In a message dated 2/22/01 4:43:50 AM Eastern Standard Time, N.Faulkner@tesco.net writes:

<< You know far more about fanfic than I ever will: do you see any evidence of US shows being 'Britannicised'? And if so, does it bother you? >>

Abso-bleedin'-loutly. Until a few years ago, it was almost unheard of for an American series or feature to end on a tragic note, without the inevitable happily-ever-after. This was an almost exclusively British or Japanese cultural phenomenon in entertainment media. This is one reason why the ending at Gauda Prime was actually more devastating for American viewers than it was for Brits.

I believe there may actually be a set of FCC rules that *required* that Good always win out over Evil by the end of a TV narrative, in the US. I'm not certain if it's still in effect according to Standards or not.

For various reasons, we've gradually been seeing more American/Canadian shows with grim, unresolved or ambiguous endings...in other words, closer to reality. I don't believe Americans are unsophisticated enough to handle a dark ending; I just think American producers don't want them to, so they've been feeding them largely nothing but 'feel good' resolutions since the beginning. Now since this isn't really as hard and fast a rule of US movies, I would guess that the TV networks are pandering somewhat to the wishes of the advertisers who produce all the commercials for those shows. They might be afraid to give the audience a downer mood, just before they try to sell them dishwashing soap and a new car.

Leah