Americans, how popular is Doctor Who in America?

[DAK]

In the last Confidential (filmed in New York City) they showed lines around the corner to meet the cast and watch the debut of "The Eleventh Hour". I thought that was pretty cool! I think in larger cities where you can have Science Fiction clubs and actually have people turn up you'll find a lot of Who fans. I know one guy at work that is as crazy about the show as I am, and several others that casually watch it or have at least heard of it. But then I work with a bunch of science nerds. Rumor has it someone upstairs had one of those TARDIS USB hubs. I have to hunt this person down and meet them. Alas, I have had no luck making a SciFi fan of my son. Perhaps he was switched at birth or something.

 

[thestrangequark]

In the last Confidential (filmed in New York City) they showed lines around the corner to meet the cast and watch the debut of "The Eleventh Hour". I thought that was pretty cool! I think in larger cities where you can have Science Fiction clubs and actually have people turn up you'll find a lot of Who fans. I know one guy at work that is as crazy about the show as I am, and several others that casually watch it or have at least heard of it. But then I work with a bunch of science nerds. Rumor has it someone upstairs had one of those TARDIS USB hubs. I have to hunt this person down and meet them. Alas, I have had no luck making a SciFi fan of my son. Perhaps he was switched at birth or something.

I was so furious when I saw that! I walk by that theater literally every day! My pharmacy is three blocks away! The cafe where I take my daily respite is two blocks away! And they had to come a day I was out of town!

 

[PurpleBuddha]

From what I have seen, virtually everyone has heard of Doctor Who, but virtually no one knows anything about it or actually watches it.

Yep. My suspicion is that if you ask them, most everyone who's heard of it probably associates it with the image of Tom Baker's scarf, though I have no way of backing that suspicion up.

That has been my experience I think. Many people seem to know Doctor Who was a scifi show on a long time ago and they saw an episode or two when they were younger, but don't really remember them. In fact, until the new who in 2005 I fell mostly into that category myself. Sure I had seen people mention it here and there on this board, but didn't really pay attention.

I should add that my five year old daughter and eight year old both love it. In fact, they have me play the few dvds I have of it over and over again. We always watch the new episodes together and sometime my wife watches too (not a sci-fi fan).

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Doctor Who has a long way to go before it reaches anywhere near the levels of cultural penetration that Star Trek has. There are many Americans who wouldn't be caught dead watching Star Trek but will still understand generalized references to the original series. And as I get older, I find more & more people who will speak fondly of Star Trek and admit to catching some episodes of The Next Generation back in the day. (However, even most of my geek friends refuse to get as mired in the minutiae of DS9, Voyager, & Enterprise as I do. Hell, I know a bunch of regular Enterprise viewers that still can't remember who Travis Mayweather is.)

OTOH, I find it difficult to make any references to Doctor Who at all without finding myself in the position of having to explain the entire premise of the series every time. However, those who do know what Doctor Who is are all extremely devoted fans. My friends & I are all anxiously awaiting the season finale on BBC America tomorrow night.

I don't think that Doctor Who's American awareness problem is that it's too British. I think that sci-fi in general is too much of a niche market on TV right now. The only sci-fi shows that penetrate the mainstream are ones that pretend that they aren't sci-fi at all, like Heroes & Lost. Based on that scale, Doctor Who is just way too funky. (The "Americans don't like the Doctor because he doesn't use guns" theory doesn't work for me. If that were all it took to be popular in the U.S., then Stargate SG-1 would be far more mainstream than it is.)

The other problem is that episodes of the old Doctor Who are very inaccessible, both literally & artistically. AFAIK, there are no TV stations in the U.S. that currently air old Doctor Who episodes(certainly none in Arizona). The DVDs are very expensive and often only sold in specialty shops. And the format of the series is very different and very difficult to acclimate to. Plus, I hate to say it, but the production values of the old series were crap. They make the original Star Trek look like Avatar by comparison.

Interestingly, Torchwood gets much more mainstream DVD distribution. I've seen the 1st couple seasons at Target, yet I've never seen them carry any Doctor Who. And yet, most of the hardcore Doctor Who fans I know IRL have not tried Torchwood yet. Some don't even really know what it is.

It's not. I heard it mentioned on an episode of NCIS once... that's the only pop culture nod and I watch WAY too much television.

As has been mentioned earlier in this thread, there have also been some references on The Simpsons. I can think of 2 in particular, although both involve the Comic Book Guy.

The 1st was in an episode involving a special sale at a fast food restaurant-- 100 tacos for $100. CBG comes out of the restaurant with a wheelbarrow full of tacos musing, "Yes, this should provide adequate sustenance for the Doctor Who marathon." (This was in the episode where Krusty the Klown was outed as a tax cheat and faked his own death.)

The 2nd reference I remember was in one of the Halloween specials. Bart & Lisa had been mysteriously transformed into superheroes-- Stretch Dude & Clobber Girl. Their arch-nemesis was the Collector (CBG again). He kidnapped Lucy Lawless at a sci-fi convention and brought her to his secret lair where he would keep her trapped in a clear plastic bag "in near mint condition between Doctor Who & Yasmine Bleethe."

And as Neroon's signature shows, they often make Doctor Who references on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. But then, he's Scottish, so the rules don't apply to him. (In fact, hardly any rules apply to Craig Ferguson.)

Line starts here. You NEVER give a Canadian that "you're in North America, therefore you're an American" line. It's just perpetuating the uneducated-American-patriotic-expansionist stereotype.

But then you've got the Latin Americans, who refer to themselves as Americans while the word they use to refer to us translates into United States-ian.

Found this on thesun.co.uk

AMERICAN Doctor Who fans are campaigning for the Timelord to appear in an episode of cartoon classic The Simpsons. ​

They have mocked up these great 'toon versions of Who actor Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, who plays his sidekick Amy Pond.​

They also produced a Tardis, Dalek and a Weeping Angel from the last series of the BBC sci-fi hit.​

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepag...r-the-Timelord-to-appear-on-The-Simpsons.html

And here's the thread with this already being discussed, The Sun link is new information though

FYI, the link in that previous thread contains some spoilers for the season finale that I wish I hadn't been spoiled on.

 

[Cyke101]

I made a thread a while back about the show's popularity in Chicago -- specifically on billboards on a few subway stops, notably the Lake Street stop on the Red line downtown. There were four billboards in that specific tunnel, three with the following text each:

-Phonebox (Time-Traveling) [image of the Tardis]
-Alien (Really Evil) -- [image of an RTD-Dalek]
-Screwdriver (Sonic) -- [obviously]

I suppose the parentheses was the ad campaign's way of introducing viewers into Doctor Who. The fourth billboard was of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan hopping through time. Of note, only the last billboard had the show's title.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Yeah, it doesn't have anything to do with the Doctor not using guns and has far more to do with the fact that it's a sci fi show that's not on mainstream television that was invented by another culture. Of the top of my head, I don't think there's a single British show aired on mainstream US television. Sure, we get remakes, but that's entirely different.

 

[The]

^Yeah, that was my point, though. A no-weapons hero is as alien to the US audiences as the Police Box....

 

[Gov Kodos]

^Yeah, that was my point, though. A no-weapons hero is as alien to the US audiences as the Police Box....

I'm not so sure about that, as Michael Landon was able to show with 'Highway to Heaven' and 'Little House on the Prarie' but sci-fi TV in the US seems more prone to use shoot the scary monster tales over more thoughtful drama.

 

[Sci]

^Yeah, that was my point, though. A no-weapons hero is as alien to the US audiences as the Police Box....

No, it's not. Batman and Superman rather famously don't use guns, and Superman in particular is an American icon.

And while I think it's fair to note that there aren't any British shows that air on network TV, I think it's probably also important to note that Britons are one of the most, if not the most, common foreign nationality to be depicted on American television. It's not the least bit unusual for American broadcast network programs to feature British characters and/or British actors, and British celebrities are certainly big in American pop culture. No one really cares that Simon Cowell is British and helps determine every American Idol, even given its somewhat nationalistic title.

Personally, I'd bet good money that the lack of British TV shows on American TV has as much to do with British Brevity as anything else. Like they said on The Simpsons: "Not hard to see why it's England's longest running series, and today, we're showing all seven episodes!" It's hard for TV programs that only have seasons of six or seven episodes, or 13 at the most, to compete with American programs that produce 22 episodes a season.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Yeah, it doesn't have anything to do with the Doctor not using guns and has far more to do with the fact that it's a sci fi show that's not on mainstream television that was invented by another culture. Of the top of my head, I don't think there's a single British show aired on mainstream US television. Sure, we get remakes, but that's entirely different.

You'd have to narrow yourself down to considering mainstream TV to be only the major networks excluding PBS. Even then, NBC aired Merlin not too long ago.

^Yeah, that was my point, though. A no-weapons hero is as alien to the US audiences as the Police Box....

I'm not so sure about that, as Michael Landon was able to show with 'Highway to Heaven' and 'Little House on the Prarie' but sci-fi TV in the US seems more prone to use shoot the scary monster tales over more thoughtful drama.

It's the silly aspects of the show that I think makes it a hard sell. Farscape had a similar thing. The running around and bright colors and daft monsters are something that turns off a lot of viewers I think. Whereas something like BSG can be seen as OK because it's so, to borrow a term from across the pond, "po-faced".

No, it's not. Batman and Superman rather famously don't use guns, and Superman in particular is an American icon.

They also regularly beat the snot of their opponents. OK, yeah, they aren't shooting them but....

 

[Sci]

No, it's not. Batman and Superman rather famously don't use guns, and Superman in particular is an American icon.

They also regularly beat the snot of their opponents. OK, yeah, they aren't shooting them but....

Yes, and the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to kill the Cybus Cybermen drones at Torchwood One in "Army of Ghosts," and he beat up his prison guards in "Bad Wolf," and he condemned the Family of Blood to fates worse than death in "The Family of Blood," and he tricked the Weeping Angels into falling to their deaths/retcons in "Flesh and Stone," and he and Captain Jack shot Daleks galore in "The Parting of the Ways," "The Stolen Earth," and "Journey's End," and...

The Doctor is not above using violence when it's required. It's just that his villains are usually more trickable than Superman's and Batman's.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^^ I think it's less about citing some examples and more where the overall focus lies. Though I don't see how it's much different than, say, how The Mentalist (and his companion ) solve crimes. So regardless the point re:violence is probably moot. I really think it's the tone that limits it from higher heights in the US.

 

[Cyke101]

No, it's not. Batman and Superman rather famously don't use guns, and Superman in particular is an American icon.

They also regularly beat the snot of their opponents. OK, yeah, they aren't shooting them but....

I'd like to think that heat vision is a form of shooting them

"Forget the shooty-super-thing..."

 

[Sci]

^^ I think it's less about citing some examples and more where the overall focus lies. Though I don't see how it's much different than, say, how The Mentalist (and his companion ) solve crimes. So regardless the point re:violence is probably moot. I really think it's the tone that limits it from higher heights in the US.

Eh. I don't think we can really say, at the end of the day, what limits it from "higher heights," because it's never even had high enough exposure to determine how popular it could potentially be.

If CBS starts airing Doctor Who on Wednesday nights at 8:00 PM and it dies ignobly, then we can start speculating about what aspect of its content makes it unpopular. Until then, it's just too obscure to even know why it's obscure beyond lack of exposure.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Borgified Corpse, FYI every Best Buy in town as well as Fry's Electronics carries Doctor Who DVDs. I've never seen them at Target or Wal-Mart though, but really, why would any sane person buy their DVDs from there anyway?

 

[The]

Come on Sci, you know what I mean. We Americans don't get into lead heroes that don't use weapons and/or shoot-to-kill. Citing two "superheroes" as examples does not a comparison make. The Doctor is an alien of immense intellect. Superman is an alien of immense offensive abilities. The Doctor is not. If he were running around tossing people around, and flying, then sure the comparison would be apt. But, as it is, look at 24 and DW. Or, if you would like to stick to science fiction, look at Stargate and DW. Look at Star Trek and DW. It's the same over and over. Gunslinger=idealized 20th century American cowboy hero. Sure, it's a getting a bit more diverse over time (there's still Spock and Daniel Jackson to measure it out for the liberally inclined). But, the US is not an audience to accept Doctor Who. Not yet, anyway...

 

[The]

A Doctor Who that would "readily" work in the US would star Hugh Laurie, and probably someone like Rhona Mitra. The Daleks would probably be created on Earth by humans, Rhona/companion would pack a gun, and The Doc and his companion would end up in bed during the Sweeps...

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^^ I think it's less about citing some examples and more where the overall focus lies. Though I don't see how it's much different than, say, how The Mentalist (and his companion ) solve crimes. So regardless the point re:violence is probably moot. I really think it's the tone that limits it from higher heights in the US.

Eh. I don't think we can really say, at the end of the day, what limits it from "higher heights," because it's never even had high enough exposure to determine how popular it could potentially be.

If CBS starts airing Doctor Who on Wednesday nights at 8:00 PM and it dies ignobly, then we can start speculating about what aspect of its content makes it unpopular. Until then, it's just too obscure to even know why it's obscure beyond lack of exposure.

So in other words we can never speculate on why it's not more popular here.

 

[Sci]

Come on Sci, you know what I mean. We Americans don't get into lead heroes that don't use weapons and/or shoot-to-kill.

And I don't agree; I think that American culture gets into both kinds of superheroes.

Citing two "superheroes" as examples does not a comparison make.

Superman and Batman -- and, now that I think of it, Spider-Man -- are perfect comparison points. They have the same sort of stature in American popular culture that the Doctor has: They're decades-old, multi-media adventure heroes created primarily for children but also enjoyed by adults who battle evil and have achieved incredibly high levels of popularity in their respective cultural zeitgeists.

The Doctor is an alien of immense intellect. Superman is an alien of immense offensive abilities. The Doctor is not.

1. Superman is also an alien of immense intellect, as a casual perusal of his comics will demonstrate.

2. The Doctor is an alien of immense offensive abilities, too; he just uses his magic technology to do it instead of his magic body. Remember "The Waters of Mars?" "Is there anything you can't do?"

But, as it is, look at 24 and DW. Or, if you would like to stick to science fiction, look at Stargate and DW. Look at Star Trek and DW. It's the same over and over. Gunslinger=idealized 20th century American cowboy hero.

I don't think 24 is in the least bit an apt comparison, because 24 is designed for an adult audience. Same thing with Stargate. Again, a better comparison would be American superheroes.

And I think you're severely stereotyping your own culture. For every Jack Bauer, there's also a Mister Spock. And you're also giving too much credit to British culture -- for every Doctor Who, there's also a James Bond with a license to kill.

And frankly, I'm not convinced that the John McClanes and Jack Bauers of American culture have the kinds of staying power that the Batmans and Mister Spocks have demonstrated. Really, the only American action heroes I can think of who've really demonstrated that kind of longevity are the characters of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne -- all of whom are more famous for who played them than for the characters themselves.

ETA:

^^ I think it's less about citing some examples and more where the overall focus lies. Though I don't see how it's much different than, say, how The Mentalist (and his companion ) solve crimes. So regardless the point re:violence is probably moot. I really think it's the tone that limits it from higher heights in the US.

Eh. I don't think we can really say, at the end of the day, what limits it from "higher heights," because it's never even had high enough exposure to determine how popular it could potentially be.

If CBS starts airing Doctor Who on Wednesday nights at 8:00 PM and it dies ignobly, then we can start speculating about what aspect of its content makes it unpopular. Until then, it's just too obscure to even know why it's obscure beyond lack of exposure.

So in other words we can never speculate on why it's not more popular here.

Well, more like, "We don't have enough data to make any educated guesses about why it's not as popular in the United States as in the United Kingdom."

 

[Nerys Myk]

And I think you're severely stereotyping your own culture. For every Jack Bauer, there's also a Mister Spock. And you're also giving too much credit to British culture -- for every Doctor Who, there's also a James Bond with a license to kill.

Interesting point with Bond, he is pretty much the epitome of the gun toting action hero. Heck, every movie begins with a gun barrel point of view.