Australia doesn't get out much

What do COPS, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch have in common? They're still found on Australian television. And I'm not talking about obscure cable channels, I'm talking about major networks.

"I'll shoot you if you change the channel!
This is the only country where we still get
air time and I need those royalty checks!"

Before moving to the Land of Oz we'd often been told, "Oh, it's just like the United States was twenty years ago." For the most part there was nothing that stuck out in my mind as a blast from the past. Except for television.. 

It seems like Australia doesn't get out much, so they don't know that the people who make TV shows didn't die en masse in 1999. There are, in fact, new shows that come and go every year. 

But the good people of Oz continue to watch the drama of Dr. Quinn treating an injured horse even though she wasn't trained in veterinary medicine, or teenage Sabrina learning that using spells to get a boy to like you is the Hogwarts version of a date rape drug. 

But while Australia doesn't get out much, it seems that all the actors do. In fact, they get out of the country completely. Aussie thespians are invading the States. 

Sure, pre-crazy Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, and Cate Blanchett have been around a while. They were the vanguard and now they're the old guard.

Now all the newbies hitting the screen are Aussie: That dumb guy from True Blood. The woman from X-Men: First Class, Eric Bana, the guy from Thor, that Thor guy's brother, Isla Fisher, the late Heath Ledger, Sam Worthington (Avatar, Terminator), the guy from The Mentalist, the guy from Hawaii 5-0, the guy from Nip/Tuck, absolutely everyone who had a speaking role in Animal Kingdom. And most of the time they're putting on American accents. 

What's ironic is that these Australians are coming to the U.S. to make the very TV series and movies that will probably air on major Australian networks in about a decade. 

So Australia, don't worry about leaving the house to find out what's going on; we'll come to you.