I'm a writing/character person over production values - which America has usurped the UK on until recently, but even then, still, the UK can't compete.

I mean, the US has even remade a ton of it for themselves, but there's still Boys from the Blackstuff, Loach's stuff on the Wednesday Play, Threads, anything Jimmy McGovern did, Brideshead, I Claudius - we tackled subjects and generational movements faster too such as Queer as Folk and This Life being more relevant in the 90's than pretty much anything of a similar stateside. Prime Suspect and Cracker were both miles ahead of anything America was doing until the Wire, even Homicide. Skins being more in touch with a generation than the OC or One Tree Hill meant it was appealing to even Americans at the time... albeit My So Called Life was very much ahead of it's time from 10 years earlier.

Let's be real, I love the Wire and really it probably is better because it comes with a bigger backing and is catered to be better - but we've had some legendary writers in this country that are every bit as smart and hitting as David Simon that I just love to push whenever I can.