British Mind Control

Why is it that British television is so damn addictive? Think about it. How many crazy British television crazes are there here in the states? Okay, most of you can name two off the top of your head. Monty Python and Dr. Who, which are both great examples! My brother and I were quite into Monty Python’s Flying Circus for a while and I’ve got several friends who are addicted to Dr. Who. But it’s not limited to them.

I recently discovered, though YouTube’s talent for suggesting rather random videos based on those that you’ve watched. Seriously, I once got six or seven videos suggested to me from YouTube on planting hydrangeas. Why? I’ve got no clue. I can’t think of what I could have possibly watched that would in any way be related to hydrangeas and the proper way to plant them. Anyway, I was suggested the first part of an episode of a BBC television sitcom called My Hero. I’ve been watching it ever since.

My Hero is about a super hero, Thermoman, who is from the planet Ultran, and assigned to protect earth. He hasn’t been on earth very long and doesn’t quite understand everything about humans and their behaviors. However, when he saves a nurse named Janet from falling in the Grand Canyon he falls instantly in love with her and follows her to London just to see her… and complement her in odd ways. His alter ego is George Sunday, a health shop owner from Ireland. His shop isn’t very successful due to poor employment and perhaps the fact that he constantly has to run to the bathroom, where he changes into Thermoman. It has to be in a bathroom, too. He can’t change anywhere else.

So, what happens when a superhero from another planet starts living with a human nurse from London? Hijinx, duh! It’s actually really amusing watching the kind of trouble George and Janet get into as they try to keep George’s identity a secret, while dealing with her odd co-workers, his alien ways, and her overbearing mother along with Janet’s neighbor Tyler who was on something very special in the sixties. He thinks he’s been to pretty much all of the planets in the suns orbit, plus several others he’s probably made up. He also somehow instinctively knows that George is Thermoman. It’s very special.

My Hero has six or so seasons of seven episodes each. Not sure why that is. It’s rather cute most of the time, though some things don’t really make sense all of the time. But it can be super cute at times and really amusing so one can over look the inconsistencies. This still begs the question, however, why is it, exactly, that this has had me hooked for the past three days when I should be doing school work? Well, because it’s British. And that’s what they do. Thanks BBC. Really.