[quote author=jillruss link=topic=730480.msg5754857#msg5754857 date=1442164787
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the US one is now much better than 'ours', even when I have no idea who the subject is!!
So can you identify what the formula differences are currently between the 2 versions?
I'll make a start:

Recaps in case you can't remember what you saw before the long ad break.
What's coming up next in case you miss it after the long ad break.
Long ad breaks in case you can't manage to watch an hour long TV programme without popping to the loo every few minutes during said ad break.
Long ad breaks in order to have a shorter TV programme because half of the hour is taken up with ads.
Annoying music - for some reason they did not find the original WDYTYA music suitable although Australian WDYTYA did.

[/quote]
Wow! Glad you got that off your chest! Yes, you do get ads, like everything else on tv which isn't on BBC - I record the programme and zip through them so they don't bother me. The recaps are very brief. I couldn't give a tinkers about the music but actually prefer it to the British version.
To me, the biggest difference is that the subject of the programme does the 'narration', not Cherie Lunghi or Mark Strong or another disembodied voice. That way, it comes across as more immediate and personal. In most cases too, I think that there is much more of the subject doing the research and discussing the documentation with an expert. They also tend to go as far back as they can rather than stopping at what grandad did in the war.
Anyway, in case you actually want to make your
own mind up, Ruskie, its on the Watch channel tomorrow night at 9pm. Its about someone I don't know - Angie Harmon from a series called Rizzoli & Isles which I've heard of but never watched. Last week's was singer Josh Groban and was very interesting. The one they did on Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory (one of my favourites) was one of the best I've ever watched - British or American.
Like ours, they're not all great but certainly worth a watch.