What are examples of contemporary content creators more popular abroad?
November 8, 2021 11:02 PM   Subscribe

I'm interested in content creators (though especially authors, as that inspired the question, but TV and movies certainly are in the purview of the question, as is anything else) that are much more popular/consumed outside of their country of origin.

There aren't many snowflake details. The example that inspired the question was Murakami...from all I can find (both googling and chatting with Japanese people), while he is popular enough in Japan, he doesn't enjoy the sort of status he enjoys among readers abroad (anecdotally, he's extremely popular among American millennials, for example). So I'm curious about examples of authors (and others) who are like that, where while they might be popular in their country of origin, they are way more popular in some other country. For authors that live abroad it's a judgement call.
posted by wooh to Media & Arts (7 answers total)
 
Obligatory TV Tropes link: Big in Japan / Germans Love David Hasselhoff
posted by phoenixy at 11:14 PM on November 8, 2021


The comic actor Norman Wisdom. While popular in the UK, he had celebrity status in Albania as he was one of the few Western actors whose films the Communist government there allowed to be screened.
posted by greycap at 1:29 AM on November 9, 2021 [1 favorite]


For TV: Australia's Neighbours was far more popular in the UK.

Do Marx or Engels count?
posted by pompomtom at 2:19 AM on November 9, 2021


Riverdance and Lord of the Dance out of Ireland . . . Stavros Flatley out of Cyprus.
I think it's true to say that Benny Hill earned more from US re-runs than in the UK.
posted by BobTheScientist at 2:59 AM on November 9, 2021


The Olsen Gang was extremely popular in the old East Germany. I don't know if it was more popular than in Scandinavia, though.
Dinner for One is the classic example of this thing.
posted by mumimor at 3:05 AM on November 9, 2021


Katherine Ryan is Canadian but I don't know anyone who's heard of her here. She seems to be reasonably popular as a TV presenter in the UK?
And of course Sugarman from the documentary Searching for Sugar Man.
posted by dotparker at 5:41 AM on November 9, 2021


John Olver is British (now a US citizen) but before he went to the US he was just an occasional panel show contestant. Last Week Tonight is the reason most British people have heard of him.
posted by Urtylug at 7:38 AM on November 9, 2021 [1 favorite]


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