Assuming this sort of phenomenon extends further than France, this quite well explains many of the misconceptions Europeans have about the US.

Thinking WTR, Dallas, or TDoH are representative of American culture is... hilarious.

But I guess shows that hit the big American cultural stereotypes hard are maybe the ones that do better abroad?

From my memory from the 90s: Baywatch, X-Files, that speaking car one, Beverly Hills 90210, Ninja Turtles. Some dumb sitcom named Step by Step? edit: oh and ALF

Oh and Married with Children, but it was always very late night and I was not allowed to watch it.

And our teacher always played us ET on VHS. (and that dog playing basketball.)

that's america for me when I was a kid

If you like MwC, look up episodes of Unhappily Ever After on Youtube, it's sort of the second-generation MwC. Same sort of humour but taken even further, I can easily re-watch Unhappily but MwC is sort of a once-you've-seen-it...

> that speaking car one

Knight Rider.

> that dog playing basketball

Air Bud.

I think Hazard didn't sound stereotype at all, like, nobody had a clue why the car was called General Lee, or what the confederate flag meant.

It was just a fun show. Magnum PI, Different Strokes, McGiver.. were just as popular.

> Thinking WTR, Dallas, or TDoH are representative of American culture is... hilarious.

I’m not aware of a single person who thinks that, and neither was that the claim of your parent comment.

People understand TV shows are fiction.

dallas was huge in dubai in the 80s. like to the extent that people would plan to sit home on the evening it was on.

(I didn't watch it; my parents believed soap operas were unsuitable for kids)