Americans have a good sense of humour. They have a very homogenised commercial system of media though. The BBC has always nurtured products based on talent alone, rather than commercial viability. American media companies have only started to realise in the last 25 years that people WILL watch good TV as well as the formula based crap they had always relied on.
There is something to be said for a larger government rather than relying purely on market forces. While America is improving their TV, they will always play the softer option.