Remaking British shows for North American TV.

[Temis the Vorta]

It was called Earth 2. It lasted for about the same number of episodes.

Yeah, TV shows from any country are usually just some concept that somebody has done before. I don't even know why anyone bothers to purchase rights to a general concept for a TV premise.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Yes I'd heard about that remake, I believe it's to be set in Glasgow and title You Again.

But speaking in general terms, how often does a foriegn remake surpass the orginal.

I've just looked and the reference I saw was back in 2010. Seems unlikely it's getting made at this point.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I remember something about when the remake of Skins first aired there was talk of it being Child porn.

I have heard they're also talking about remaking Misfits as well. Which seems entirely pointless as it's supposed to be a British take on the American myths of superheroes.

Good example of why it's silly to purchase the rights to most shows, because they're just an iteration of some previous idea anyway.

Here's the reason they keep doing it anyway: corporate ass covering. If you can point to a teenage superhero mutant show working somewhere, then you have some cover if it fails, and most shows do fail.

So we can all expect this phenomenon to continue indefinitely, regardless of whether audiences want these shows or care that they are remakes of shows the audience is unlikely to have heard of in the first place. It's all about some guy protecting his career in a very dicey industry where one failure can be catastropic.

The remake phenomenon has been exaggerated anyway. I've been keeping track of broadcast and cable development just in the sf/f genre and the proportion of shows that are foreign remakes is very small compared with the huge number of shows that are in some stage of development at any given time, and most of which will never make it to production.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

American remakes often use the original idea as a starting point. Like how the distinctively Israeli story of Prisoners of War, inspired by true events, became a thriller bears little resemblance to the original show.

Homeland hardly needs to be a remake of anything, since it's so obviously just 24, but with more cable values vs broadcast (ie, more focus on characters, less frantic need to keep audiences from changing the channel by throwing every crazy plot twist at us all the time.)

 

[EmoBorg]

I would love to see North Americans remake Space Precinct. I loved the show especially the alien police captain with the Irish accent.

1:17

Space 1999 was before my time but it looks interesting. Traveling on the moon that has been blasted into space.

1:03

Two interesting British shows.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

You can bet the Yanks will NEVER remake "New Tricks".

Americans are TERRIFIED of anybody over forty appearing on tv, let alone somebody over 65!!!

You mean like Psych, which co-stars the lead's father as a retired police officer who helps out on cases and even teamed up with two other even older retired detectives to solve a cold case, which is pretty much the same idea as the show above?

Or Cold Case, where half the main cast was in their forties with two of the detectives in their 60s?

Or Longmire, whose Australian lead actor Robert Taylor is 50?

Or CSI, where all three heads of the unit were in their fifties or older (as are leads Gary Sinise and David Caruso on the spinoffs), and 64 in Ted Danson's case.

The 900 Law & Order shows have several actors older than that.

Vegas has 58 year old Dennis Quaid as the lead sheriff and 49 year old Michael Chicklis as the main antoagonist.

The remake of Life on Mars featured then ~71 year old Harvey Keitel as Gene Hunt.

Lead agents Mandy Patinkin (in his mid-50s at the time) and currently Joe Mantegna (65) on Criminal Minds.

That's just a few (not all) of the crime-related shows that feature actors in the age ranges you say Americans are apparently all-caps terrified of seeing on TV, not even getting in to other genres.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yes I'd heard about that remake, I believe it's to be set in Glasgow and title You Again.

But speaking in general terms, how often does a foriegn remake surpass the orginal.

I've just looked and the reference I saw was back in 2010. Seems unlikely it's getting made at this point.

Could be under secrecy, but who knows what to make of it. From what I heard, there wasn't going to be any therapists and that it was going to be a miniseries rather than a full-blown series.

 

[PsychoPere]

Though I don't think we've had a West Wing remake, and it's a different genre, I wonder if WW had any influence, stylistic or otherwise, on The Thick Of It? (which I believe has been adapted or remade for US?)

There was talk of a U.S. version of The Thick of It, but it never came to fruition.

Armando Iannucci does have an HBO show called Veep, though.

 

[AviTrek]

Outcasts is a good show, but we've seen a similar plots on TV before, so I don't know if I'd want an American remake.

RAMA

I enjoyed Outcasts, but the show has no name value, and very little few original concepts. You could create a new show about a human colony on an alien world, play in your own sandbox, and save licensing fees. So there is no reason to remake the show. But I'd love if someone did create a similar show for the US and it lasted more than one season. Maybe SyFy will resurrect the Revolution pilot(before NBC used the name).

 

[bigdaddy]

American remakes often use the original idea as a starting point. Like how the distinctively Israeli story of Prisoners of War, inspired by true events, became a thriller bears little resemblance to the original show.

Homeland hardly needs to be a remake of anything, since it's so obviously just 24, but with more cable values vs broadcast (ie, more focus on characters, less frantic need to keep audiences from changing the channel by throwing every crazy plot twist at us all the time.)

Have you seen Homeland? There are some crazy times going on, and it's much MUCH better than 24 ever was.

 

[Kegg]

^
Temis is however right that how Homeland handles the spy aspect of the show owes way more to 24 than it does to Prisoners of War to the extent Homeland pretty much took a lot of plot ideas from the Israeli series and then worked them into a vaguely related thriller.

 

[diankra]

Though I don't think we've had a West Wing remake, and it's a different genre, I wonder if WW had any influence, stylistic or otherwise, on The Thick Of It? (which I believe has been adapted or remade for US?)

Re: New Tricks US - how about Olmos and McDonnell (right ages). I'd watch that.

West Wing: sort of, but on radio (Radio 4) - Number 10, with Anthony Sher and Damien Lewis as the two Prime Ministers it's had so far over five seasons. Also, there's been some TV series which are like The West Wing as originally pitched, with the focus on the President's staff, such as Party Animals.

As for New Tricks: it's amazing that nobody in the States seems to realise the retired could be a huge market (mind you, nobody in the UK expected New Tricks to do as brilliantly as it has). Just hire the main quartet from iconic 80s cop stars (how about Harvey Keitel, Tom Selleck, Daniel J Travanti and... oh, Kathleen Turner, and watch it top the ratings...

 

[beamMe]

Though I don't think we've had a West Wing remake, and it's a different genre, I wonder if WW had any influence, stylistic or otherwise, on The Thick Of It? (which I believe has been adapted or remade for US?)

Re: New Tricks US - how about Olmos and McDonnell (right ages). I'd watch that.

Isn't West Wing, somehow, a non-sitcom version of Yes, (Prime) Minister?

 

[AviTrek]

Though I don't think we've had a West Wing remake, and it's a different genre, I wonder if WW had any influence, stylistic or otherwise, on The Thick Of It? (which I believe has been adapted or remade for US?)

Re: New Tricks US - how about Olmos and McDonnell (right ages). I'd watch that.

West Wing: sort of, but on radio (Radio 4) - Number 10, with Anthony Sher and Damien Lewis as the two Prime Ministers it's had so far over five seasons. Also, there's been some TV series which are like The West Wing as originally pitched, with the focus on the President's staff, such as Party Animals.

As for New Tricks: it's amazing that nobody in the States seems to realise the retired could be a huge market (mind you, nobody in the UK expected New Tricks to do as brilliantly as it has). Just hire the main quartet from iconic 80s cop stars (how about Harvey Keitel, Tom Selleck, Daniel J Travanti and... oh, Kathleen Turner, and watch it top the ratings...

The retired are on fixed incomes and have their spending habits fixed. Viewers don't matter, advertisers matter, and advertisers aren't interested in paying for retired viewers. That's why the ratings reported are for 18-49 not total viewers.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

I was such a huge fan of the british version of "Coupling" and I couldn't wait for the american version of it. I thought if it was half as good as the british version, that it would be a huge hit. I was way wrong, the american version was basically lifeless. They chose all the wrong actors for it, it was no where as funny. It sill makes me sad to this day.

 

[scotpens]

. . .The show was cancelled after one season but the show was pretty good in concept. It is similar to Terra Nova but without the costly dinosaurs special effects.This show did come out before Tera Nova. A North American version could find an audience that the British version did not have.

It was called Earth 2. It lasted for about the same number of episodes.

At first I thought you meant Earth II, the 1971 pilot for a proposed series about people living on an orbiting space station, starring Tony Franciosa. Damn, I feel old.

Americans are TERRIFIED of anybody over forty appearing on tv, let alone somebody over 65!!!

We had a slew of such shows during the '80s and '90s--The Golden Girls, Murder She Wrote, Diagnosis: Murder (to name some)--that had rather long runs.

What about All In the Family, which was based on the British sitcom Till Death Us Do Part and ran from 1971 to 1979? Archie and Edith Bunker were presumably in their fifties.

Of course, compared to Alf Garnett, Archie was a teddy bear.

 

[lurok]

Also, there's been some TV series which are like The West Wing as originally pitched, with the focus on the President's staff, such as Party Animals.

Thanks for that tip. Will check out when finish WW.

 

[diankra]

The retired are on fixed incomes and have their spending habits fixed. Viewers don't matter, advertisers matter, and advertisers aren't interested in paying for retired viewers. That's why the ratings reported are for 18-49 not total viewers.

I follow your point, but I equally wonder how if that's the case (over in the UK) ITV has an entire channel filled with comforting detective shows aimed at the retired, and manages to finance it from ads for stairlifts!
Possibly the focus on the young viewers is as misguided as the previous focus on mass audiences for the likes of Beverly Hillbillies and Two's Company... Some of those 60-pluses are heading out to watch the Rolling Stones live, at $400 a ticket...

 

[Corwwyn]

You can bet the Yanks will NEVER remake "New Tricks".

Americans are TERRIFIED of anybody over forty appearing on tv, let alone somebody over 65!!!

I don't know about that...

Matlock (Andy Griffith was no spring chicken in that show);

Boston Legal (how old are William Shatner and Candice Bergen now?);

Going waaaaay back, Fred Mertz (ie William Frawley) in I Love Lucy was 64 in the first season and 70 in the last;

and of course, The Golden Girls...