Cringe Worthy American Television

[Cachoo]

US television shows that you hope are never seen outside of our borders (though so many of them do air.)

My biggest cringe: MTV's "My Supersweet 16"....

Yours?


PS--If you are outside of the US give us titles you wish we never "shared" with you.

[manhn]

I just finished watching The Real Housewives of Vancouver. I have never watched any of those shows before, but as a local, I admit to being intrigued. I will probably keep watching because I want to check out the wives going to places I can't afford (or perhaps discover places I haven't heard before).

[Andora]

My biggest cringe: MTV's "My Supersweet 16"....

I wouldn't worry about this one. There is a "Super Sweet World Class" variant, and I know of two episodes out of the U.K. that were just as bad as what came from the U.S.

[Badams]

Teen Mom. There are 14 year old girls having babies and naming the poor kids after Teen Mom characters. I'm not implying that Teen Mom encourages teen pregnancy, but that it encourages teen moms to name their kids horrible names. Bentley? Really?

[vesperholly]

There's TV everywhere. Have you seen that ridiculous Tamara Ecclestone show? And then there's Big Brother, which was a show of UK origin.

[Cheylana]

Jersey Shore. Ugh...

[triple_toe]

There's awful tv everywhere
I remember watching an episode of a British show that followed older teens as they went on holiday and their parents secretly watched their exploits... I think it was called something like Sun, Sex, and Spying Parents? It was trashy to the extreme

[John 3 17]

It would be FAR easier to list those that are not "cringe-worthy" than those that are. Almost everything on tv is junk, imo.

-Bridget

[gingercrush]

The British have the Chawner family o.o. Actually for all the great British drama over the years and British comedy (though can't say it is anything like the 70s-90s). They have a lot of well trash television o.o. Australia has a few too and New Zealand. And I know that unlike the US a lot of this trash is on our main networks.

[Cheylana]

It would be FAR easier to list those that are not "cringe-worthy" than those that are. Almost everything on tv is junk, imo.

-Bridget

Unfortunately I'm also finding this to be the case. A big cable bill every month and very little to show for it.

[danceronice]

Jersey Shore. Ugh...

Followed by its spinoffs/imitators, Brooklyin 11223 (or whatever their zip code is) and Bronx Bad Boys. Seriously, I should care these people exist because.....? (I know they're on because the commercials run on shows like Dance Moms, which is not hugely better, I admit, but yeesh.)

I wish whoever regulates these things would allow cabel and satellite companies to offer custom packaging. It's not AS annoying with DirectTV as with Comcast, where I had to buy a huge sports package to get TWO channels I wanted, but while once in a while I find something amusing on a channel I didn't expect, it would be much easier if I could just pick and choose.

[merrywidow]

The endless political debates!

[Cachoo]

No No No--Great Britain is the land of "Downton Abbey" and "Sherlock" and realistic soap operas and beautiful choirs at Christmas. I didn't know "Big Brother" started there.

[milanessa]

No No No--Great Britain is the land of "Downton Abbey" and "Sherlock" and realistic soap operas and beautiful choirs at Christmas. I didn't know "Big Brother" started there.

Sounds like you only watch PBS. Plenty of British trash out there - no different than many countries around the world. The US does seem to take it to a new level, though.

[overedge]

No No No--Great Britain is the land of "Downton Abbey" and "Sherlock" and realistic soap operas and beautiful choirs at Christmas. I didn't know "Big Brother" started there.

The first time I went to the UK I was that very few of the shows were the kind that we see on PBS in North America, and that most of the non-news programming was game shows, reality shows, chat shows, etc. - and a lot of them way cheesier than similar-type shows in North America. I thought I must be missing the channel where all the classy stuff was

[skateycat]

As a little kid, I remember hating the show Three's Company with an unusual amount of passion. My complaint was that every episode was predicated on some insignificant lie and I could not stand to see adults so dishonest for matters of no importance!

I would add The Bachelor/The Bachelorette shows to this list. I watched one episode recently, and I just find the whole concept made me uncomfortable. I wouldn't have been willing to find my husband that way.

[milanessa]

As a little kid, I remember hating the show Three's Company with an unusual amount of passion. My complaint was that every episode was predicated on some insignificant lie and I could not stand to see adults so dishonest for matters of no importance!

That was a British show first, too.

[shan]

Teen Mom. There are 14 year old girls having babies and naming the poor kids after Teen Mom characters. I'm not implying that Teen Mom encourages teen pregnancy, but that it encourages teen moms to name their kids horrible names. Bentley? Really?

I always feel that I at some of the names people choose for their children.

Sounds like you only watch PBS. Plenty of British trash out there - no different than many countries around the world. The US does seem to take it to a new level, though.

Hey I watch Eastenders on my PBS station every Sunday! There's nothing like combining the trashiness of soaps with the classiness of PBS!

[Wyliefan]

The first time I went to the UK I was that very few of the shows were the kind that we see on PBS in North America, and that most of the non-news programming was game shows, reality shows, chat shows, etc. - and a lot of them way cheesier than similar-type shows in North America. I thought I must be missing the channel where all the classy stuff was

That's how I felt when I first got BBC America.

[milanessa]

Hey I watch Eastenders on my PBS station every Sunday! There's nothing like combining the trashiness of soaps with the classiness of PBS!

I understand some PBS stations show Coronation Street. Not mine.

I saw the first episode of Eastenders when it was originally broadcast and watched for a few years but then lost interest. It was never as good as Corrie, though. :