Television: The United States of Television; The Politician’s Husband

There are two American Dreams — the one that happens in real life and is experienced by people such as Barack Obama, and the one that happens on screens, both silver and small, shared by millions across the world.

BBC2’s The United States of Television: America in Primetime (Saturday) traces the history of the latter, focusing on the TV series shown during those magical hours when Americans sit down to dinner after a hard day’s work chasing the former. Only the fittest, finest programmes survive in this slot, where Nielsen ratings mercilessly track the tastes of 300 million people as they chow down and chill out.

For this four-part series, BBC2 has netted a host of big-name interviewees such as the actor Ron Howard (the young Opie in The Andy Griffith Show) and directors David Lynch (Twin Peaks), David Chase (The Sopranos), John Hamm (Mad Men) and James L. Brooks (The Simpsons).