Call the Midwife (on PBS in the US)

[gardenvarietycitizen]

I'm just curious if anyone watched a show "Call the Midwife"? The first episode aired on PBS in the US tonight, it's about a midwife in the East End of London in the 1950s.

 

In the first episode one of the clients is having her 25th kid, I couldn't help but think "take THAT Michelle!!!"

[terranova]

It was on here a few months ago. Loved loved loved it! I loved the Miranda actress who comes in in the 2nd episode I think?? I was sad that they only made 7 or something episodes, I haven't heard if they're making more.

Yeah, 25 kids. I got the feeling some of the "patients" were slightly exagerated. The last episode in the series was a bit silly.

I got a cackle out of one of the nuns wishing for a magic potion that would stop women from having babies! Hah take that fundies! A NUN wishing for birth control!

[OkToBeTakei]

Good show...I really liked it.

Based on a book. No idea if they are making more.

[FaustianSlip]

I bought it on DVD a while back after hearing that it was good, and I watched the entire first series in a weekend. I can't wait until they do a second season, which I've heard is in the cards, but it's not due to air until mid-2013(!). I'll never understand the British system of making and airing television shows.

[terranova]

I bought it on DVD a while back after hearing that it was good, and I watched the entire first series in a weekend. I can't wait until they do a second season, which I've heard is in the cards, but it's not due to air until mid-2013(!). I'll never understand the British system of making and airing television shows.

It's called quality over quantity. They take the time to make sure (usually) that the product they are putting out is decent, so it takes a while longer. Unlike the mass produced dross shat out by some tv networks.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

It was on here a few months ago. Loved loved loved it! I loved the Miranda actress who comes in in the 2nd episode I think?? I was sad that they only made 7 or something episodes, I haven't heard if they're making more.

Yeah, 25 kids. I got the feeling some of the "patients" were slightly exagerated. The last episode in the series was a bit silly.

I got a cackle out of one of the nuns wishing for a magic potion that would stop women from having babies! Hah take that fundies! A NUN wishing for birth control!

Loved that line - it was in episode one and my husband and I both yelled at the screen "they're already working on it!!!" :D

Seems like a good show to watch the rest of!

[Guest Anonymous]

I dipped in and out of this series. I quite liked it. I think I was mostly worried that, as a historical drama about childbirth, it would be hugely depressing. Of course, I loved Miranda Hart as "Chummy" ('Long dogs need short names').

While it did not bug me terribly, (I'm not going to pretend that I threw myself around in misery over it, and it certainly didn't spoil the series for me), one episode did contain one of my least favorite tropes. I can't explain it well myself, but here is the TV tropes entry: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChocolateBaby

[FaustianSlip]

It's called quality over quantity. They take the time to make sure (usually) that the product they are putting out is decent, so it takes a while longer. Unlike the mass produced dross shat out by some tv networks.

Yes, Footballers' Wives and Big Brother are great examples of "quality over quantity."

Don't get me wrong- there are a lot of great shows on British TV, but there's just as much dreck as there is in the U.S. In fact, the vast majority of our major reality shows aired on British TV first (Dancing With the Stars/Strictly Come Dancing, American Idol, America's Got Talent, The X Factor, My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and were subsequently optioned for U.S. television. And I find it a little hard to believe that it's impossible to produce a series with more than six episodes and still maintain writing quality, or that it's necessary to wait more than a year in between series- the first series of Call the Midwife originally aired in January 2012, and the new one won't air until mid-2013. That's more than a year between series, though at least the second one will have a couple of extra episodes.

As for the relative quality of British television as a whole, the BBC does put out a lot of great stuff. On the other hand, having lived there, I'm well aware that the airwaves are just as loaded with crap like Neighbours and Geordie Shore or whatever as they are in the U.S., so let's not kid ourselves. And there are a number of very good, very well done shows produced in the U.S. that manage to get out more than six episodes a year that wouldn't be considered "mass dross" at all. So no, I don't think it's a case of "quality over quantity." More likely the way funding is distributed, if I had to guess, and general budgetary restrictions (since everything has to be paid for with licensing fees).

It's frustrating because the super short seasons mean that we almost never get the original, British version of a good show in the U.S., unless it's on PBS. Downton Abbey and Call the Midwife are outliers- a network doesn't usually want to run what amounts to a six-episode break in their programming only to have to replace it with something else mid-season when it runs out of episodes. Instead, we get what happened with The Office (and what they tried to do with The IT Crowd)- take an already great show, buy the rights, replace the cast with Americans and reshoot the whole thing. The U.S. version of The Office is a great show, but it was really unnecessary when the original was hilarious in its own right.

Edited to add Homeland, which I haven't seen yet, but is reputed to be excellent, and I plan to get on DVD as soon as possible.

[terranova]

Neighbours is Australian, not British. I'll grant you Footballer's Wives, but Big Brother, SCD, and the others you mention (do you mean Gypsy Wedding not Greek?) are either reality shows, tallent shows, or docoumentaries, if you can call Gypsy Wedding that. These arn't real tv shows, and should not be confused with such. It's very annoying that funding goes to these shows, but atleast when the Brits do attempt a proper drama series, it's usually decent and doesn't drag on and on and on well past it's used by date (Lost, anyone?). American tv networks seem to be cottoning on to this with the likes of Game of Thrones running short and sharp seasons.

Can you suggest some decent American drama? We don't get many here.

Older shows like Fawlty Towers and Blackadder were limited due to budget constraints, as well as the desire of the producers and writers to keep the writing tight and of a high quality. John Cleese has stated that about Fawlty Towers many times.

I'd rather watch all twelve episodes of Fawtly Towers and all four seasons of Blackadder over and over again than sit through a single episode of Everybody Loves Raymond of Seinfeld.

[Arete]

You may not like Seinfeld, but it was hardly dross.

Not much of a TV watcher, but I can recommend NCIS and NCIS: LA. House was great. Sons of Anarchy is very good. 30 Rock for comedy. American Family. Yeah, we can barely walk around here for having so much more crappy TV than the British. ;)

[terranova]

I watch NCIS LA, it's quite entertaining, but not in the same class as Downton Abbey or Call the Midwife. I watched the first season of NCIS but didn't like the main character (I know, I'm picky). I'll check out Sons of Anarchy, is that the one about the biker gang? Might have to download it. I can't handle American comedy, with the exception of Modern Family.

Seinfeld was so dumb I can't imagine how it was ever made into a show. The comedian himself is just eye wateringly unfunny. :( British comedy is just in a league of it's own.

[FaustianSlip]

Neighbours is Australian, not British.

Yes, as I'm well aware. That doesn't change the fact that its been one of the most popular shows on TV in the UK for decades. But substitute Eastenders or Coronation Street, if it makes you feel better.

I'll grant you Footballer's Wives, but Big Brother, SCD, and the others you mention (do you mean Gypsy Wedding not Greek?) are either reality shows, tallent shows, or docoumentaries, if you can call Gypsy Wedding that. These arn't real tv shows, and should not be confused with such.

Yeah, no. You don't get to smarmily dismiss all American TV as mass-produced "dross" and then try to avoid the proliferation of garbage like Big Brother on British screens by saying, "Oh, but that's a reality show, it's not real TV." A hell of a lot of people in the UK are really watching it, which is probably why for every Call the Midwife there are three of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. They're standard, widely-watched shows that are in regular rotation in Britain, just like the shows you're holding up as proof of the universal superiority of British programming. If Call the Midwife is representative of the excellence of British TV and the fact that producers of British shows always opt for "quality over quantity," as I believe you phrased it, you can't just ignore shows like Geordie Shore because they aren't sufficiently highbrow that you'd like them to represent British television. I think Honey Boo Boo is a frigging embarrassment, but the fact is that it's an American show, God help us, and people watch it. And it's also a fact that there is a huge percentage of British programming that's devoted to reality and/or sensationalist dreck just like Big Brother and the rest; it's just as representative of what the UK is watching as Downton Abbey.

It's very annoying that funding goes to these shows, but atleast when the Brits do attempt a proper drama series, it's usually decent and doesn't drag on and on and on well past it's used by date (Lost, anyone?).

I wouldn't know, as I've never watched Lost. But yes, I'd much rather get a storyline in drips and drabs over the course of years. That strategy almost helped the Beeb lose half the cast of Downton Abbey, as well, as they all started to make other commitments.

American tv networks seem to be cottoning on to this with the likes of Game of Thrones running short and sharp seasons.

Game of Thrones is ten episodes a season, nearly twice as long as a season of Call the Midwife. It's also aired on HBO which, like Showtime, is not traditional network television and has much more flexibility than the likes of ABC or CBS with regard to how long their seasons are and when those seasons air. It's fallacious to compare the two, because they play by different rules.

Can you suggest some decent American drama? We don't get many here.

I'm sure my tastes are far too lowbrow for me to suggest anything you might like. The "Are You a TV Snob?" thread is probably right up your alley, though I see you've already posted there.

The irony of all this is that I wasn't even trying to criticize British TV. I've lived there multiple times, and there's a number of very good shows that come out of the UK (though the fact that I've lived there multiple times also means that I know full well you're full of shit when you carry on and on about the fabulous quality of all British programming, because I've seen what's on the telly there). I was bemoaning the fact that there weren't more episodes available because I enjoyed the show, not because I wanted to get into a snob-off about whose viewers have more refined taste. Perhaps next we can bicker over the merits of adding the "u" to words like "color" and "favorite." Really, that would be a laugh riot.

[terranova]

Faustian Slip, I don't consider myself a tv snob, although I do enjoy quality television. If you check my initial reply to you, you'll see I was criticising other networks for the crap they put out, not nessescarily US tv, although I think it has a lot to answer for.

When I said we don't get many here, I meant many American drama in general. We get a lot of comedy like How I met your Mother, Two and a Half Men and so on. I don't find them funny, do you? I do enjoy Modern Family and liked Glee in it's early days, although that's another show that's jumped the shark.

I will check out the ones that AreteJo has kindly suggested.

The irony of all this is that I wasn't even trying to criticize British TV.

I wasn't thinking you were criticising British tv in your original post. Just as I wasn't having a go at US tv. Mearly at channels that live to churn out shit tv shows.

[OkToBeTakei]

Faustian Slip, I don't consider myself a tv snob, although I do enjoy quality television. If you check my initial reply to you, you'll see I was criticising other networks for the crap they put out, not nessescarily US tv, although I think it has a lot to answer for.

When I said we don't get many here, I meant many American drama in general. We get a lot of comedy like How I met your Mother, Two and a Half Men and so on. I don't find them funny, do you? I do enjoy Modern Family and liked Glee in it's early days, although that's another show that's jumped the shark.

I will check out the ones that AreteJo has kindly suggested.

I wasn't thinking you were criticising British tv in your original post. Just as I wasn't having a go at US tv. Mearly at channels that live to churn out shit tv shows.

O M G Can Eastenders just DIE!

Comes down to taste I imagine, I think every country has it's fair share of shit TV v Good TV. I could not live without US Scifi..but my humour leans toward British comedy. I love period drama, but my childhood would have been bereft without Dallas :lol:

BBC does still rely on the licence fee which totally annoys me as I pay for Sky and barely watch BBC in a given week, but you have a TV you need a licence.

Then I watch their documentaries and I forgive them.

The ratings in the US, do they pay a larger part than they do here? I have seen a few programmes run maybe only 3 shows and then get cancelled? It does happen here..but you tend to have to put up with the whole series.

[FaustianSlip]

The ratings are a very big deal. Storylines, casting choices, the day of the week and timeslot when a show airs and whether a show stays on the air at all can all be ratings driven. Some networks are more flexible about ratings than others, and will allow a show to find its feet, while others will kill shows without really giving them a chance. A lot depends on who's producing, writing and starring in a given show. If it has more star power, it's likely to be given more of a chance.

We get a lot of comedy like How I met your Mother, Two and a Half Men and so on. I don't find them funny, do you?

I can honestly say that I've never seen a full episode of either, so I couldn't offer an informed opinion on either one. The last sitcom I made it a point to watch every week was Frasier. I enjoy 30 Rock, and I've found what I've seen of Big Bang Theory to be funny enough, but I mostly grew up watching older TV shows with my family, so stuff like The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Love Lucy, Mary Tyler Moore and the like. I love M*A*S*H, for instance. I live in China, and my access to regularly-scheduled American (or other) TV is inconsistent at best.

As far as dramas, my love for The X-Files is obvious, and I think Star Trek: Deep Space 9 was very good in terms of both storyline and character development pretty much the whole way through. The West Wing was excellent, and I've heard some good things about The Newsroom, though I haven't had the opportunity to see it myself. The Wire and Treme are both very good. I haven't seen Breaking Bad or Dexter, but they're supposed to be good, as well, as is Mad Men. I liked Oz and Arrested Development. Deadwood and Boardwalk Empire are good historical dramas, and Battlestar Galactica is good sci-fi.

[freejoytoo]

I hate Eastenders.

I will admit to loving some terrible TV (including Neighbours, my avvy is a character from that :oops:) but Seinfeld isn't terrible, is it? I think it's really funny. With you on Everybody Loves Raymond though.

Fundies need to watch Call the Midwife. They have a really screwed up view of the past.

[treemom]

I watch NCIS LA, it's quite entertaining, but not in the same class as Downton Abbey or Call the Midwife. I watched the first season of NCIS but didn't like the main character (I know, I'm picky). I'll check out Sons of Anarchy, is that the one about the biker gang? Might have to download it. I can't handle American comedy, with the exception of Modern Family.

Seinfeld was so dumb I can't imagine how it was ever made into a show. The comedian himself is just eye wateringly unfunny. :( British comedy is just in a league of it's own.

British comedy is just different, because culturally ya'll are different beasts. I have seen Seinfeld 5 times live and think he is quite funny but I also really appreciate British comedy as well.

This isn't just true in television but even things like comic books/graphic novels produced in the UK vs the US are quite different albeit I like both. I love Grandville and I think you can tell the series has a very British feel. I also love The Walking Dead and it has a very American feel.

[xDreamerx]

Saw it months ago online. (If I hear of a British show I like, I never wait for it). I loved it. Can't wait for season 2. I think I might try the books out. I really enjoyed the Below Stairs series so I figure this one would be good as well.

[constantgardener]

I didn't see the episode with the 25th child but I read the book a few years ago. From what I remember the father had met his wife in the Spanish civil war, married her and brought her back to London when she was really only a child. She probably started having the 25 kids in her early teens.

One of my work colleagues grew up in the East End of London just after the war and she said the programme was a pretty good representation of what she remembers.

[freejoytoo]

My auntie was a midwife back in the seventies on the Isle of Dogs but I think things had modernised a bit by then!

My mum said her only complaint was that all the roads looked so clean!

[gardenvarietycitizen]

I think some of the problems with certain American TV shows is that the WRITERS don't seem to know where the story is going when they start, but not only that, they don't even have a full completed arc per SEASON. If they get cancelled midway, well, that's that.

Japanese TV dramas (which can certainly stink up the room, don't get me wrong) tend to be written before they air, all 13 episodes or so for the season, and the story has a beginning, middle, and end. I find that the TV I like in the US is similar. Far too many of the shows I don't like seem to just peter out, or else they open a bunch of mysteries and never close them, or they get wilder and wilder but never actually answer anything (or worse yet, contradict earlier canon). Surely it's just due to the funding of those particular shows? I didn't like the X-Files for this reason, though I liked it in the beginning.

Sitcoms of course are something else, they're designed to be able to be re-run in any order at least during one season. FWIW I did like "Seinfield" at least the early seasons. It was stupid but in an entertaining way, at least to me.

[OkToBeTakei]

British comedy is just different, because culturally ya'll are different beasts. I have seen Seinfeld 5 times live and think he is quite funny but I also really appreciate British comedy as well.

This isn't just true in television but even things like comic books/graphic novels produced in the UK vs the US are quite different albeit I like both. I love Grandville and I think you can tell the series has a very British feel. I also love The Walking Dead and it has a very American feel.

Aint that the truth..and if you heard my accent you would realise how totally crap that sounds.

My mother LOVES Seinfeld ..so much she actually asked for a box set. She is 76 she also loves the other bald guy name escapes me Cheers ex.

So what? It is not my taste..I am beginning to question the cultural humour..My Mum and I adore Period drama..but we call it escapism. I made her watch Mrs Brown..she was like...OH too close to the bone HAHA YES you were Mum LOL.

I could not consider my life complete without American culture..why would I? Hollywood ..HELLO?

[MrsKay]

Does anyone know if this is uploaded anywhere? It sounds like something I'd love to watch, and this is the first I've heard of it.

[So Many Lies]

I hate Eastenders.

I will admit to loving some terrible TV (including Neighbours, my avvy is a character from that :oops:) but Seinfeld isn't terrible, is it? I think it's really funny. With you on Everybody Loves Raymond though.

Fundies need to watch Call the Midwife. They have a really screwed up view of the past.

I've always been confused as to how it is that Jerry invariably has such a hot date!

[Mela99]

Good show...I really liked it.

Based on a book. No idea if they are making more.

Ooo. Title? I wanna read.