American versions of British shows

[Spudiator]

One question defies me, why? Dear god why? This is not a new trend, Americans have been remaking British shows for years, if you search on YouTube you might just find an ultimately unsuccessful pilot for an American version of Red Dwarf (essentially the same script as the pilot of the British version but with all American cast, except for Jane Leeves as Holly, and Robert Llewellyn reprising his role as Kryten), and the acting is beyond awful! There was also an unsuccessful version of Men Behaving Badly (I've never actually seen it, but according to Wiki, it was cancelled halfway through the second series due to low ratings), and a similarly unsuccessful version of Coupling (again, I haven't seen it myself, but it apparently fared very badly). I have seen the US version of The Office and wasn't keen (although I was never a particular fan of the UK version to be honest, though I used to work with a couple of guys who reckoned the US version was better). I have seen the American version of Who's Line Is It Anyway, but wasn't a fan of Drew Carey as host. There are probably countless others that I'm not even aware of.

A couple of the more recent efforts consist of Top Gear USA (again, haven't seen it yet, but they rave about it on the TG UK website), and more significantly, a US version of Shameless which is due to begin airing in January. Now I'm a huge Shameless fan because I think it's one of the best written comedy dramas I've seen in recent years, and David Threlfall is so perfect as Frank Gallagher, but the US, as is so often the case, have seen fit to think they can do better, although I'm not so convinced. Just seen the promo and it looks truly terrible. I could sort of understand them remaking the show if they intended to take it in a new and original direction (though that still wouldn't necessarily mean it'd be any good), but judging by the linked promo, and a couple of others I saw on their official website, it looks like they're more or less trying to remake it almost exactly but with different accents.

I honestly can't see this succeeding at all unless they find some very imaginative way to take it in a completely new and different direction, and even then it's probably a long shot, which comes back to the original question, why? Why do Americans insist on keep trying to remake British shows? Are they running out of ideas for shows? Why don't they just show the British versions as they are? Is it down to arrogance that they think they can do better jobs making our own shows than we can? I'm well aware that the UK has, on occasion, tried to do things the other way round, though it mostly tends to be reality TV and game shows rather than scripted drama/comedy, with the exception of Russ Abbot, who tried to remake Married With Children and succeeded in creating the single most cringe-worthy piece of British TV in living memory (I've tried for years, and I still can't un-see it).

[Pitt]

Why don't they just show the British versions as they are? Is it down to arrogance that they think they can do better jobs making our own shows than we can?

I think this is pretty unlikely. More often than not it happens because the executives believe the programme in question may be "too British" to appeal to Americans. That's probably justified in some cases, but series like Top Gear and Doctor Who have a significant audience stateside.


I'm actually not too familiar with the adaptations in the opposite direction, but then again I don't watch very much television.

[Super Sonic]

Simple solution: don't watch the American versions. They're going to be worse than the British versions because they aren't aimed at British people, and it's like listening to a cover version of a song you know: they're invariably deemed to be awful. Any remake of anything is usually seen as being bad because it's not what you're used to.

However, if a remake or a cover is the one you hear/see first, chances are you'll think it the definitive version.

Plus, we remake American shows and shows from other countries, so America can't be blamed for it. It's something that happens whether you like it or not.

[Balls]

American Office > British Office.

[Baron Canier]

Dec 14, 2010 17:33:34 GMT Spudiator said:

One question defies me, why? Dear god why?

Usually because executives feel that the premise has merit, but that the show's tone or other intrinsic traits are too different to really garner a proper audience, so they adapt elements as necessary. Some American friends of mine have remarked that most average US joes view foreign cultures as one of two things: quaint or threatening. Neither of which are really traits that can snare viewers.

The other major factor is the fact that our shows are made with small numbers of episode per series, which means they don't gel with American syndication schedules.

Sometimes America making their own adaptations of our shows produces good results, like The Office...and sometimes it produces bile like Life on Mars.

[Mambo's Here! Look Busy!]

Dec 14, 2010 19:32:35 GMT Balls said:

American Office > British Office.

This.

Also, we share TV show formats and even whole programme synopses... this is hardly new. Sometimes they change the title of an imported show, sometimes they don't. I am pretty sure that British TV has also nabbed a few US shows, too.

It's also worth noting that the US Red Dwarf never made it past the pilot stage; so I think this is not the best example of the US making a "British show" - its an example of where they tried and decided not to go ahead with it. We have no idea how it would have panned out!

The US version of Shameless does seem like a shinier, in-your-face version but I am sure they will use the show to make their own social commentary. There's plenty of piss taking to be made!

[Super Sonic]

I just remembered the American version of the Prisoner.


....


UGH.

[madhair60]

Dec 14, 2010 21:47:38 GMT Super Sonic said:

I just remembered the American version of the Prisoner.


....


UGH.

You don't remember the original, though.

[Lost Mercenary]

I remember the american version of Life on Mars when it was first announced. The trailer made it look actually half decent so I decided to give it a chance.

1 pilot episode later there were tears at the sheer level of awfulness.

And isn't Torchwood the next show in line to get "Americanised" as it were?

[Arch_one_zero_one]

Did anyone see how they decided to end the US version of Life on Mars? Absolutely hilarious(ly bad).

[Super Sonic]

Dec 14, 2010 23:05:17 GMT madhair60 said:

Dec 14, 2010 21:47:38 GMT Super Sonic said:

I just remembered the American version of the Prisoner.


....


UGH.

You don't remember the original, though.

You mean I didn't see it in 1967? Yes you're right. I don't see what that has to do with anything, though.

Edit: Am I right in assuming you're alluding that the original was crap too? Well that's where we differ, unsurprisingly, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned the programme in the first place.

[Mambo's Here! Look Busy!]

Dec 14, 2010 21:47:38 GMT Super Sonic said:

I just remembered the American version of the Prisoner.


....


UGH.

See, I find this different to just making another version of contemporary show which draws in its own audience... this is remaking an old show, with new technology. Updating the same show to supposedly replace the original.

[Shadic?]

I'd say the Office is a fluke, but even that is only comparable to the original in terms of quality.

For the most part, we Americans don't like anything that isn't tailored to our specific tastes. That's why we dumb down and make everything in your face. It's the American way, after all. But can you blame us? Look at the comedic marvels we've made popular in the last few years. Gems like "Two in a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory" are prime examples of our brilliant wit. If anything, you should be thanking us for improving your dry and mundane comedies.

I'll leave you with this example, albeit a movie instead of a show.

Death at A Funeral (2007 British Version)


What's so funny about this film? I can't even tell which stereotypical character types these people are trying to portray. Where's the spoofing? Don't all comedies have to spoof?

Death at a Funeral (2010 American Remake)


OH FUGHHH YEAH. 10x louder, hilarious gags about getting some ass, the difference between races, and Tracy Morgan and his crazy antics? THAT [censored] IS HILARIOUS.


So on behalf of all Americans: You're Welcome.

[Alex]

Dec 14, 2010 23:41:12 GMT Lost Mercenary said:

And isn't Torchwood the next show in line to get "Americanised" as it were?

Only in the sense that production of the existing British show is moving from Wales to Los Angeles - with all the formats and trimmings such a move brings. It's still the same Torchwood, though.

Mind you, with Torchwood, it's hardly as if there's any further down the quality scale to go, so maybe a full American style series will actually improve it.

RE: American/Other Country shows being adapted into British TV: The only examples that come to mind (though I may be dumbly forgetting some massive example that fits otherwise) are game shows/reality tv/docusoap stuff. In other words, creatively void shows. When it comes to comedies and dramas, I'm quite confident that we don't resort to having to plagiarise ideas from elsewhere to come up with bad examples of both.

American adaptions just kind of feel like a kick in the balls. Both to the producers and fans of the original material - as if, for some reason theirs just isn't good enough - and to the audience intended to watch these things, as if they're too fundamentally thick to appreciate something just because it's not full of brash American stereotypes or empty gags.

We import many American shows wholesale here without so much as an inclination about converting them to a 'British' audience, I've never once understood why its actually necessary to do the same in America for British shows. The only reason I can think of is, as I mentioned, that the producers show utter contempt for their audience or the source material. Which is just plain baffling.

---

Re: Remakes. I'd consider that to be a bit of a different topic, really. Obviously, remaking a 20/30/40 year old show for a contemporary audience, whichever audience that may be, is different to taking an existing, running TV show and making an 'Americanized' version. One is an attempt to update old material for a modern audience, the other is an attempt to attack the audience's intelligence.

[Pitt]

It's the same with music groups, really. Consider all the groups who were huge in Britain but only managed to be one hit wonders at best in the states (Blur, Oasis, Madness, Frankie Goes to Hollywood etc.).

[ShayMay]

And shows such as the Muppets, which, while hugely successful in the UK, didn't get quite the same level of popularity in America.

[WinterFlames]

Dec 15, 2010 0:45:41 GMT Arch_one_zero_one said:

Did anyone see how they decided to end the US version of Life on Mars? Absolutely hilarious(ly bad).

My jaw dropped at just how bad that was. I remember telling someone about it shortly afterwards and they had a seizure or something.

[Beeth]

Dec 15, 2010 7:53:01 GMT Shadic? said:

If anything, you should be thanking us for improving your dry and mundane comedies.

Anybody who says this about British comedy clearly hasn't seen an awful lot of British comedy, otherwise "dry and mundane" would not be the first thing that comes to mind.

That said, I shall now contradict myself with a satirical snibbet about my views on American adaptations. From what I've seen, an adaptation tends to consist of three things:

1: The changing/addition of relevant names, places and brands to shoehorn lazy American references into the script.

2: The addition of canned laughter, or if there was already laughter, whooping whistling and cheering.

3: The changing/addition of a character to the cast: a young, usually large stereotypical black woman who acts sassy and clicks her fingers for a cheap thrill.

That in mind, here is my example of an adaptation: Coronation Street USA.

...

Coronation Street, set in the fictional town of Weatherfield, Oklahoma. Key locations include the Rivers Bar (Rovers Return), Roy's Rockin' Rolls (Roy's Rolls), Underworld Fashion Center (because the TV network won't allow them to put an underwear factory in the show in case they offend Christians or something), Rita's Kabin becomes "Rita's Mini-Mart" and the corner shop will be renamed the "liquor store".

The opening scene would probably go something like this:


*Jaunty, half arsed (or assed) rock version of the theme tune plays, audience whoops and applauds

RIVERS BAR, INTERIOR

Ken Barlow (in gruff, southern American accent): Hey, gimme a beer.

Deidre Barlow (in annoying, nasal voice): OH, KEN! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!

* Audience laughs raucously

Sean Tully (in an even more OTT camp tone than the original): Oh... mah... STARS! (flops hands)

* Audience laughs raucously again

* Large black woman enters the bar

Woman: Haai there! Ah'm JAAAAAAA-NICE BATTAHSBY! Mmm-mm-MMM! (clicks fingers above head)

*Audience whoops, whistles and cheers

...

Well, you get the idea with that.

[Alex]

Dec 15, 2010 12:08:14 GMT Beeth said:

Dec 15, 2010 7:53:01 GMT Shadic? said:

If anything, you should be thanking us for improving your dry and mundane comedies.

Anybody who says this about British comedy clearly hasn't seen an awful lot of British comedy, otherwise "dry and mundane" would not be the first thing that comes to mind.

Shadic was being sarcastic.

[madhair60]

Dec 15, 2010 0:45:41 GMT Arch_one_zero_one said:

Did anyone see how they decided to end the US version of Life on Mars? Absolutely hilarious(ly bad).

I preferred it to the UK ending, which was appalling. At least the US one was funny.

[Robert Frazer]

What I find memorable about the ending to Life on Mars was that it was broadcast in the very same week that the Dean of Manchester Cathedral had a bit of tizzy over the representation of the Cathedral in the game Resistance: Fall of Man. That game sold about a million copies... the finale to Life on Mars was watched by seven million people in the UK alone, and featured a man committing suicide with the dream of a fantasy land, and the very last shot involved the cast driving off to a big gun battle. Not a squeak of protest at these questionable moral implications was raised.