American TV Show Revamps

[pinky]

Can someone tell me why very sucessful non-US produced shows are not simply played as is in the US and are instead reproduced as 2nd rate knock offs.  Prime example is the US office (which is good but not as good) and now I have just heard that a US Kath & Kim is being produced which is ridiculous (I am a little slow on the newsfront). 

Why can't the original 4 series' of high quality comedy be screened.  What is next? US Little Britain??  Here are some shows that have had the American makeover treatment:

Men Behaving Badly
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Supernanny
Top Gear
Trading Spouses
Queer as Folk

[Bryan]

I dunno if that was a rhetorical question or not, but there is in fact a U.S. Little Britain in development.

Also, the answer to your greater question is "creative bankruptcy". Products that have been successful in other markets/media (see the movie theatres for further evidence of this) are thought to be a safer bet than original concepts.

I like the U.S. Office. I've just started watching it on DVD in the past few weeks. The one thing that bugs me is the theme song - it goes from a melancholy melody to "sitcom rock". Yeck.

[kimota]

Apparently Peep Show was in the works for an Americanized version.  Thank fuck that never happened.

[pinky]

Apparently Peep Show was in the works for an Americanized version.  Thank fuck that never happened.

That would have jumped the war in the list of things to be angry at America for.

[Bryan]

Also, a Father Ted remake was in the works for a while.

[cutout]

In the US we are so isolated, culturally and geographically, I think the cynical entertainment industry is worried foreign entertainment just won't track among a mainstream audience. And in general, it doesn't. There's the occasional "Life is Beautiful" or "Crouching Tiger", but for each one there are 1000 non-US films and tv shows that don't make a dent. So they re-package them in crappy, unfunny fashion.

[Bryan]

In the US we are so isolated, culturally and geographically, I think the cynical entertainment industry is worried foreign entertainment just won't track among a mainstream audience. And in general, it doesn't. There's the occasional "Life is Beautiful" or "Crouching Tiger", but for each one there are 1000 non-US films and tv shows that don't make a dent. So they re-package them in crappy, unfunny fashion.

All this is true. I know that the TV industry isn't in the business of helping its viewers to be better people, but I really think that exposure to foreign-produced media would help, in a small but significant way, to remind U.S. viewers that life exists outside of its borders.

I don't know if there is any other democratic country that is so culturally isolated.

[pinky]

I just don't see the need for that though.  I grew up in Aus and our 4 Channels had a good mix of shows from the US, Canada (Degrassi High!!), the UK as well as locally produced programs.  I don't really remember ever being aware of the cultural differences between each show and when I first heard a US accent in the flesh I was shocked.  I had gotten used to TV talk and had learnt to hear it differently. 

[buffcoat]

Been going on forever, though - Sanford and Son was a remake of Steptoe and Son.

[Spoony]

When you think about all the American shows that get re-made into English programme (with English spelling!) it evens out.

There's always that English twist though, like when Home Improvement was brought overseas and was about a Buckingham Palace Gaurd with really bad allergies. Or when the Drew Carey Show didn't quite translate, it was re-vamped into a dramatic series about a Vetrinarien who specialized in one-legged cows.

[pinky]

When you think about all the American shows that get re-made into English programme (with English spelling!) it evens out.

There's always that English twist though, like when Home Improvement was brought overseas and was about a Buckingham Palace Gaurd with really bad allergies. Or when the Drew Carey Show didn't quite translate, it was re-vamped into a dramatic series about a Vetrinarien who specialized in one-legged cows.

I'd like to see Lost made into a show about a group of Essex girls that go to Ibiza but after arrival have existential dilemmas

[Gilly]

I'm going to put myself out there for ridicule. I like the US Office better.

[Spoony]

I'm going to put myself out there for ridicule. I like the US Office better.

No crime. There's something to be said for both.

[masterofsparks]

Also, a Father Ted remake was in the works for a while.

I'd heard about this. Did it hit the bricks? I don't have a lot of confidence that it would've been anything other than a Prank Patrol-sized trainwreck.

[mokin]

I just don't see the need for that though.  I grew up in Aus and our 4 Channels had a good mix of shows from the US, Canada (Degrassi High!!), the UK as well as locally produced programs.  I don't really remember ever being aware of the cultural differences between each show and when I first heard a US accent in the flesh I was shocked.  I had gotten used to TV talk and had learnt to hear it differently. 

While I somewhat agree with your original post, I don't think you can compare the US to Australia. One of the reasons we're culturally isolated, as someone mentioned, is because we're a much larger producer of entertainment than the UK, Australia, or Canada. We're used to everything being from our point of view, in our accents, that when something isn't, it turns people off.

Americans are lazy about their art and entertainment. It's for this reason that subtitled movies don't do as well, either.

For what it's worth, there are foreign shows on cable, particularly BBC America. The Office (UK) was a big hit for them.

My personal "I can't believe they're remaking it" travesty is Spaced.