Do we all know what a potluck dinner is? Do you plan your potlucks with lists of who will bring what, or do you truly keep them as lucky?

I am in a book discussion group that usually meets on Friday nights. Each woman who comes brings a dish of something to share. All of the sudden, when we decide to have a party where we all bring our family and friends, they seem to feel the need to have lists and "make sure we have everything covered", where before if we ended up with 12 desserts, we'd just pig out and have a good sugar rush!

I've also heard people talk about "bringing a casserole" or "bringing a covered dish" or whatever. Different words for the same things, right?

I've heard of the American custom, but it's not common in England. We'd probably call it "bring-your-own" or similar.

When we refer to potluck we mean something slightly different. If a visitor were invited to dinner at short notice, they'd be warned "You'll have to take potluck", meaning they'd be served whatever was available in the pot to the host family, with nothing special laid on.

Despite this the hostess would then proceed to bring out the best china, bake special cakes, and so on, while cursing her husband under her breath for all the unexpected extra work.

Arnie is correct, but I have noticed recently that the American sense of the word is catching on here. For example last week at work, when there was a day of meetings and presentations, we were all asked to take something for a potluck lunch.

This seems to be becoming more common nowadays, perhaps under the influence of US TV.

Can you think of any American TV shows you've seen that have had potlucks in them?

I can't, CW. I wonder if "potluck" is a regionalism. I used to hear it a lot when I lived in Wisconsin, but I don't hear it that much in Chicago. People just ask everyone to "bring a dish to pass" here.

We have a family reunion every year (in Wisconsin) that is potluck. We don't plan it, CW, and yet I'm always amazed that we seem to come out pretty equal with dishes.

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Originally posted by Caterwauller:
Can you think of any American TV shows you've seen that have had potlucks in them?

Yes. Charmed.
This is also one of the shows where I encountered "shower".

Ahh - interesting. I've never watched that show. Of course, I rarely get to choose what is on our TV, prefering to play online or just watch whatever while I'm knitting.

Does anyone have an idea of what percentage of American shows are actually shown in the UK? Are they shown when first run here, or later?

quote:

Originally posted by Caterwauller:
Does anyone have an idea of what percentage of American shows are actually shown in the UK? Are they shown when first run here, or later?

I don't know the answer to your first qustion but I can say coverage is extremely hit and miss.

Shows will often show up on cable (which I don't have) almost simultaneously with their US transmission but rarely on terrestrial TV channels until much later.

When they are shown the will sometimes switch between seasons to cable, miss out whole seasons or parts of seasons, drop from primetime to the middle of the night without warning or go from one channel to another.

Take Smallville. Channel four had (and still have) it. It was extremely popular on a Sunday afternoon and then at the end of a season it disappeared. Three years later it's come back, been shown for three weeks then dropped for two months.

The Simpsons, on the other hand, sometimes shows up on several different channels simultaneously as all of them have bought seasons of it at one time or another.

Andromeda (which personally I think is terrible) showed up first on cable, then re-ran season one on one of the five normal channels then switched back to cable only for the other seasons.

This isn't new. Highlander ran season one at odd times and on odd days, skipped season two altogether, ran season three in the middle of the night and then transferred to cable.

As I say. Very hit and miss.

I agree with Bob's remarks about the hit and miss way American TV shows appear in the UK. I do have cable, and several of the channels seem to contain nothing but repeats of US shows all the time, particularly sitcoms. Often every day of the week contains an episode (often two consecutive episodes) of a particular show that would have originally been shown weekly. E4, for example, shows two episodes of Friends every Monday to Friday. Even though the show lasted ten series, at that rate they must be repeating them for the fourth or fifth time at least.

As to what percentage of American TV ends up shown here, I've no idea. However, they don't seem to be very picky; some shows are dreadful. I vaguely remember reading reacently that one of the terrestrial channels had taken up one US show that bombed in the US and was cancelled after eight episodes. Why they've bothered I don't understand. Even if it is a hit over here (unlikely), it will just leave dissatisfied fans once all the episodes have been shown.

Very interesting. I should take time sometime soon to see what is actually shown over there.

I find that much of what is shown here, our own shows, is drivel. There are some shows that are very good, but I would have to say the majority is not worth my time.

I guess that is why I spend so much time online. LOL

AGREED! with the drivel part,that is, and the 'dreadful', too.

Bob and Arnie's descriptions of the haphazard sequence and low quality of what happens to end up on cable over there? Sound exactly like what I'm paying 2much/mo for over here. Happened to catch a repeat tonight of an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street, a series that ran more than a decade ago... it reminded me of how good TV can be. We seem to have the odd excellent short series (The Closer, Rescue Me, The Sopranos)-- & you're only going to like them if you can bear the language & violence that come with-- and the rest is drivel upon drivel, repeated ad nauseum. I'm talking mediocre movies loaded with violence, sans redeeming value, shown twice a day every day for a week. And ancient reruns of ancient sitcoms. Three Spanish channels, all showing low-grade soap operas at the same time. And "Public" TV, once supported by the government, now running the same doo-wop specials over & over every two weeks to drum up donations.

It's a dirty plot.

I for one am back to my favorite lazy summer pastime of lotsnlotsv used detective & spy paperbacks. No commercials.

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Does anyone have an idea of what percentage of American shows are actually shown in the UK?

Recently my daughter and I were in Prague and Vienna. In Vienna we only got CNN and M-TV in English; the rest were in German. But the funny part was that most of the German programs were U.S. programs, such as "Friends," "Law in Order," U.S. movies, and the like. Likewise, in Prague much of the TV was in English, and they were U.S. shows as well. We were surprised at seeing so many U.S. shows.

Not TV, but concerning exports in English, Michael Quinion has posted in his newsletter that his book, Port Out, Starboard Home (Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds in the US) is to be published in Finland. He's rather baffled as he is unsure why the Finns would want to read about English language urban legends. He says he's not complaining, though!

I always think the mark of a good article, book, paper, whatever, is when it is translated into another language. It has happened to me a few times, but not as many as I would have liked.