COWBOYS, COMEDY AND CRIME

Abstract

Drawing on archival sources from the BBC Written Archives Centre, including programming and scheduling policy files and on the Radio Times television edition, this article seeks to contribute to historical work on the way Anglophone cultures interacted in the early days of television broadcasting. The influence of American programming and culture has generally been assumed to begin with the introduction of commercial television in 1955. This article notes the interactions of the BBC and its transatlantic cousins, then surveys the way America was integrated into the schedules (including both BBC productions and, more significantly, American-produced films and series). Placing these in the context of British cultural strength in the English-speaking world, it argues that rather than Americanising viewers, it reinforced the resilience of British culture and its ability to absorb and interact with other cultures.