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Deep Pencil - the musings of Morgan Bell

 
If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is there to hear it did it really make a sound? If i post a blog and nobody reads it was there really any point? You have entered the random thinking space of Morgan Bell . . . These are my musings . . . things about my life written off the top of my head . . . written in an informal disjointed style almost completely devoid of punctuation, this is where i flesh out writing ideas, discuss my life, and generally be self indulgent . . . it is also the bargain bin for articles which do not fit in with the film or arts themes of my other blogs . . . so have a wander around my mind, have a laugh, have a think, be nice, and humour me!

The Redcoats Are Coming!

April 22nd 2009 21:06
redcoats


Has anyone else noticed the British invasion on American television over the last few years?

Some shows have been cancelled, gaining only moderate sensation and ratings, yet new programs keep cropping up with English actors cast in their leads

There is some speculation that producers are trying to replicate the success Hugh Laurie has had as the lead in House. British actors are now in high demand and swamping American viewing.


Hugh Laurie in House


House - Hugh Laurie (Brit) as Dr Greg House


Damian Lewis in Life


Life - Damian Lewis (Brit) as Detective Charlie Crews


Tim Roth in Lie To Me


Lie To Me - Tim Roth (Brit) as Dr Cal Lightman


Lena Headey in Terminator


Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Lena Headey (Brit) as Sarah Connor


Jonny Lee Miller in Eli Stone


Eli Stone (now cancelled) - Jonny Lee Miller (Brit) as attorney Eli Stone


Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver in The Riches


The Riches (now cancelled) - Eddie Izzard (Brit) and Minnie Driver (Brit)
as con artists Wayne and Dahlia Malloy


Michelle Ryan in Bionic Woman


Bionic Woman (now cancelled) - Michelle Ryan (Brit) as Jaime Sommers


Sophia Myles and Alex O'Loughlin in Moonlight


Moonlight (now cancelled) - Sophia Myles (Brit) as Beth Turner
and Alex O'Loughlin (Australian) as Mick St. John


Yes Australians are even getting in on the action!


Simon Baker in The Mentalist


The Mentalist - Simon Baker (Australian) as Patrick Jane




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Comments
37 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Janet Collins

April 22nd 2009 22:11
I don't watch a lot of television these days so I hadn't really noticed. It doesn't surprise me though. I used to get quite addicted to some of the British serials, particularly the BBC ones and particularly the dramas. When the Americans try to copy them they are never the same.

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 22nd 2009 22:19
hi Janet,
some of them are quite successful movie and tv stars in the UK, but seem like unknowns to the American audience
i love Damian Lewis ever since i saw him in The Forsyte Saga (BBC), he was also in Band of Brothers
i thought in the case of Tim Roth they might have wanted an actor with an authetic English accent to emphasise he character is well educated?
Michelle Ryan was in EastEnders for a few years before she got her break in Bionic Woman

Comment by Norm

April 22nd 2009 23:14
They all comedians?
They look funny to me.
There's something about staging for cameras.
It's not funny to stage for anything else.
Frees right in front, for instance.
Just ask Matty Lloyd.

Comment by Someone

April 22nd 2009 23:16
Hugh Laurie may be a Brit, but his American accent is spot on.

One of my favourite things to do is to take girls that think Hugh is all sophisticated and charming, and show them Black Adder. Ah, the looks on their faces are priceless.

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 22nd 2009 23:30
hi Norm,
this post was entirely for your amusement . . .
now ill be giving the instructions, rip some grass out of the ground, throw it in the air, observe which way the wind is blowing, open mouth wide, throw self on ground




hi Someone,
oh i agree, his American accent really is spot on!
i remember him best for his role in Sense & Sensibility, he played quite an acerbic character in that too, he has married an annoying woman with an annoying mother, their is an interaction between him and his wife:

Mrs Palmer:
I've heard nothing but "Dashwood" for I don't know how long. What do you think of them? My mother wrote of little else in her letters. Are they not as she described?

Mr Palmer (Laurie):
Nothing like.

Mrs Palmer
You are quite rude today.

i should revisit Black Adder and compare with House



Comment by Chris Champion

April 22nd 2009 23:38
One thing I have noticed is the American propensity for exaggerating the Britishness of Brits. Both West Wing and Boston Legal featured Brits whose accents and mannerisms were hyperbolised to the point of campness.

Damian Lewis played arch-bastard Soames Forsyte in The Forsyte Saga and no-one has ever been better cast or acted a role more perfectly. Ever. Anywhere. I refuse to watch him as an American anything. I insist on dying remembering him as perfect, as Soames.

Minne Driver can play any role she wants (except Soames Forsyte), set anywhere, with any accent, and never run the risk of eliciting from me anything less than total adoration.

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 23rd 2009 00:17
hi Chris,
yes British = camp haha
i love love LOVED The Forsyte Saga, and mostly because of Damian Lewis's performance as Soames!
you are so right, he was perfectly cast!

Minne Driver can play any role she wants (except Soames Forsyte),

funny!

Comment by Someone

April 23rd 2009 00:22
I refuse to watch him as an American anything

He is excellent in Band of Brothers, and Life is probably my favourite show on TV at the moment.

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 23rd 2009 00:37
hi Someone,
yeah as much as i loved him as Soames i wouldnt want to miss out on his American acting . . . i also think Life is one of the best shows on tv at the moment!
the mans a talent in everything he does!
oh and the Death Star Canteen, LOVE IT!
closely followed by Cake Or Death!
i sat down and watched a whole heap of those Eddie Izzard lego youtubes in one go, i was completely enthralled!

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 23rd 2009 00:39
heres Cake Or Death for anyone that hasnt seen it:


Comment by Someone

April 23rd 2009 03:02
I personally enjoy the B movie one.... although the shopping one had me in stitches.

I wish I had more download quota so I could watch these all day

Comment by RubySoho

April 23rd 2009 03:35
Tim Roth. Yummy.

Comment by Norm

April 23rd 2009 03:36
So many instructions
I'm indoors.
I don't suppose it's just a routine you're running me through.
Because routines aren't supposed to be funny.
Someone has to stand up to you.

Comment by Someone

April 23rd 2009 03:45

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 23rd 2009 04:43
hi Someone,
you need an unlimited broadband plan . . . or a friend who has such a plan and a wifi connection! lol



hi Ruby,
i always think of Tim Roth as really evil ever since the movie Rob Roy . . . he was a bastard in that!



hi Norm,
look me in the eye and say that!
you might have to get on your soapbox to do it . . .

Comment by Andrew Biviano

April 23rd 2009 06:12
I have absolutely noticed that! It used to be that we exported our entertainment, and foisted Baywatch on the world. Now we're importers and I like it better, frankly. It's not just the actors, it's the programs, too: Office, Kath and Kim, America's got Talent, Deal or No Deal, Millionaire, a lot of reality shows, it goes on and on.

Also, I thought of one other actress. I forgot her name, but she is the lead on "Fringe."

And Hugh Laurie is astounding. There are actors as good, but I've never seen anyone better. It's my favorite show.

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 23rd 2009 07:04
hi Andrew (the moderate Biviano ),
i enjoyed your responses on the post Jonathan did about constitutional rights being stripped!
oh and thankyou for inflicting the world with Baywatch! haha
Anna Torv on Fringe in an Aussie
also Anthony LaPaglia and Poppy Montgomery on Without A Trace are Aussies
im a bit addicted to House myself, i know it runs to a formula but Hugh Laurie is just so charismatic!
thanks for the cool comment

Comment by Wilson Pon

April 23rd 2009 11:48
I'm a TV programmes freak and I watched most of the drama series that you've listed on above, Morgan! The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Bionic Woman are amongst my favorite pick, go go Lena Headey and Michelle Ryan.

PS: By the way, Morgan. Did you know that Michelle Ryan also play the role as "Lady Christina de Souza" in the mini episode, "Planet of the Dead"! Damn, Michelle was stunning in this film (Shh..., don't let my girlfriend know about it, as I'm afraid she will be jealous on her! lol)

Comment by RubySoho

April 23rd 2009 11:56
Oh but a very yummy bastard Morgan!


Comment by Morgan Bell

April 23rd 2009 17:26
hi Wilson,
Michelle is a stunning woman, so is Lena
dont worry, i wont tell your girlfriend!



hi Ruby,
haha oh i see we have a diehard fan!

Comment by Someone

April 23rd 2009 17:44
Speaking of the last House episode...

Meatloaf was playing Eddie again!

I reeeally wanted Tim Curry to run in dressed as a dominatrix and hack him apart with an axe. That would have made my entire month.

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 24th 2009 16:07
hi Someone,
it probably doesnt surprise you, but i love Rocky Horror too!

Comment by Someone

April 24th 2009 16:52
Let's just say that's one revelation that isn't shaking my entire world

My girlfriend has been trying to get me to go to one of the live floor shows they have at a local cult cinema every friday the 13th... I am most definitely going to the next one.

On that note... Have you seen Stephen King's 'IT'?

Tim Curry puts in an exceptional performance as Pennywise. Apparently the rest of the cast were so creeped out by his performance that they would avoid him while they weren't shooting.

Just goes to show... takes a lot of skills to be a convincing tranny

Comment by Someone

April 24th 2009 16:59
I see you shiver with antici................. pation!

Probably my favourite part of the movie.... Damnit, I just gave that back to the video store today and I want to watch it again already

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 24th 2009 17:41
hi Someone,
you need to buy it on dvd!
another good Tim Curry movie is Clue, where he plays Wadsworth the butler . . . its a murder-mystery cluedo style
how cool would it be if Tim Curry got cast as the lead in a new American cop or doctor drama!
i think someone should suggest that to a producer somewhere, it could possibly blow House out of the water!

Comment by Anonymous

April 24th 2009 20:20
I have also noticed that americans also pinch a lot of original british shows, remake them to suit american audiences and completely ruin them.....give me the brits any day

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 24th 2009 20:32
hi anonymous,
ive noticed that too!
the original UK versions of Queer As Folk and The Office are far superior (in my opinion) than the American versions
and did anyone see what a schmozzle they made of Kath & Kim? sometimes the humour of Aussies and Brits just doesnt translate . . .

Comment by Postmodern Critic

April 25th 2009 04:49
I think the world is becoming more and more international in general...

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 26th 2009 21:26
hi PoMo,
i think you make a good point
it seems American culture and products etc are not dominating to the extent they used to
or i guess we could see it the opposite way, that Brits have to go to the USA to get challenging and high paying roles?

Comment by Postmodern Critic

April 26th 2009 23:15
Very astute, I think it's a combination of both factors.

Comment by Carolyn Cordon

April 26th 2009 23:51
I'm not sure the average American understands 'nuance'. They were never going to 'get' Kath and Kim - it's too subtle for them.

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 27th 2009 00:29
hi PoMo,
astute . . . what a great word!



hi Carolyn,
i dont think they understand self-deprecating humour, the actors in the American Kath and Kim were too good looking to make their parts physically funny . . . the closest theyve got is My Name Is Earl where the actors sacrifice being "attractive" for the sake of being funny

Comment by Anonymous

April 27th 2009 04:38
There is a bigger problem, it is the franchise model of business that perpetuates the mass media markets.

Everything is a formula, it must be replicatable and mass consumption is the desired trait.

McDonalds hamburgers suck, so what, they sell a billion of them a year. That is the mentality of the big studios. Quality is not desired, a tleast not at the expense of profitability. Money over content, money over value, money over every everything.

I haven't watched a big studio movie in years, and I don't watch television, because they have become inane banter or reruns of a former success.

Comment by Mindzle

April 27th 2009 04:42
Sorry that last comment was me, I forgot to put my name in.

Basically the average American consumer has been dumbed down to the point that nuance is not something they can understand, because it isn't smacking them in the face. When you are used to yelling a whisper carries no voice. But like I said, nuance doesn't work in the mass consumption franchise model of entertainment. In fact the studios never understand success unless it can be derived into a formula they can recreate. Sequels... Ugggh.

Comment by Morgan Bell

April 27th 2009 05:53
hi Mindzle,
i have never had a problem with heavily processed TV and film, i think the more i am exposed to formulaic material the more i can appreciate something truly independent . . . the grey humdrum of primetime just better contrasts the beauty of the innovative . . . plus i like to know what pop culture the common people are experiencing

Comment by Mindzle

April 27th 2009 06:12
Morgan,
True enough. I don't put myself outside of the popular culture. But just like I don't eat at McDonalds because their "food" is horrible, I also don't consume pop media for lack of quality. There is plenty of good to great media for my consumption, I just have to look harder.

It is not a matter of heavy processing, it is a lack of quality as a whole product. Great FX, but no story, great star actors, but no spark. I don't know, maybe I am becoming jaded

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