My editor wants a piece on how bad . . . sorry, different Spanish TV is to British. Anybody want to give their opinions on what life is like without Corrie, Eastenders, Big Brother, X Factor, Ant and Dec, Trisha, This Morning, What Not To Wear?, Wife Swap, Colin and Justin, The Bill, Teletubbies?????? Or what they think of Grand Prix, Operacion Triunfo (or whatever), Salsa Rosa, Ana Rosa, any bleeding Rosa, Pasapalabra (not too harsh, one of my favourites), soaps, Aqui no vive thingy . . . anything?????

C'mon, it's telly - everyone has an opinion!

je je...Spanish TV has late night porn.....je je je ........ how can you beat that? Doesn't matter how bad everything else is when you have free smut!

TJGuy: When did they start showing "crotch flicks"? When are they on, what channel?

geez..i can remember watching them late in the night years ago - it was so odd to see that kind of programming in such a strongly devout Catholic country. Spain is such a contradiction sometimes.

On a recent trip, (last year), I was flippin' through the channels late on a week night and BAAAM! It was in a $20.00 night hotel so it couldn't have been a pay channel.

It was hilarious to listen to the Spanish dubbing - I'll stop short of being foul-mouthed in this public forum but I must have learned half of my swear words late at night.

Excuse me, guys, this wasn't meant to be a porno hotline thread. Anyway, check out Channel 53 and that one that does the tarot readings and ths sauna belt ads, both after midnight - apparently.

Now let the porn go otherwise the Big Man will shut this down

Lizzie,
I was amazed at the amount of prurient interst there is in Spanish television. Perhaps after so many years of watching Bonanza reruns, Spanish TV just wanted something completely different!

Carmen,

Very true.

Lizzie,

As to your questions, allow me to give my opinion. From what I have seen of both Spanish television and the cinema, I think it has produced some quality viewing. For example, the TVE has produced some excellent culturally oriented programs such as Un Pais en la Mochila Many of these programs tend to deal with the historical/cultural aspects of their country.
Their comedians, such as [email]Martes y Trece[/email] or Cruz y Raya are not too unlike Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Having said that, I believe that many of their programs are heavy-handed (especially their news casts) or rely on the prurient. It seemed more so after the end of the Franco regime. Spaniards no longer had to go to Perpignan to see porn flicks when they could watch them on the tele.

Their cinema too, tends to be heavy-handed. There are countless dramas dealing with the Civil War. Their comedies, like many in the US, rely on "slob humor" or Animal House antics, such as [email]Isi Disi, Amor a lo bestia[/email]

I think it is a question of money. Spain, unfortunately, does not have the Hollywood budgets to make better cinema. This is not to say that Spain does not have fine actors or directors. It does. I think Fernando Fernan Gomez is the John Gielgud of Spain. There are also Antonio Banderas, Antonio Resines, Paz Vega, Javier Bardem, Jordi Molla, and Penelope Cruz, to name a few. Unfortunately, they are not widely known (except for Banderas and Cruz) outside of Spain.
Almodovar is a great director. I think his [email]Talk to Her[/email] is one of the best things he's ever done. However, he is not to everyone's taste. Yes, a great director, but not a Spielberg. Alejandro Amenabar and Julio Medem are also good, but they are no Hitchcock.

I think Spain lacks the demographics to produce the widely known works that the rest of the world would want take notice.

I don't know if that will help you. Just my two eurocents.

Cogito cogito ergo sum cogito

TJGuy: I don't see where they would have to dub in much, what would be the difference in saying AAAHHHH ooooohhh uuuhhhh in Spanish or English.

Lizzee. thanks for pointing us to the right channel. We are going back next March or April and I will check it out and let everyone know the results.

Lizzee,

gee, is British TV really that good? I can't imagine! I have never seen one British film that I thought was funny or entertaining, especially compared to American movies or TV But I have seen a few Spanish movies that I thought were quite good - Jamon/Jamon, Abre los Ojos, to name a couple.

Try watching The Full Monty. Or Mr Bean