The series first appeared in the United States in late 1976, when several episodes from series one were shown on New York City's WOR-TV Channel 9 as part of a "Thames on 9" programming week. Soon afterward, the first series was shown in the United States on public television; it rapidly became a hit, especially in large metropolitan centres like New York and San Francisco. However, the second series was felt to be too "raunchy" for the sensibilities of a public television audience, especially as the first had received a lot of complaints from the public in areas outside the larger cities for its frank portrayal of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. As a result, the second series was not shown on US television until 12 years later.