BBC's My Family sitcom has, I just recently discovered, an episode with a TS character/theme. In it, Ben, the leading male, has an old university friend coming to visit, who happens to be TS and has already transitioned, but not yet told him. This isn't the first LGBT-based episode for the program, and I was dreading watching the episode a bit, as the previous ones weren't entirely tasteful. There was an episode quite a few years back where Nick (the eldest son, who is no longer on the show) got a job as a drag queen, and that was naturally, the butt of many jokes (though that is nothing new for nick). There've also been a few episodes dealing with homosexuality, and they followed similar lines as the drag queen episode (not outright insulting, but a bit wince worthy at times).
This one, however, was much different, much to my enjoyment. If you've seen much of the show, you'll know that Ben generally puts on the airs of a 'man's man', and overall it's not the most progressive show, although it is quite good at some issues (such as female sexuality, though the stigma related to that is generally more of an american thing, than a british thing, but it is still often there).
Anyway, I felt things were handled quite tastefully, and many of the jokes (it is a comedy afterall) weren't anything you wouldn't find in TG fiction, and it was interesting to watch Ben deal with the news, and come to terms with it. The character (Ben) being played as a bit of a stereotypical bloke only made the journey and conclusion all the more potent, I think. It sends a positive message, I believe, and it was refreshing to see TS issues being handled in a mainstream show with some real thought.
If you wish, you can watch this particular episode here. It is episode six of series seven. Anyway, just thought I'd share that, and it's a fun show, besides. (If posting the link is against the rules at all, as I'm not sure, just let me know and I'll edit it out)
Comments
Does the link work for anyone?
All I get is ads for adult dating when I click to play the video.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
US Censorship
I was talking with someone recently and it seems that the US blocks lots of things from the Brits. It really irritates me and someday, I might try to figure out a way to get through that.
Gwendolyn
Not censorship
Has to do with syndication and distribution rights. At some time in the future the people who own the rights might want to sell the show to a U.S. market.
KJT
"Being a girl is wonderful and to torture someone into that would be like the exact opposite of what it's like. I don’t know how anyone could act that way." College Girl - poetheather
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Lots of Luck
Since they're giving up their best chance of demonstrating that Americans would like to see their programs. That kind of attitude makes no sense to me. Show it to some audiences for free but not others? Just makes the P2P networks more busy.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Their POV
They figure the more people that see it for free on the web, the smaller the demographic that will pay (watch commercials) to see it on TV. The same reasoning used to be used on airline in-flight movies, certain movies were shown on certain routes, depending on if the movie had been released theatrically in the destination country yet. Reading the inflight magazine could be amusing, flights to Paris showed different movies from flights to London, etc. 'Course, that was years ago, when they still lowered a projector down from an overhead compartment and showed the movie on a screen at the end of the cabin. Those were the days - Not!
KJT
"Being a girl is wonderful and to torture someone into that would be like the exact opposite of what it's like. I don’t know how anyone could act that way." College Girl - poetheather
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Yes, that's their reasoning
For a movie it makes some kind of sense. For a TV show, it's counter productive. How do newspapers build circulation? They give away free subscriptions. For a recurrent product, like a newspaper, a TV show, even a series of books, some free access builds audience. But the lawyers and executive pie cutters don't understand that. Free is bad to those people. Phooey.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
The BBC's "My Family"
Karen J wrote:
As far as My Family is concerned, adverts don't come into it, because it's a BBC TV programme, and the BBC is funded by a licence fee, payable by everyone who owns a TV, Set-top Box (for Terestrial Digital TV) or a VCR. Only ITV (Independant [or Commercial] TV) is advertising funded, but you still have to have a licence, even if you could receive only ITV!
I was able to watch the programme, but it is shown with the wrong aspect ratio (4:3 instead of 16:9), so everything is squashed horizontally!
Regards,
Dave.
Not in the U.S.
Here in the U.S. of A., we pay for our programming by viewing the ads. So, if a BBC program is syndicated and sold in the U.S., the stations/network have to be able to show the advertisers they have a market for the show. And in general, the BBC vids available on the Internet have not been viewable here in the U.S., according to what I've seen others say on this and other boards. There has generally been a message saying the video is not available outside the U.K., or something like that.
Me, I'm on dialup anyway, so I'm not watching any online videos on my computer! ;-)
KJT
"Being a girl is wonderful and to torture someone into that would be like the exact opposite of what it's like. I don’t know how anyone could act that way." College Girl - poetheather
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
There should be a megavideo
There should be a megavideo frame further down the page. There's no sign ups or anything required, and it should work in any country (it's not the official BBC TV stream).
About the sites that only play in certain countries: It's because of copyright laws, as they stand, at the moment. The technology is still too new to be incorporated in modern copyright laws, and standard broadcasting laws are, naturally, very specific to the nation. In many cases, the rights to a particular show are with entirely different companies in different countries. Rather than risk lawsuits, or any number of other legal problems, most broadcasting companies that are branching into streaming media simply lock the content into their home country, where they KNOW they have the rights to broadcast content. Until copyright laws are updated, and include something to address multi-national broadcasting (thus setting a precedent various companies can follow), this will likely remain the case. Some companies have already started broadening their streaming media from the US to include Canada, as many of them are available on standard canadian cable to begin with, and the contries share a number of shows that are liscenced by the same company in both countries. Even so there are potential problems with this, so few companies are doing it. (Broadcasting laws in Canada have strict policies governing a minimum amount of Canadian content from any 'station' and it's not clear how this will apply to streaming media yet; for example).
Basically, copyright laws are just too outdated to handle the current technology, and though they are under reform in many coutries around the world right now, companies are playing it safe until a clear way of handling things is set out. This is especially true of american companies, I imagine, as there are many strong groups actively 'fighting' the internet and various technologies (some of whom are very quick to toss around lawsuits), and lobbying for stricter copyright laws.
Worked Here
I saw it just fine in Nevada USA on Charter Cable, on that MegaVoodoo whozits; but I did have to
click a number of comfusing clicker thingies. Click them lil' thingies and it might work for you too,
'cuz me not even smart got it to go. See comment below...
~hugs, L.
What borders on pure insanity?
Canada and Mexico.
.
hmm... it's not letting me
hmm... it's not letting me edit my previous post. Anyway, I see now the trouble you were having.
When you first click play, it will bring up an add (I usually get a poker add), and it will start buffering. When it's done, you just click play again, and it will start proper. It shouldn't bring up an add more than that once.
Unable to Edit
THat was my fault, sorry. An attached reply does that. Sorry...
~~Laika again
What borders on pure insanity?
Canada and Mexico.
.
O da way Glenn Miller played...
Charming. Ben's a funny character, Susan in the tradition of long-suffering sitcom wives.
Don't know if I'd go back to it every week, the fall-off rate for my interest in sitcoms is steep,
but it was everything you promised Calie, and there was nothing ludicrous about the character of Charlie.
It's the sort of situation Archie Bunker used to get into every week on All in the Family; although compared to Archie (or I imagine the guy from BBC's Til' Death Do Us Part, which I never saw) Ben is a model of understanding and tolerance. It was right on the way he told off that horrible in-law lady...
~~~hugs, Laika
What borders on pure insanity?
Canada and Mexico.
.
I had no trouble playing the video.
I simply clicked on the play button and away it went.
I found the whole show funny, in a very British sort of way of course, but the final scene between Ben and Charlie in the pub, and Ben's goodbye to Charlie, made me cry.
I've told all my friends that I won't feel fully accepted as Cathy, by them, until one or all of them can hug me, as Cathy, and mean it. Good on ya Ben. Yer a gent.
Thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it. Tried to use Real player to DL it, but it wouldn't let me do it.
HUggles 'n stuff from,
Catherine Linda Michel
As a T-woman, I do have a Y chromosome... it's just in cursive, pink script.