The First Post

[lymaze]

www.thefirstpost.co.uk/45230,opinion,the-double-edged-sword-of-modern-celebrity

True for Carol maybe but I think Jezza will still be around in 10 years. I'd also say some people in Chicago might just know who he is (although I thought the writer meant the musical at first ) and what is this about ill-fitting jeans?

[nobody]

I think people in the US know who Clackson is.
and has for Brad Pitt being an unknown name for most people under 30. i am only 26 my brothers are 21 and 11 maybe 12 all ways forget with the youngest know who he is.

[chasingtime]

I agree with the above...there *are* some people in Chicago (and quite a few places elsewhere here, too) who know who Jeremy is. But I hasten to say it's a building recognition as TG finally gets some traction in the media here. Unfortunately for us American fans, though, so much of the 'naughty', 'off colour' or perhaps 'controversial' bits that has made Jezza a celebrity at home with TG never get aired over here...something that I really feel 'lost out' on, even when he says something I'd totally disagree with (same goes with the others). Sadly, we get a censored (almost vanilla at times) version of Jeremy, censored version of Richard, and censored version of James. (Thank God for YouTube and places such as this online or the true 'magic' of the show might never be discovered.)

[lymaze]

I hesitate to think what can be left except the credits. It is funny how America is so sensitive about some things yet are probably the most extreme in others.

[chasingtime]

As I understand it, the TG show there is about 60 minutes (excluding any commercials), is that correct? In comparison, I've think we get something totalling 35-42 minutes, maybe...I haven't clocked it officially 'James style' yet or anything...and I swear some episodes may be a bit shorter than that.

I think we get the car reviews, most of the challenges, etc., but I think we miss out on some of the 'people' element...the back and forth of the news segment, the joking between the three, maybe some of the star interviews, and just the general banter with the audience. I've read also that the 'TG in the US' series of shows were cut down a lot, but I can't verify that yet. Jezza's 'political incorrectness' seems to be kept quite in check in ours, and I've lost count of how many times there's a joke or something late in the show that makes no sense because it refers to something that has been edited out. Needless to say, I'm looking into getting a UK format DVD player and all (or maybe a hack code for my current one) as my next present to self. Then, the DVDs.

(Here comes the rant...This editing is especially bad practice, imho, as we Yanks so desperately need to take a look and have a laugh at ourselves, and that includes myself, too. I just hate that BBC-A feels the need to do this content edit, as they're missing a prime opportunity with TG here. It's like we're being kept at the kids' table or something, already presumed that we can't handle or even understand the TG references, barbs and jokes. We'll never learn how to improve and be better to others 'globally' if we don't ever see a true idea of how others see us, rightly or wrongly...we make our own 'bad Americans' from this 'blinders always on' approach, I think. Not to go political too much here, but I'm not Dubya nor ever been a supporter of his...I can handle criticism of my country and actually welcome the debate. I don't live in a John Wayne America, I know we're not perfect, and I do totally believe in freedom of speech for our critics. Let people say what they want to say, even if I don't agree with them...and that includes TG and all the lads on there. Sorry, rant over now... )

[Wyvern]

Here's a thought. Send them a nice letter explaining that in the USA, the Fifth Amendment protects the freedom of the press and as long as they aren't saying anything that is blatantly untrue, they really don't need to cut everything to ribbons, especially given that TG is technically journalistic television that just happens to do its reportage in an entertaining way...

And if they say they are making cuts for inappropriate language, ask them what is inappropriate about English blokes speaking... er... English

It probably won't work, but it's worth a try!

[lindenchase]

BBC-America isn't the station who is doing the editing. We get the same edited version here in Holland where - trust me on this -you can say and do basically anything on television.
I think the BBC (UK) only sells one edition which they have edited themselves.

[TheDaisy]

Dave shows edited versions too.
I only saw the unedited African challenge for the first time on BBC a couple of weeks ago. I was surprised at the amount of stuff that got taken out.

[lindenchase]

Exactly, the edition shown on Dave is the same as is shown outside the UK.