..when I watched this for the first time; I really don't know that it would be possible to create a more insidious piece of programming - the fact that it is shown on PBS astounds me. This show is being promoted in a user friendly format, so as to slip in the most sugary manner possible down the throats of our children; that in itself should be a bad sign, regardless of the message which the show carries as payload.
The fact is that the messages the show gives off and the stereotypes contained therein are reprehensible, and represent the very worst bigotry possible; the americans characterised are portrayed as either old and wise (franklin) or young and well-intentioned (most of the rest of the regular cast), and all of them are good, intelligent, ethical people. The british in the show (one of whom is played by Michael York, a highly talented thespian educated at oxford, fallen to such depths as 'dark planet' and this, a Patrick Stewart of poor fortune with a streak of Pearce Brosnan) are portrayed to the greatest extent possible as mean-spirited, callous, and capable of dreadful things.
The fact is, *regardless* of whether such stereotypes are true or not, such portrayal is *not* appropriate in this day in age, especially given the 'special relationship' now endured by the United States and the United Kingdom. It would be possible to make a more mindlessly anti-english, pro-american show, but this hasn't been put together mindlessly: the intention of the show is quite deliberate, and it is - as stated - to slip messages like these quietly into the supplicatory, nurturing television watching of young next-generation americans, the messages of which they will blithely and unthinkingly assimilate as parts of their own ideology.
The fact is that the messages the show gives off and the stereotypes contained therein are reprehensible, and represent the very worst bigotry possible; the americans characterised are portrayed as either old and wise (franklin) or young and well-intentioned (most of the rest of the regular cast), and all of them are good, intelligent, ethical people. The british in the show (one of whom is played by Michael York, a highly talented thespian educated at oxford, fallen to such depths as 'dark planet' and this, a Patrick Stewart of poor fortune with a streak of Pearce Brosnan) are portrayed to the greatest extent possible as mean-spirited, callous, and capable of dreadful things.
The fact is, *regardless* of whether such stereotypes are true or not, such portrayal is *not* appropriate in this day in age, especially given the 'special relationship' now endured by the United States and the United Kingdom. It would be possible to make a more mindlessly anti-english, pro-american show, but this hasn't been put together mindlessly: the intention of the show is quite deliberate, and it is - as stated - to slip messages like these quietly into the supplicatory, nurturing television watching of young next-generation americans, the messages of which they will blithely and unthinkingly assimilate as parts of their own ideology.