How are Turkish dramas different from other series?

Dizi vs. Hollywood: Why Turkish TV Is Its Own Universe

Your first Turkish drama can feel like you've accidentally wandered into an alternate television universe.

The romance moves differently. Families are everywhere. People greet all elders as family members. Someone is always offering tea.

And there is a lot more night life by a red bridge.

That's partly because Turkish television is made under different broadcasting standards and cultural expectations than much of American television.

So if you're coming from Netflix or mainstream Hollywood, you'll notice a few things pretty quickly:

• Swearing? Not so much. Strong language can be censored, muted or otherwise edited for broadcast. Sometimes you'll know exactly what was said purely from the facial expression.

• Love scenes are decidedly tamer. Turkish dramas have traditionally relied far more on romantic tension than explicit sex scenes. Which explains how a forehead touch can somehow become the hottest thing you've watched all week.

• Alcohol and cigarettes may mysteriously disappear. Broadcast restrictions can mean bottles, glasses and cigarettes are blurred or obscured. Nothing says subtle quite like a mysterious fuzzy rectangle following someone's hand around the screen.

• Violence looks different too. Broadcast versions often obscure graphic blood and injuries. There can still be shootings, kidnappings, car crashes, hospitalizations and enough head injuries to keep an entire fictional neurology department employed—you're just less likely to get the graphic close-up.

• Family matters. A LOT. Parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins and assorted aunties aren't background characters. They're frequently driving the entire plot. Sometimes directly into a wall.

• Respect and cultural traditions show up everywhere. You'll notice hospitality, family hierarchy, religious and national customs, food rituals and forms of respect woven naturally into the stories.

• Romance lives in the tiny moments. A hand on her shoulder. Fixing his collar. Covering her with a blanket. Bringing her tea. THE FOREHEAD KISS.

Seriously.

If you've only watched Hollywood romance, you may not currently understand the emotional significance of a forehead kiss.

Give it six episodes.

And different broadcasters can feel noticeably different. Some shows and channels lean more conservative than others, so how much physical affection you see can vary considerably.

That's part of what makes watching dizis so fascinating.

You're not simply watching Hollywood stories performed in Turkish.

You're watching television built around a different culture, different broadcasting rules and a completely different rhythm of storytelling.

And eventually something strange happens.

A 42-minute American show starts feeling... a little rushed.

Look what they've done to you.