US version Of Torchword in development!

[The Lensman]

Oddly enough, I'd been wondering about an American version of Doctor Who for the last few weeks...strange this announcement. Basically I've been thinking that with the success of Dr. Who, would they try to do an American version or just continue to export it over. Sure, some of us are big Who fans and recent events were huge to us.....but in the U.S....only for us.

Successful shows tend to get remade in different countries. And to be honest...I don't know how I'd feel about an American Who. On the one hand, it's so distinctly British....on the other hand, I've been seeing some of the limitations of the show with all this blather about it being a "childrens show".

An American Who might be able to go places the British version will not go because they're trying to stay for "children". And no, I'm not talking about sex and violence....hell, I'm talking about stories that really explore time travel....or can play with the format more and not rely on the "Monster Fighter" thing that's getting tiresome. Love and Monsters being a prime example, and a lack of straight up historicals being another.

 

[The Castellan]

1: How the HELL is Torchwood going to be on US TV? Anyone who knows what the FCC is like will give us a waterdown TC.

2: Without John Barrowman, it won't work.

3: NO REBOOTS. I DON'T CARE IF IT'S THE 'HIP AND COOL' TREND OF HOLLYWOOD, WE DON'T NEED MORE REBOOTS, ESPECIALLY DOCTOR WHO!

 

[The Castellan]

Why couldn't there be a Torchwood USA branch? There are things called "international treaties", ya know.

Why on Earth would the United States allow the Torchwood Institute -- an organization answerable only to the Monarch, dedicated to the use of alien technology to restore the British Empire -- to operate in its territory?

The Torchwood institute itself was not set up to restore the British Empire - at the time it didn't need restoring! That was Torchwood London and Yvonne Hartmann's take on it.

Torchwood was set up to defend the Empire against alien threats, but any threat to the Earth - no matter where on Earth it's based - is a threat to the Empire.

As to the US allowing Torchwood to operate in the US; well it's a secret organisation isn't it! (After all, in real life, MI6 operates in the US!) Adds a bit of tension if the FBI is always trying to find it and close it down!

Plus Torchwood, especially Jack's Torchwood, is getting the world ready for alien first contact...I would wonder how Jack's gonna fight the secrecy happy American feds.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

My gut reaction: this is a dumbass idea. Delete the Britishness of the Whoverse and you've deleted the part that makes it unique from any other sci fi series. How is an American Torchwood different from any other show in the X-Files/Fringe/etc genre that someone might get it in their head to launch? What's the point of slapping "Torchwood" on the title when that name means zip to the vast majority of Americans?

I'm sure I'd check it out, but I'm not expecting it to be either interesting or successful.

I agree with this completely. I think an "American remake" of any British series because that series is too British is a dumb idea.

 

[StCoop]

I agree with this completely. I think an "American remake" of any British series because that series is too British is a dumb idea.

"Merlin" wasn't exactly a massive success when NBC showed it, was it?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

"Merlin" wasn't exactly a massive success when NBC showed it, was it?

Ratings success? No. Financial success? Yes. NBC paid a pittance for it, which meant they didn't need any sort of ratings for it, and what they drew viewer-wise was enough for decent and profitable ad revenues.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

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.

Do you think the Japanese version, where the TARDIS can transform into a Megazord, will be one step too far?

 

[Photoman15]

I really hate it when they do "US versions" of British shows. I mean, come on, can't they handle the vocabulary or what? It's like Life on Mars. Pathetic. It's not like Britain is a different planet.

Ever hear of "All in the Family"? "Sanford and Son"? "Three's Company"?
They adapt to the US audience.

Maybe when Jack comes back to Earth after his Alonso break, he doesn't want to return to the UK (or is exiled from there because of the first 456 incident becoming public). He goes to the US to regroup Torchwood US. Gwen takes over TW Cardiff (hence the 4th series in the UK).

 

[Sci]

Why couldn't there be a Torchwood USA branch? There are things called "international treaties", ya know.

Why on Earth would the United States allow the Torchwood Institute -- an organization answerable only to the Monarch, dedicated to the use of alien technology to restore the British Empire -- to operate in its territory?

The Torchwood institute itself was not set up to restore the British Empire - at the time it didn't need restoring!

I didn't say it was set up to restore the British Empire, I said it was dedicated to restoring the British Empire. An organization can be dedicated to something other than what it was set up for.

That was Torchwood London and Yvonne Hartmann's take on it.

No, that strain of British nationalism was part of Torchwood from the very start. It was Captain Jack who changed that -- and he's essentially going against the Torchwood Charter by doing so.

Torchwood was set up to defend the Empire against alien threats, but any threat to the Earth - no matter where on Earth it's based - is a threat to the Empire.

None of which changes the fact that the United States would never allow a para-military/espionage organization answerable to another government -- let alone a foreign organization that isn't even answerable to that foreign country's government, but instead only to its mostly-ceremonial head of state -- to operate on its soil willingly, which was what I was arguing it would not do.

As to the US allowing Torchwood to operate in the US; well it's a secret organisation isn't it! (After all, in real life, MI6 operates in the US!) Adds a bit of tension if the FBI is always trying to find it and close it down!

I think that makes a lot more sense -- but, really, what's the creative point of doing a sci-fi show about a British X-Files operating in the U.S.? -- but I was arguing against the idea that the U.S. would let Torchwood operate on its soil because of some international treaty.

 

[diankra]

Then again, from how I read it, it seems Barrowman may only be involved in the pilot. Perhaps as a way to pass the torch (no pun intended)...

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.

PEDANT MODE ON/Actually, it did very slightly - in the season six opener, the Dwarf's old captain is Captain Tau (from the US pilot), not Captain Hollister (from the other UK seasons). Probably a parallel universe (again)./PEDANT OFF/

 

[CommanderRaytas]

I really hate it when they do "US versions" of British shows. I mean, come on, can't they handle the vocabulary or what? It's like Life on Mars. Pathetic. It's not like Britain is a different planet.

Ever hear of "All in the Family"? "Sanford and Son"? "Three's Company"?
They adapt to the US audience.

Your point being? In what way does that make it better? I don't think adapting stuff for American audiences is cool. Either they like it the way it is, or they drop it. Come up with your own stuff. Too bad for the BBC or whoever tries to sell stuff that doesn't go over in America.

 

[Cyke101]

I really hate it when they do "US versions" of British shows. I mean, come on, can't they handle the vocabulary or what? It's like Life on Mars. Pathetic. It's not like Britain is a different planet.

Ever hear of "All in the Family"? "Sanford and Son"? "Three's Company"?
They adapt to the US audience.

Your point being? In what way does that make it better? I don't think adapting stuff for American audiences is cool. Either they like it the way it is, or they drop it. Come up with your own stuff. Too bad for the BBC or whoever tries to sell stuff that doesn't go over in America.

Making it better is in the eye of the beholder. But those three examples are at the very least signs of adaptations that were extremely profitable for American TV networks. Not to sound so cynical, but sometimes it's just the bottom line that counts. There are other reasons to remake a show, but above all else, it's about whatever you can bring to the bank.

Now, with that said, I've my own reservations about an American adaptation of Torchwood.

(I'll ask something about All in the Family, though: to this day it's still regarded as one of the most significant ground-breaking shows to change the American status quo... just as its parent show did for Britain. Wouldn't that be cause enough to remake something? Another example I can think of is Traffic the British show turning into Traffic the American film, highly acclaimed as it is.)

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Okay, point taken. But I'm still sceptic and don't really think it's cool... Life on Mars having been remade just makes me mad, I guess that clouds my judgment.

 

[ClayinCA]

I did have a quick thought: what if Barrowman appeared in the pilot episode to set things up, and the star of the show (and head of Torchwood U.S.) was a reformed Captain John Hart, played by James Marsters? I'd watch it!

 

[wamdue]

the show could be Captain John, pretending to be Captain Jack

 

[Starkers]

I always figured the other reason the US remakes British shows is down to sheer quantity. Often our shows might only have 6, 8, 13 episodes...nowhere near the length of the average US season.

 

[Lindley]

US seasons are getting shorter, actually. 13-16 episodes is no longer uncommon.

 

[Starkers]

Really? I guess Sarah Connor's first season was short, and obviously the last coupld of Lost seasons, but I thought these were exceptional circumstances rather than the norm.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Is America ready for a bi-sexual action hero?

 

[Sci]

Really? I guess Sarah Connor's first season was short, and obviously the last coupld of Lost seasons, but I thought these were exceptional circumstances rather than the norm.

Well, it's a matter of evolving norms, really. Used to be that seasons of up to 30 episodes were common. Then, through about the 80s and 90s, 26-episode seasons became standard. From about the late 90s, 22-episode seasons started to become standard. 13-episode seasons were usually something that only happened if the show was what's called a "mid-season replacement" (that is, it premiered in the spring rather than the fall).

But now, because of the influence of premium channel dramas (i.e., shows produced by cable channels like HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime), and, to a lesser extent, imported dramas and American mini-series, the idea of shorter seasons is becoming more and more common. You're less likely to find them on the broadcast networks, but they're not unheard of for cable dramas. Battlestar Galactica even did something unique in its last few years -- it would divide a standard-sized season in half and air the two halves almost a year apart, creating the same effect as a 13-episode season in terms of story momentum.

I think we might eventually reach a point in the U.S. where 16-to-18-episode seasons become more standard. That might solve the problem frequently found in American one-hour dramas -- the sheer length of the season sometimes causes writers to have "filler" episodes or to lose steam or creative inspiration or what-have-you. It might be a good compromise between the momentum that shows with 13-episode seasons are able to maintain and the need for greater season lengths.