On 7/8/2003 1:40 AM, John Yamamoto-Wilson wrote:

> I wasn't actually timing things in relation to the movie. Bean in the UK
> would be, what, about 15 years ago? First hit the US - unsuccessfully -
> maybe 12 years ago? 

I remember watching Mr Bean on the local PBS station in Chicago in about 
this time period, and it was not my impression that it was unsuccessful. 
In fact it seems to have one of the more popular shows among the -- 
admittedly rather Anglophilic -- audience that watches PBS on a regular 
basis. During this period my wife and I taped some of the episodes and 
sent them to her relatives in Japan. They absolutely loved them, which 
is precisely what I had expected. I guess it was around this time that 
the Japanese tarento Rodney mentioned also began to take an interest in 
  Rowan Atkinson's work. I remember hearing that Shimira Ken or somebody 
got a big reaction by duplicating the famous swimming suit changing 
routine, for example.

> Had a second bash at the US perhaps 8 years ago, and
> within a couple of years the Japanese media had latched onto him in a big
> way. Oh, and the shops were all full of the US versions of his videos.

This may be due simply to the common NTSC video format. It's hard to say.

-- 
_______________________________________________________________
Scott Reynolds                                      sar@gol.com