Unknown in the UK?

August 13, 2006 12:03 PM

A Guardian story linked on this thread contained the following, quite curious clause: "That's Stelios as in Haji-Ioannou, although he now, alongside Delia and Jamie and Sven, belongs in that rare category - the surnameless celebrity." Naturally, I though "who the heck," and, of course, came to wonder: who are some American mega-stars who would pass completely unrecognized on London streets?
posted by MattD to society & culture (46 comments total)

I think Country and Western is going to be your best bet here. That or British rock bands, like Bush.
posted by bonaldi at 12:08 PM on August 13, 2006

Bob Saget?
posted by ed\26h at 12:10 PM on August 13, 2006

Well, when I was in London last year, I mentioned in passing to my friends how refreshing it was not to be surrounded by daily news of Paris Hilton's antics, and they looked at me blankly and said "who?" So perhaps she really has yet to defile that green and pleasant land?
posted by scody at 12:10 PM on August 13, 2006

News/entertainment folks like Katie Couric, I imagine. I couldn't pick her out of a lineup, and I only live one block over.
posted by solid-one-love at 12:15 PM on August 13, 2006

Paris Hilton is fantastically famous here.

Stelios is someone who thinks and acts like he's far more famous then he is. He's exactly as famous as someone who runs a low-cost airline (and does some other, much-less successful gubbins) can possibly be.

Diane Sawyer (or pretty much any other TV presenter).
posted by cillit bang at 12:16 PM on August 13, 2006

Any football, basketball, and baseball stars, though the golfers and tennis players are known.

Did Howard Stern ever crack the UK market? I'm guessing not.

What about comedian whose work is extremely US specific (and also not funny), like Carlos Mencia and the blue collar group?
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 12:20 PM on August 13, 2006 [1 favorite]

Paris Hilton is fantastically famous here.

(Ah. Shame. Perhaps my friends are just completely off the pop culture radar.)
posted by scody at 12:23 PM on August 13, 2006

Derek Jeter?
posted by meerkatty at 12:35 PM on August 13, 2006

Clay Aiken seems pretty big in the US. Totally unknown here.

"US Shock-jock" Howard Stern and Paris Hilton are pretty mainstream in the UK. I know who Bob Saget, Diane Sawyer and Katie Couric are but maybe the man on the street won't. You have to take into consideration that America is fairly insular.
posted by fire&wings at 12:36 PM on August 13, 2006

This may be an almost impossible question to answer. Most North Americans, including those who have lived in Britain, won't know exactly who is unknown here, and if any Britons are able to name the said celebrities, they are obviously not unknown to Britons. Short of making a list of celebrities and polling Britons, this would be very hard to find out.

That said, Delia's Complete Cookery Course is brilliant, and ought to be a best seller in North America, though it will have to be translated into measures.

And I doubt any Britons or Americans know who Peter Mansbridge is.
posted by jb at 12:42 PM on August 13, 2006

(I shouldn't say "any" - someone will come along to prove me wrong. Please consider that to be "many".)
posted by jb at 12:43 PM on August 13, 2006

Larry the Cable Guy is a major unknown here. I wonder why?
posted by A189Nut at 12:55 PM on August 13, 2006

With a few exceptions (Letterman, Leno, Ryan Seacrest, Jon Stewart), just about any US TV presenter will be almost entirely unrecognized in the UK.

scody, I think Paris Hilton "happened" a lot later in the UK - I bet your friends know who she is now.
posted by teleskiving at 12:57 PM on August 13, 2006

I hear Madonna ran into someone in England who had no idea who she was.

I'm sure it looked very good on her.
posted by orange swan at 1:10 PM on August 13, 2006

No one in America knows who Ant and Dec are.
posted by k8t at 1:23 PM on August 13, 2006

Stelios is only a "surnameless celebrity" (and what a clumsy term that is, although about the ordinary standard of writing in the Observer) because his first name is Greek, to be frank.
posted by criticalbill at 1:42 PM on August 13, 2006

The non-Brits can also be thankful for missing out on other single-named "celebrities" such as Jordan and Chantelle. We get away with hearing nearly nothing about Lindsey Lohan though, so it's not all bad.

Teleskiving - I think only avid internet users have any idea who Jon Stewart is here: The Daily Show does get shown, but is buried on a digital channel that hardly anybody watches. Also, I've never heard of Ryan Seacrest myself, but maybe I'm more ignorant than most...
posted by chorltonmeateater at 1:44 PM on August 13, 2006

Babydol?
posted by owhydididoit at 1:49 PM on August 13, 2006

I've heard of Bob Saget but couldn't tell you who he is or what he does.

Pretty much everyone knows who Paris Hilton is, and I'd guess most people under 25 know who Lindsey Lohan is.

Diane Sawyer? No idea.

Now how many Americans have heard of the following British "superstars"?

- Richard & Judy
- Wayne Rooney
- Ant and Dec
- Jonathan Ross
posted by afx237vi at 1:54 PM on August 13, 2006

http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html:

1. scrabble
2. danity kane
3. talladega nights
4. ricky bobby
5. x games
6. lieberman
7. travis pastrana
8. v for vendetta
9. sonia lo duca
10. buick open
11. world trade center
12. leslie bibb
13. lollapalooza
14. the descent
15. dead rising

http://www.google.co.uk/press/zeitgeist.html:

1. national lottery
2. 50 cent
3. dictionary
4. wikipedia
5. holidays
6. paris hilton
7. eastenders
8. simpsons
9. paintball
10. car insurance
11. train times
12. cheap flights
13. chantelle
14. katie price
15. weather

I have no idea who any of the people named in either list are except for 50 Cent (a rapper? I haven't heard his songs but I can picture an album cover) and Paris Hilton (a plain but rich girl who became famous by video recording herself fellating someone). Oh, and Lieberman (an American politician who does not, as far as I know, rap or fellate).

(Why the hell is everyone looking up scrabble?)

You could also check the Billboard charts.
posted by pracowity at 1:56 PM on August 13, 2006 [1 favorite]

There was a recent metafilter thread about some man who might be gay who reads the news on tv. A woman from the internet had gone to a book-signing of his wearing a t-shirt saying " gives me a boner".

Well, him. He's unknown in the UK.
posted by handee at 2:31 PM on August 13, 2006

That should have said "<bloke's name here> gives me a boner"
posted by handee at 2:32 PM on August 13, 2006

handee: That would be Anderson Cooper. Good example.
posted by meerkatty at 2:40 PM on August 13, 2006

chorltonmeateater, I was applying quite a low standard for recognition... I think at least one in a hundred people would recognize Seacrest or Stewart even if they couldn't actually name them, whereas you could probably ask several thousand people and actually not find anyone who could identify Bob Saget.
posted by teleskiving at 2:41 PM on August 13, 2006

>This may be an almost impossible question to answer.

Good point, jb. How do we know who's a known unknown?

But here's a way to triangulate. There are two celebrities who I keep hearing about in jokes in US shows, Richard Simmons and Carrot Top.

They're always being referenced in sitcoms and on Letterman and so on. I have no idea what they do.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 2:44 PM on August 13, 2006

Current reality show contestants have at least some limited-time celebrity factor here in the US, but are presumably just as unknown in the UK as the contestants in the UK versions are to Americans.

(Disclaimer: I don't watch TV at all, so I have no idea what these people look like, but they do get boldfacenamed in the gossip columns, Gawker/Defamer sightings, and cameo appearances after one would think their 15 minutes would be over.)
posted by desuetude at 2:53 PM on August 13, 2006

You don't want to know Ambrose. To that list add Star Jones Reynolds, Ann Coultor, Toby Keith and any number of new country performers.

The one that really got me when I was in the UK was that most people I knew had vaguely heard of a show called "seinfeld" but had never seen it and coudn't have identified the stars. But Friends was on TV every 2 minutes. Weird, eh?
posted by fshgrl at 2:57 PM on August 13, 2006

As jb says, this is guesswork, and enough American television makes it to the UK to blur things. But my guesses would include Martha Stewart, Dr Phil, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly... possibly even a Tom Brokaw or Tim Russert, picking up on jb's reference to Mansbridge. Extrapolating from that, anyone with a daytime audience or a news presence, and probably celebs who simply don't have a wide audience outside of the US.
posted by holgate at 3:29 PM on August 13, 2006

This thread has had me googling names left right and centre to find out who people are - I know the obvious ones like Howard Stern, Jon Stewart etc, and some of the others I've heard of but have no idea who they are / what they do.

Also, just wanted to add massive British (indeed European) megastar, Robbie Williams to afx237vi's list - it appears that next to no Americans have heard of this massive British export - indeed, this is why he lives in the states now, to avoid the paparrazi.
posted by philsi at 3:34 PM on August 13, 2006

A good rule of thumb is whether there's someone in British celeb-culture who occupies a similar function: Richard and Judy for Regis and Kelly, Delia for Martha, etc.

The one that really got me when I was in the UK was that most people I knew had vaguely heard of a show called "seinfeld" but had never seen it and coudn't have identified the stars.

Seinfeld was a victim of BBC scheduling: they'd more or less ceded the import of primetime American comedy to Channel 4 in the 80s, and when they got the rights to Seinfeld, didn't know where to put it. So it ended up on BBC2 at odd times late at night. (Tangentially, I wonder if more American 20-somethings are familiar with Benny Hill and John Inman these days than their British counterparts.)
posted by holgate at 3:43 PM on August 13, 2006

For the last time, Larry the Cable Guy!
posted by A189Nut at 3:50 PM on August 13, 2006

Anybody associated with Leave it to Beaver, Gillian's Island or the Brady Bunch. Iconic in the US. Unknown in the UK.

Anyone from Saturday Night Live who hasn't appeared in at least two movies.

Pretty much everyone in the Senate and Congress, except Teddy Kennedy.

Casey Casem. Though people would probably point and ask if he knows he sounds just like Shaggy from Scooby Doo.
posted by Hogshead at 4:30 PM on August 13, 2006

AmbroseChapel writes "How do we know who's a known unknown?"

So they have heard of Rumsfeld, you're saying?
posted by orthogonality at 4:38 PM on August 13, 2006

Rumsfeld, Seinfeld, Iceberg ... oh, wait, wrong joke.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 4:48 PM on August 13, 2006

I was with two Australian friends today and we saw a car with a "Parrothead" front plate on it. The conversation that followed involved me trying to explain who Jimmy Buffet was, followed by me trying to sing "Margaritaville" (which they didn't recognize). So I would guess he is probably an unknown in the UK as well.
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 5:35 PM on August 13, 2006

That TV guy who just died? (Checks: Mike Douglas.) No idea who he was. Dick Clark bringing in the New Year? Unknown to Brits. Larry King? Only if you watch CNN, and that's a small minority. Most sports broadcasters. Many of the mainstays of the Vegas Strip or Branson, MO. The stars of shows that were based on British originals and never re-imported (Sanford & Son, Three's Company, All In The Family). Phish. Possibly The Grateful Dead. Geraldo. Conan O'Brien; Jay Leno, possibly, and most Brits will only know him because of the Hugh Grant interview. (Letterman's an exception, though more will know of him than have seen the show.) Cesar Millan. Rachael Ray. Pat Sajak; Bob Barker; Alex Trebek. The guy who does 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous', though he's ostensibly British. Etc.
posted by holgate at 7:01 PM on August 13, 2006

I would think most Football Americano stars would be unknown in the UK.
posted by ryanissuper at 7:04 PM on August 13, 2006

Reverse the question. Which Americans do British people commonly know about? Movie stars. Musicians in certain genres. A small number of politicians. A tiny number of TV hosts and actors. An even smaller number of sportspeople. Why should the average British person know about anyone else?
posted by riotgrrl69 at 7:23 PM on August 13, 2006

Ben Stein (who's almost certainly unknown in the UK) recently commented that he had seen newspaper tabloids in the supermarket about Nick and Jessica. He had no idea who Nick and Jessica are. I would like to hope most Brits don't either. And, apart from Simon Cowell, I would hope most Brits don't know the stars(?) of American Idol.
posted by TheRaven at 7:35 PM on August 13, 2006

judge judy?
posted by willmillar at 9:19 PM on August 13, 2006

pracowity, the U. S. Scrabble Open just finished up on the 9th, so I'm guessing that has something to do with it. Still weird, though. (My husband plays competitive Scrabble, and has played in the Open, though not this year.)

posted by booksherpa at 10:20 PM on August 13, 2006

Rob and Amber. I've only heard of these aberrations of humanity because of my North American gf.
posted by randomination at 2:01 AM on August 14, 2006

Yeah, because of the way American TV, movies and music are exported round the world, I think sometimes Americans think more of their celebrities are known throughout the world than is actually the case.

In sports, I don't think there's a single American football, basketball, baseball or ice hockey player that would be recognised. Not a single NASCAR driver, and the only CART/IRL drivers would be the ones with top-level European experience. Even Dan Wheldon and Dario Franchitti (Brits) are totally unknown here.

In TV, even personalities like Jon Stewart are almost completely unknown. 'The Daily Show' has recently started showing on a digital channel, but it's so US-centric, I doubt it is widely watched. In news, perhaps Larry King and Rush Limbaugh. No others. We do get the top sitcoms and dramas (CSI, West Wing, etc) but there are other top US sitcoms which are shown on some channel (Everybody loves Raymond, King of Queens etc) which nobody watches.

In politics, just Bush's inner cabal. I doubt there's a current Democrat who would be recognised outside John Kerry and Hilary Clinton.

US Country doesn't go down well over here, so pretty much all contemporary country artists are unknown. The Dave Matthews band, Hootie and the Blowfish I understand are huge in the USA, unknown in the UK. There's probably less crossover than at any time in the last 30 years.
posted by salmacis at 2:30 AM on August 14, 2006

Probably easier to reverse the question.
posted by DrtyBlvd at 4:39 AM on August 14, 2006

Rob and Amber. I've only heard of these aberrations of humanity because of my North American gf.

I have no idea who these people are. I'm American.

...Hootie and the Blowfish I understand are huge in the USA, unknown in the UK.

Erm, Hootie and the Blowfish were huge ten years ago. Now? Not so much. I doubt US teenagers even recognize that name anymore.
posted by desuetude at 5:59 AM on August 14, 2006

Dr Phil ... judge judy? ... I would hope most Brits don't know the stars(?) of American Idol.

All those shows are on telly here. Judge Judy probably the best known (Bizarrely, the only time I've watched Judge Judy, John Lydon was in 'court'.)

Possibly The Grateful Dead.

They're really, really famous.

Dick Clark bringing in the New Year? Unknown to Brits.

Didn't know he was a New Year bringer-in, but he's well known in the UK, probably because footage from American Bandstand crops up in music documentaries a lot.

The one that really got me when I was in the UK was that most people I knew had vaguely heard of a show called "seinfeld" but had never seen it and coudn't have identified the stars.

That seems weird - despite the scheduling idiocy, it was pretty popular here. (Curb Your Enthusiasm is more popular, though).

Anyway, as others have said, sports and non-exported presenters would go unnoticed here.

To sort of reverse the question, I'd guess that Americans wouldn't know who folk like Amy Lamé, Karen Kristanovich are, though they have a certain level of fame in the UK and are American? (They're probably bad examples...)
posted by jack_mo at 3:27 PM on August 14, 2006