Sometimes the best view is from outside looking in.

As a Direct TV subscriber, Princess Di and I spent last night tracking election results on the satellite service's Election Mix 2008 channel. Eight networks at once in a picture-in-picture-times-eight format, allowing viewers to switch between audio feeds. Seven were American networks tripping over each other, filling time with hologram stunts, touch screen techno and that silly Fox News Network gizmo resembling a Lazy Susan on a Thanksgiving table.

The eighth, where we ended up spending a lot of time, was BBC America. Even pundits sound cooler with British accents.

These are a few of my favorite (or "favourite," under the circumstances) BBC America election night moments:

* A BBC correspondent standing in a vast, nearly empty Denver ballroom around 9 p.m., noting that it was the location of a Republican victory party. His stiff-upper-lip diction made it a Pythonesque moment, rather than broad, finger-wagging satire that Comedy Central would've used.

* News crawls at the bottom of the screen with such amusing, alien themes as: "Cricket: Opening batsman Gautam Gambhir misses the final test with
Australia after his appeal against a one-match ban is rejected." Glad I learned that before placing bets in Vegas.

* Former UN ambassador John Bolton and his aging porn star mustache, growing testier with each state being called for Barack Obama. At one point, he angrily snapped at a BBC analyst, charging her with "complete ignorance of the Republican Party" when she dared to suggest that Mitt Romney would've been a better running mate for John McCain during such dire economic times.

Nice work, Mr. Ex-Ambassador, offering a microcosm of the hubris that compelled the world to dance in the streets last night because that attitude is going to change. Anchorman David Dimbleby -- now that's a Dickensian name -- politely shushed the dust-up.

* Dimbleby (shown at right) drolly tossing out phrases like: "What did the Republican Party do that got them into the pickle they're in?" and "That's one reason Elizabeth Dole is toast." But no mention of marmalade.

* Finding out where Ted Koppel went after ABC dumped him from Nightline. He's an oldie but still a goodie in such situations.

* The astute observation (if true) that I haven't heard in American media, that Dole's defeat leads to the first time since the 1950's that neither a Dole nor Bush won't hold federal office.

* BBC's lone black correspondent looking as if he'd rather be reporting anywhere besides Georgia.

* Dimbleby interrupting a commentator when a transmission popped up on screen: "Sorry, this is television. While you're talking, the Phoenix Boys Choir is trying to cheer the Republicans in Arizona."

* Another shot of Associated Press workers in Florida getting the facts straight, prompting Dimbleby's observation: "It's a miserable way of doing things compared to the British way. It's a recipe for chaos."

Jolly good show.