Most english TV is pretty bad. The budget just isn't there to go into many different genres, so it tends to be variations on police/hospital dramas, soap operas and sitcoms.
I'd actually say the US has infinitely better quality series than the UK (with the possible exception of some comedy shows.. ). they have much more experimentation, originality and budget. Its just a shame that the best shows seem to get cut off early.
But shows like 24, LOST, Dexter, Firefly, etc.. wouldn't even get made in the UK.
the good shows i can think of are mostly old: Cracker, Morse, Red Dwarf, Blackadder, The Office, Extras, etc..
Recently.... er.... Dr Who. Life on Mars. Thats probably about it....
Andy_Panthro: I'm almost through season 1, and enjoying it, but it does feel like it can't possibly have that much more story to tell. There's a limit to how much you can stretch the same story, given it occasionally feels like a rehashed T2 plot.
The end of S1 and the beginning of S2 are good. then they get totally lost in the middle of S2. Then the end rocks again. The Riley character totally sucks the life out of the middle of the show. (and agent elison is just as annoying).
I felt sorry for the writers, because its a really difficult show to script. They are trapped by the history of the characters, and what we know about the future (T3 included).
The sarah connor actress does a good job, but her character is already fully defined and really has nowhere to go. Basing the show around her was a bad idea.
For most of the first series and a half John is reduced to being kinda whiny, but he actually gets better in the second series and becomes more interesting. But there is only so far they can take him, as he was whiny in T3 too. (:-( )
Plus there is a limit to how many terminators they can have showing up every episode, because (a) it would become stupid, (b) it would devalue them as enemies and (c) they become too easy to kill.
Actually the most interesting characters are the ones created for the show, as they have room for development. But even there its tricky. I really like the Cameron character, and they've done a reasonable job making an intriguing relationship between her and john. But if they change her too quick it seems unrealistic, and if they do it too slow its frustrating. (i guess thats why we got stuck with riley).
The best parts are the evil terminator / JH and the dude from 90210 who turns out to be unexpectedly awesome. I hope it gets another series, as it seems just about to go somewhere. Maybe. If it doesn't get lost again...