. Unfortunately, BBC seems to be somewhat losing its uniqueness in the recent years.
Benson Yeung,
I am not sure what you mean by the BBC losing its uniqueness when all news website compete with similar features. Is this what you mean?
SweetiePie,
I was making that statement from my cerebellym rather than my cortex (so no complex analysis). I was pushing buttons and switching between the two, while jogging on the treadmill. That's when this feeling came to me.
Benson,
It must be a legitimate feeling, so I just wanted to know what you meant. Wow, you go online while jogging, how on earth do you do that? I guess I am just not that cordinated, or you must have a nice computer that allows you to do this :).
SP,
I think Benson meant changing tv channels(by remote) while on treadmill..LOL
Okay, that makes more sense. I wass not sure what he meant. Thanks for clearing this up countrywomen.
SP- I do that all the time hence could relate to that..hehe
We used to have TV's as the gym when I was in college, one of the great things about those days :). Now I just get my exercise by walking quite a bit.
Sweetiepie. I listen to BBC radio in Australia to hear the world news and the science show as well as the amazinging and unique interviews they do. We have the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) as well. It is owned by the people and has high quality coverage as well. I do like American comedy a lot. I also enjoy the political coverage from one of the NBC shows, the hosts name escapes me it is something like John Larer.
I hope you are safe and sound. I have been watching news of wild fires in Southern California and was hoping everything is ok at your place.
Thanks for commenting and sharing earnesthub. I just like BBC comedies for a change of pace because many of the comedies on American networks are very cliche now.
Countywomen,
Thanks for asking about the fires and luckily right now if it is not near my family. I am not living in the mountains anymore, but my family is always in danger during fire session. I will definitely update you if anything changes, but thanks for your concern and asking. You are a very sweet person.
Iam glad to know things are ok at your end. I hope the same with everyone in your circle of family/friends. Thanks for those nice words about me being a sweet person.
I consider you to be a friend here at HubPages also :).
I had been listening to BBC's Tamil(my language) Radio few years ago. This hub reminds me that. Great wordings as usual.
Always see to that your hubs fall on popular topics(atleast one) on hubpages, I come to say that you can add 'entertainment' tag which I feel is suitable. Just my suggestion.
And, I like your new avatar which is pretty and creatively good :)
It is good how the BBC broadcasts in so many languages, and thus it is an accessible source of news for most of the world. I like the idea of adding the entertainment tag and I will definitely do this. Thanks for the suggestion. Also appreciate the comments on my avatar :).
I was going through your comments in Lissie's hub about google, actually I also feel it's a nice thing to use both US and UK spellings like that you have done in this hub. It's good.
Google is smart and brilliant, it brings relative results even if we type wrong or misspell something(at times lack of spaces too), but may be this use of different spellings is needed for other SE traffic :)
Yes google is very smart and good at bringing traffic from many places. I like how google even allows us to translate any page in any language. It was much more tedious to do this ten years ago.
I like to say my son was educated by the BBC and OPB :):):)
Great Hub MIKE:0)
I like to say my son was educated by the BBC and OPB :):):)
Great Hub MIKE:0)
Yes the BBC is very educational :). Thanks for commenting.
Mike - Do you mean http://www.opb.org/ ?
Sweetie - I just heard the news that this recent california fire was caused by negligence of a few guys. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/californi
Hi country women ;0) Thats right!
Thanks sweetie for the nice fan mail ;0)
Mike
Thanks Mike for the quick response.
countrywomen,
That seems to be an unfortunate trends with many of our fires. However, some start because of high winds, dry brush, droughts, and the like. I really hate when fires start because a few dodos decided to play with fire. They really should have learned that lesson in kindergarten. Thanks for sharing the link countrywomen.
It was my pleasure mike!
SP- It's really sad that some people's negligence can cause so much havoc. I wish when people go outside they carry some portable fire extinguisher to make sure outdoor fires are totally doused. I hope there were stricter laws against people who commit such negligence since it is worse than reckless driving on the roads.
The fires in 2003 in the Crestline area were caused by a guy who wanted to be an arsonist. Last year in our area the fires were because of high winds causing sparks and short circuits on power lines. A few years before that in 1999 it was from a negligent camp fire. It would be nice if people carried a portable fire extinguisher as you suggest, but most of them do not plan. I really wish they would.
I love Absolutely Fab. They're what Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie would have become if they continued their wild ways into motherhood.
Very good point Writer Rider!
Good stuff, Sweetie. I thought Absolutely Fabulous was hilarious, and Benny Hill is my all-time favorite comedian.
Do you know if there's a website where I can watch BBC programming?
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Constant Walker. Absolutely Fabulous is great and I still laugh every time I see it. I do not know which websites might play BBC programs, but I will do some research on this and add it to the hub if and when I can find it :).
SP - For those BBC programs you can create a brand new hub. Btw when I was in India I used to watch "DD's comedy show" no idea where I can find those now it was absolutely a laugh riot....LOL
Constant Walker, try sidereel and veoh. Thats were I watch "Life on Mars" and " Young Dracula". Both are free.
countrywomen,
Thanks for the suggestion.
sabreblade,
Thanks for sharing.
jim10 3 years ago
I used to watch Absolutely Fabulous on Comedy Central sometimes. It was hilarious. I think everyone likes Monty Python. It is sad to say that todays news stations and papers in the U.S. are owned by just a few with very biased opinions. No one is able to see the other side of most important stories.