KOCHI: Those who spent their years glued to the 1990’s popular American TV series Friends, would never forget the one-liner ‘No uterus, no opinion’ by Rachel Green (played by Jennifer Aniston) when male friends Ross and Joey offer some tips on childbirth. It struck a chord then, apart from a couple of guffaws, but it is still popular today. Better scripts, higher quality content are major reasons why Indians still prefer to watch the American TV shows than the ones generated at their home ground.
“Poorly scripted storylines is the main reason why Indian serials don’t make a mark. There is also a lot of humour,” said Jibin George Sebastian, owner of Cinema Diary, a broadcasting and media production company in Ernakulam.
Besides Friends, which still continues to top the list of popular shows, How I Met Your Mother, Game of Thrones, Sherlock and True Detective, have a great fan following, even in Kerala.
Melodrama, stretched storylines and fight in households revolving around money and insecurity, in Indian serials are impressing very few.
“ Indian serials never attracted me for they heavily lack in quality.The only shows I watch are the webseries like Bombay Batman and Put chutney. However, I have been watching Friends for years,” says Joseph M, the head of Kappa TV.
Lilly Singh, the famous Youtube celebrity describes in her book’ How to be a Bawse’, how American TV shows influenced her to concentrate on oneliners, think broader to make her shows more innovative and draw inspiration from them at times of despair. “As a result, I acted like a character of ‘The Walking Dead’. Before going onstage I would say to myself ‘Okay just get through this show,Lilly. You can survive this,” she writes.
The other hit factors are the choice of genres. The use of suspense t
o lure the audience helps keep them engaged.
“The TV shows deal with emotions, actions and always have food for thought. I especially love the one-liner ‘If you absolutely wanna tell the truth, atleast wait till the timing is right. And that’s what deathbeds are for,’” says another avid fan.
TV series like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, didn’t catch Sebastian Pallath’s attention in the beginning. “However, owing the hype, I decided to watch the shows. Now, I am addicted,” says the student of S H College, Thevara.
The relatable factor is yet another reason why many Indians love watching the American TV shows. Also, many youth say that the shows offer a new perspective everytime. “I hardly consider them as waste of time. An episode of WestWorld or Sherlock Holmes will have you hooked. There is so much you come to know,” said Anjana Aby, a fan of Westworld TV series.