'Films are extended with incessant ad breaks - and to compensate are ruthlessly edited to fit the time slot available. Large chunks of plot simply disappear, and anything of a remotely sexual or profane nature is excised, no matter what time of night it's being shown.'

Memorable moments have included Rikki Lake hosting the finale of the Drag Queen of the Year Award. Less memorable was the live broadcast of the local city council in session, processing planning applications.

The trouble with doing a comparison of British and American television is that they're getting more and more similar.

It's a cliché (albeit a true one) to complain that despite having 100 channels to choose from there's nothing you'd want to watch, and anyway, with the advent of cable and satellite in the UK the number of channels available is no longer a difference between the two countries.

There are still some differences, however. What probably annoys us most about US TV is the amount of editing. Films are extended with incessant ad breaks - and to compensate are ruthlessly edited to fit the time slot available.

Large chunks of plot simply disappear, and anything of a remotely sexual or profane nature is excised, no matter what time of night it's being shown.

In the famous line-up scene in "Usual Suspects" the participants shout about a "fairy godmother". Instead of using another phrase containing the word "mother". Leslie Neilsen's "nice beaver" comment in Naked Gun (standing below the female protagonist on a ladder - as he's handed a stuffed aquatic rodent) is replaced by the phrase "nice animal".

Streak

I already knew there was a prudish streak to this country - witness the furore concerning Janet Jackson's breast, which seems to have caused as much scandal as the infinitely more serious crimes of which her brother is accused.

And yet it seems that on another channel that it is perfectly all right for Mrs Slocombe (Are You Being Served?) to talk about "putting perfume on her pussy" - and having "tom cats banging against her cat flap all night". But then that was on PBS, which of course is publicly funded, and not quite so dependent on public opinion.

Another similarity between the television of the two countries is that American TV is also overrun with makeover shows (example - five gay guys get to make over a straight man), talk shows and reality TV.

The latest reality TV show is "My big fat obnoxious fiancé". The premise being that the "bride" believes that she and the "groom" are both trying to convince their respective families that they are getting married after a whirlwind romance. If they manage it, they will win a million dollars to share between them and their families.

What she doesn't know is that the "groom" and all his family are actors, and he is under orders to be as obnoxious as possible, thus pitting her against her family who are genuinely heartbroken at her apparent choice of husband.

Disguise

The directors tried to make it look as if the whole thing had a happy ending, but didn't quite manage to disguise the fact that this poor stupid girl was duped, and is never quite going to regain the trust of her family. I was sincerely appalled - but watched. Such is the power of reality TV.

Even less tasteful is "The Littlest Groom" - a contemporary equivalent of the fairground freak show, in which a "vertically challenged" 4'5" man is offered a choice of brides of varying heights.

So maybe the main difference between American and British TV is to do with the values they reflect. I'm not too bothered about swearing or innuendo, and within reason wouldn't be too bothered about an older child seeing them either. In other words, I tend to more or less agree with the way that UK terrestrial telly deals with these things, and find much American censorship heavy handed.

Some of the more extreme reality TV shows deeply disturb me however, and I would not want a child of mine to grow up in a situation where the kind of values they demonstrate go unchallenged.

For people to be deceived and manipulated in the name of entertainment, and to allow themselves to be put through physical and psychological torture as if the money or fame they achieve by doing so is worth it - I am hoping that British television will try to resist such extremes of this type of viewing.