dead Norman Lear

[Ulitzer95 11,085]

8 minutes ago, MortalCaso said:

Yes. As an American, had no idea who Rolf Harris or Michael Parkinson was. 

 

Same goes for all the UK politicians besides a few PM. 

To be fair that’s not really saying anything when only 37% of Americans hold a passport and in those “Yanks do geography” type videos online most them point to places like the Gobi Desert or the Korean Peninsula when asked to locate France on a world map.

[drol 10,057]

As a European people with above average culture, out of the 2023 DL i did not know (before joining DL forums):

 

1)Bob Barker

2)Niger Starmer-Smith

3)Sandy Gall

4)Cleo Laine

5)Prunella Scales

6)Norman Lear

7)Pete Murray

8)Dennis Skinner

9)Michael Parkinson

10)Hal Linden

11)Linda Nolan

12)Andy Taylor

13)Shane MacGowan

[Ulitzer95 11,085]

19 minutes ago, drol said:

As a European people with above average culture, out of the 2023 DL i did not know (before joining DL forums):

 

1)Bob Barker

2)Niger Starmer-Smith

3)Sandy Gall

4)Cleo Laine

5)Prunella Scales

6)Norman Lear

7)Pete Murray

8)Dennis Skinner

9)Michael Parkinson

10)Hal Linden

11)Linda Nolan

12)Andy Taylor

13)Shane MacGowan

Music carries further internationally than anything else so Laine, Taylor and MacGowan will be known around the world but will vary from person to person based on their age and music tastes.

 

Barker is largely only known in the States but carries elsewhere owing to viral clips of The Price is Right and his cameo appearances in some American movies.

 

Michael Parkinson has some degree of fame worldwide owing to foreign broadcasts of his talk show. Ditto Scales with Fawlty Towers.
 

Agree on the rest being very obscure to most ppl outside their respective countries. 

[gcreptile 10,234]

Surely everybody knows Duran Duran? You don't need to know the name, imo. As long as you know a bit of context.

[drol 10,057]

3 minutes ago, gcreptile said:

Surely everybody knows Duran Duran? You don't need to know the name, imo. As long as you know a bit of context.

I know Duran Duran, but not the single musicians.

[Toast 14,847]

43 minutes ago, drol said:

46 minutes ago, gcreptile said:

Surely everybody knows Duran Duran? You don't need to know the name, imo. As long as you know a bit of context.

I know Duran Duran, but not the single musicians.

 

I think it falls into the same category as "Oh, that guy" actors.  When you are aware of a person but couldn't necessarily put a name to them.

John Wetton was another example, having been in several bands that people know.

[Death Impends 7,373]

Different fields, but Lear on DL sort of reminds me of Gord Downie. Their fame is largely constrained to one country but in that country, they're so huge that it was enough to assure a BBC obit.

[lilham 650]

When I saw he died, I immediately thought of this scene in Good Times (the character was reacting to her own husband's death):

 

 

[The Old Crem 3,180]

10 hours ago, Great Uncle Bulgaria said:

No you're not.

But there's probably  a lot of non-Brits who don't know who Starmer-Smith is, in fairness.

There are a lot of Brits who don’t know who Starmer - Smith is.

[The Old Crem 3,180]

9 hours ago, Ulitzer95 said:

Music carries further internationally than anything else so Laine, Taylor and MacGowan will be known around the world but will vary from person to person based on their age and music tastes.

 

Barker is largely only known in the States but carries elsewhere owing to viral clips of The Price is Right and his cameo appearances in some American movies.

 

Michael Parkinson has some degree of fame worldwide owing to foreign broadcasts of his talk show. Ditto Scales with Fawlty Towers.
 

Agree on the rest being very obscure to most ppl outside their respective countries. 

At one point Linda Nolan would have been quite well known in Japan. The Nolans was quite successful there for a time. 

[lilham 650]

11 hours ago, Ulitzer95 said:

To be fair that’s not really saying anything when only 37% of Americans hold a passport and in those “Yanks do geography” type videos online most them point to places like the Gobi Desert or the Korean Peninsula when asked to locate France on a world map.

It's the fact that a lot of Americans don't know that Puerto Rico is part of America that is the worst.

[Bibliogryphon 8,662]

If there is a name on the list I do not recognise. I do not automatically assume that they do not have a claim to fame. 

 

A swift bit of research will tell me their justification (or not) for being on the list

[Master Obit 331]

I see they haven't yet got a pun for his announcement on the home page. Might I suggest "game show host is toast", in reference to his brief stint as one in the 1980s? I don't think anything like it has been used before.

[ajlposh 449]

1 hour ago, Master Obit said:

I see they haven't yet got a pun for his announcement on the home page. Might I suggest "game show host is toast", in reference to his brief stint as one in the 1980s? I don't think anything like it has been used before.

That makes the blurbs they do on Stiffs look witty

[Toast 14,847]

1 hour ago, Master Obit said:

I see they haven't yet got a pun for his announcement on the home page. Might I suggest "game show host is toast", in reference to his brief stint as one in the 1980s? I don't think anything like it has been used before.

 

I'd prefer not.

[Sean 5,998]

"All in the family plot"

[Sean 5,998]

On 07/12/2023 at 10:29, drol said:

As a European people with above average culture, out of the 2023 DL i did not know (before joining DL forums):

 

1)Bob Barker

2)Niger Starmer-Smith

3)Sandy Gall

4)Cleo Laine

5)Prunella Scales

6)Norman Lear

7)Pete Murray

8)Dennis Skinner

9)Michael Parkinson

10)Hal Linden

11)Linda Nolan

12)Andy Taylor

13)Shane MacGowan

Parkinson was worldwide famous for his interviews and Duran Duran are known worldwide.As were the  Nolan's.

 

Prunella Scales was in Fawlty Towers which although British is a comedy widely cited and repeated across the globe.

[Sean 5,998]

On 07/12/2023 at 10:29, drol said:

As a European people with above average culture, out of the 2023 DL i did not know (before joining DL forums):

 

1)Bob Barker

2)Niger Starmer-Smith

3)Sandy Gall

4)Cleo Laine

5)Prunella Scales

6)Norman Lear

7)Pete Murray

8)Dennis Skinner

9)Michael Parkinson

10)Hal Linden

11)Linda Nolan

12)Andy Taylor

13)Shane MacGowan

Hal Linden is the only name I had to google when DL 2023 was unveiled.

[MortalCaso 1,426]

14 minutes ago, Sean said:

Parkinson was worldwide famous for his interviews and Duran Duran are known worldwide.As were the  Nolan's.

 

Prunella Scales was in Fawlty Towers which although British is a comedy widely cited and repeated across the globe.

You overstate 'widely' and 'worldwide'.

 

Never heard of Fawlty Towers, Prunella Scales, nor a single Parkinson interview (or the man himself). I don't live under a rock either

[msc 17,762]

Apart from Meghan Markle, people having not heard of things is the dullest recurring forum discussion this place has on a regular basis. 

[arrowsmith 334]

46 minutes ago, MortalCaso said:

You overstate 'widely' and 'worldwide'.

 

Never heard of Fawlty Towers, Prunella Scales, nor a single Parkinson interview (or the man himself). I don't live under a rock either

Never heard of Fawlty Towers - as, I believe, a fellow American, I will say you are missing out. Very few episodes and absolutely brilliant, and I’m not an Anglophile or anything. Give it a watch sometime. 

[lilham 650]

I like when people share how they know something; it's funny when I find out something completely "regular" in my youth is obscure to my friends.

 

I think Fawlty Towers aired on PBS in America, like a lot of the BBC shows.

Lear's had a half-dozen shows aired on NBC, CBS, Nickelodeon (Nick at Nite), maybe other stations. It's really not a matter of knowing his face, but people have seen his shows.

While MacGowan's music is known in the US, I'm pretty sure most Americans remember him because of his teeth. There is a pathological obsession with teeth here and he's a trigger.

[Comped 366]

1 minute ago, lilham said:

I think Fawlty Towers aired on PBS in America, like a lot of the BBC shows.

 

In the 1970s and only in some markets.

[Sean 5,998]

1 hour ago, MortalCaso said:

You overstate 'widely' and 'worldwide'.

 

Never heard of Fawlty Towers, Prunella Scales, nor a single Parkinson interview (or the man himself). I don't live under a rock either

You should watch Fawlty Towers.Absolute work of genius.Only 12 episodes also unless you exclude the upcoming revival which every fan of the show already has.

[Sean 5,998]

1 hour ago, arrowsmith said:

Never heard of Fawlty Towers - as, I believe, a fellow American, I will say you are missing out. Very few episodes and absolutely brilliant, and I’m not an Anglophile or anything. Give it a watch sometime. 

It is one of the greatest sitcoms of all 

time and its humour us pretty universal in terms of appeal.

 

Would say it is the second greatest British Sitcom after Only Fools and Horses but that is very much a British comedy in that I can see why Americans would not get it so to speak.