The majority of British TV shows produce less than ten episodes per series, and there are seldom more than two series a year, and usually only one, if that.

Coronation Street is a soap opera and plays by different rules, but, for the majority of its run, aired only two or three episodes per week, while US soap operas aired five a week. As far as raw numbers go, Coronation Street has aired about 7250 episodes, while General Hospital, for example, has aired about 11750, despite being well over two years younger. Regardless, this would fall under "occasional exception".

Top Gear is hardly a typical example, either. I have no US show to compare it to, but it still only makes, on average, about 13 episodes a year, and that's two series per year.

Unless there's another one that I'm not familiar with, House is a US production, despite having a British lead and an Australian cast member. It's pretty typical in producing 22-24 episodes per year.

A Touch of Frost, however, is a great example of what I'm talking about. In seventeen years, it produced forty-two episodes, or just under 2.5 episodes per year. Looking at it another way, Monk produced forty-five episodes in three years, and it's underproduced for a typical US show.

Of course it's about quality over quantity. But I'd rather have a greater quantity of quality shows. Limited quantity hasn't exactly kept British programming uniformly quality, though. (Footballers' Wives, I'm looking at you.) My complaint is that British shows are (often) almost over before they've started.