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US version Of Torchword in development!

The Comedian good question, why doesnt FOX just make a MIB series, its a well known brand, and would sell well around the world.

With Will Smith producing. That would great.

I also thought a Ghostbusters/SG-1 type series would be good if executed well.
 
Plenty of spin-offs exist in TV that don't require you to have any knowledge of the original show.

Can't think of any spin-offs of a series from one country being made in another country though.
Law & Order: UK They're even on about having a crossover with the US version.

Off-topic - I thought the UK L&O was simply re-making the stories from the US version and putting them in a UK context?

On-topic. My preferred version of a US Torchwood would be one that remains in the same continuity as the original but is set in the US (well duh); a US branch of TW. It could be ambiguous as to whether the US government even know they're operating there.

Jack should be no more than a recurring character - he belongs in TW UK. I think he should appear in the pilot to help set it up - like Picard in the pilot of DS9. But while he or Gwen could make occasional guest appearances, I'd prefer an all-new cast. Perhaps a flamboyant Brit heading them, as balance to the UK one? (I hear there's some guy called Tennant looking for a career break in the US... Anyone know if he's any good?).

Ideally a US TW should be on something like FX or HBO. On Fox, it will be shorn of the sex and risque elements which make it, well, TW. Without that, I'm not sure that there'll be much to distinguish it from The X-Files, Fringe, the 4400, etc, etc, etc ...
 
A US Torchwood unit based in Area 51, eh? I could see it having some non-American members in its lineup though or periodically working with members from other Torchwood units from around the globe...
 
Let's be realistic about one thing; the BBC have had seven months to announce a UK based S4 and they haven't despite the massive success of COE and this US version hasn't just popped up out of nowhere. I don't think there was even any intention of carrying on the homegrown version.
 
that is one way to read it, would still make this show part of the Whoverse however, which is my worry.

Can't see why you'd think that - Robert Llewellyn was in one of the Red Dwarf US pilots and that sure as hell never became associated with real Red Dwarf, let alone become some canonical element of it.
yes one actor, if the show recasts Gwen, Ianto, Owen & Tosh it wont really be an issue, but if its just John Barrowman as Captain Jack with new characters and it left vague as to where in the timeline it could fit, and S4 is not made by the BBC proper, it could be seen as S4.
A US show with a character named Ianto? Hell, even Owen and Gwen are a bit iffy!;)
 
Putting aside my distaste the current trend of remaking great UK shows into US shows (as oppose to just importing them like HBO did with Extras), I think this is a terrible idea. Torchwood is far from the best show out there (first season mostly sucks, but season two is better, and of course "Children of Earth" is excellent). Why not just do a spin-off focused on a base in the US (which would be a nice reverse to Law & Order UK)?

But as long as they don't try to remake of Doctor Who, I guess I won't care too much.
 
But as long as they don't try to remake of Doctor Who, I guess I won't care too much.

According to the Hollywood Reporter story, this might be in the cards.

I don't mind the idea of a Torchwood US as long as it ties in with continuity of the original TW series and Doctor Who (I'm not a TW basher). Its format allows for this and, in fact, in many ways Fringe is already doing this (maybe a crossover?).

I don't like the idea of an US version of Doctor Who, especially when the original is still going strong. In fact (feel free to laugh - I don't care) I'm actually getting, bizarrely a Conan O'Brien vibe here. Imagine if the Rex pilot doesn't sell and Fox gives Tennant a sweetheart deal that brings him into a US version of Doctor Who. Yeah, Tennant fans would go nuts, but it would pull the rug out from underneath Matt Smith. Not saying that's a scenario, but why do a new Doctor Who when the original is still a going concern? So is Torchwood, of course, but at least it has a formula that allows for a US branch (Torchwood 5?) to be introduced.

If TW US is a separate series that either ties in or coexists with the original, I'm fine with that. Also opens the door potentially for the Doctor (a la Matt Smith) to appear. I might even go for TW US in lieu of - or even as Series 4 - of the original. But if they're going to try and do what they did with Red Dwarf - produce a separate US series with a common cast member and little else - it'll tank and the risk is it'll bring the rest down with it.

Alex
 
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Let's be realistic about one thing; the BBC have had seven months to announce a UK based S4 and they haven't despite the massive success of COE and this US version hasn't just popped up out of nowhere. I don't think there was even any intention of carrying on the homegrown version.

Agreed.


I mean, who cares really? There's an American Torchwood. There's a UK Torchwood. And neither exists in the same universe. So what? Same with Doctor Who. If they think they can make a Doctor Who version work for a US audience, I say more power to them. Let them spread Doctor Who to every country, ever. Make fifteen versions of it, all separate from each other. That would be wonderful! Think about how strong the Who franchise could become?

What are you afraid of? That they'll "ruin" Doctor Who or Torchwood? How? Doctor Who, THE Doctor Who, is still doing fine in the UK. It would have nothing to do with an American version...
 
Can't think of any spin-offs of a series from one country being made in another country though.
Law & Order: UK They're even on about having a crossover with the US version.

Off-topic - I thought the UK L&O was simply re-making the stories from the US version and putting them in a UK context?
It is, at the minute, but that's a contractual obligation rather than a choice of the production team. They would like to write original stories, and maybe will in the future.
 
If they think they can make a Doctor Who version work for a US audience, I say more power to them. Let them spread Doctor Who to every country, ever. Make fifteen versions of it, all separate from each other. That would be wonderful! Think about how strong the Who franchise could become?

The Turkey version of Doctor Who will be the best. The Indian one okay.

:techman:


On a serious note, I don't think I would want 15 Doctor Who's around the world(Who wants to be a millionaire, Pop/American Idol,The Office)

"Doctor Who" is rooted in British television history
 
Disregarding the hyperbolic (is that even a word) and the end is nigh rubbish from some quarters in this thread, this is what I think (and sorry if it's already been said, but I just skipped the last three pages because of that) is:

Because of the present state of financing at the BBC, a new series being made and financed solely by them is inadvisable at the moment, so, BBCWW is in negotiations with one of the American Networks to create a forth series of Torchwood with first run rights here and then America (like the first season of Battlestar Galactica with Sky and Sci Fi) which will then allow greater budgets and also allow a more international feel and film locations in the states that also double for other parts of globe.
 
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