US media - stealing British ideas since 1952

I'm amazed at how many movies and television programmes I'm familiar with -- and thought were original American creations -- are actually rip-offs of British programmes.

You don't learn this, of course, when you're living in the States.

Most recently: the show "Trading Spouses"... obviously the UK's "Wife Swap" is a little to un-PC for American audiences. And, like most conversions, the humour is lost in translation.

It's also interesting that the US-UK media exchange takes place at the low-brow end of the spectrum. You'll be lucky to catch a vaguely intellectual show on PBS, while it's commonplace on the BBC.

For instance, this radio programme (courtesy of Jones -- the link, not the BBC)