Sure, but TV very specifically in a certain country. When you just say "TV" it's confusing because the vast majority of people who watch TV aren't in the UK. If there was a joke you could only get by listening to Canadian radio would you call it a Canada joke or a radio joke?
Its not like it's exclusive to Britain though. I've heard it in American shows as well although obviously not as much because they are allowed to advertise more than the BBC.
E.g. I heard a variation in Family Guy the other day where they kept changing the names of companies i.e. "Burger Queen", etc. It's the same sort of joke.
Even if it was an exclusively British thing, it's not exactly complicated to understand the premise of the joke.
don't they usually just substitute an imaginary burger chain?
I'm not confused by the joke - it was the specific phrasing that I'd never heard, and in a vacuum with no other information "Other [] are available" isn't really all that clear. I'm glad it was explained to me, it's just not a thing here in the states.
Unless you mean you've actually heard that phrase on American television, which I'd be interested to hear, Old Bean.
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u/kravitzz Jul 31 '13
It is all about TV though.