US TV at Its Most Pointless ; EDITORIAL & OPINION

By Thomas Sutcliffe

Most British coverage of the Fall Up-fronts - at which American networks unveil their new schedules to advertisers - concentrates on spotting the hot shows that might be heading our way. But I find myself more tanta-lised by the Monkey Tennis no-hopers. I don't suppose we will ever see Fat March, in which obese contestants are challenged to walk 500 miles for a cash prize, and I'll be astonished if Cavemen crosses the Atlantic.

Cavemen, left, is based on a series of adverts for online car insurance, in which resentful Neanderthals deplore their stigmatisation as primitive technophobes. "The idea is to offend everyone but offend no one," said one executive - perfectly capturing the circular pointlessness of the worst American TV.

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