It doesn't necessarily end there, though. There are of course English movies, and English books (we just finished The Line of Beauty and might still be crying). And then there are the fringier parts of the culture. Like, say, oh just hypothetically, mop-topped English YouTube stars that we can't stop watching. In those guys' case, the content is worth watching for itself, at least we think so, but the fact of their Britishness is, in truth, the real draw. And then, obviously, we have the royals, who've just restoked American interest by introducing us to Kate Middleton, the newly dubbed Duchess of Cambridge and the someday queen. Middleton and her party-hearty sister Pippa have become tabloid fixtures even here in the States, though that doesn't stop us from analyzing all the British coverage too. Now is a great time to be an anglophile, and it seems that more are joining our ranks by the day.

It's a sad kind of passion, really. Most British people we know think we're a little nuts for somewhat blindly adoring everything about their gray and rocky homelands. But we can't stop. And now we have Andy Samberg. And we could soon have you. There are literally thousands of ways to enter the faith, but probably the best way is, again, through the television. Downton Abbey not to your liking? How about the foul-mouthed teen superheroes of Misfits? Or the moody and grim Red Riding movie series (featuring Spider-Man himself, Andrew Garfield!). Or MI-5 or, hell, even Doctor Who. (If you worship Community, watching Doctor Who will be like meeting god. Just ask Emily Nussbaum.) British TV has been experiencing a rather golden era for the past decade or so, and you, silly cultureless un-accented American, you could be one of its devotees. Being an anglophile doesn't mean you have to lose your stuff over Jane Austen anymore. It can be cool now!

Well no, not cool. Sweatily adoring English culture always comes with a vague, sad whiff of inadequacy ("They talk so nice and drink tea and wear sweaters! I mean 'jumpers'!") and a touch of the haughty or pretentious ("Actually it's called a series, not a season."). So it'll never be cool. But it can be fun. And it's become more mainstream — maybe eventually the cultures will just bleed together across the ocean, borne on an internet bridge — meaning you don't have to worry about looking like too much of a weirdo. (And better to be an anglophile than a Degrassi/Slings and Arrows/Flashpoint-watching Canadianista.) So come, join us. There's plenty to see.

Now if you'll excuse us, we true fans are going to go back to sighing wistfully at London apartment listings on Craigslist.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.