Next Monday, Syfy will unveil Being Human, a supernatural drama about three down-and-out roommates…who happen to be a ghost, a vampire, and a werewolf. Originally a British show, Being Human, along with MTV’s Skins (also premiering Monday -watch the original here) and Showtime’s Shameless, will continue the long tradition of remaking UK shows for US audiences. While we wait and see if the States will go for these Americanized versions, let’s take a look at other famous (and notorious) transatlantic adaptations, starting with:
The Office
If you haven’t heard of The Office, you have been living under a rock. For you rock people, The Office is about an office run by the world’s most incompetent and awful boss. Ricky Gervais starred as nightmare manager David Brent, and the critically acclaimed British show explored the idea that real life pain and awkwardness is funny. In 2005, The Office was adapted for NBC.
What It Kept: The main love story between Pam and Jim (Tim and Dawn in the UK), Jim’s (Tim’s) prank wars, and the obviously horrible boss.
What It Shed: The pain. The American Office quickly became a standard workplace comedy, and Steve Carell turned the boss into a moronic goofball rather than the moronic tyrant Gervais played.
Why It Succeeded: One of the most successful UK imports in recent times, most of the American popularity springs from the hilarious cast. Carell has made an entire career out of being the funny idiot, and co-stars John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, and Jenna Fischer have become well-known actors in their own right. With the exit of Carell and the introduction of a new boss, we’ll see if the charisma of the supporting cast will hold it together, or if The Office will finally get cancelled.
The IT Crowd
Dread visiting the creeps in your IT department? Hey, they dread receiving you too! The well-loved British sitcom features Chris O’Dowd, Richard Ayoade, and Katherine Parkinson as the highly intelligent yet socially inept members of Reynholm Industries’ IT office. An American pilot was made in 2007.
What It Kept: The script. The pilot of The IT Crowd was an exact replica of the British one. They even had Richard Ayoade reprise his role as the witty and witless Moss.
What It Shed: The humor. The pilot was flat, and even NBC executives admitted it lacked “spark.”
Why It Failed: It would be easy to say The IT Crowd was dismissed due to cookie-cutter imitation, but a bigger problem was poor casting choices. Jessica St. Claire is nowhere near the comedian Katherine Parkinson is, and the handsome, snarky McHale is completely unbelievable as a geek, even a smart-ass one. The season was never picked up.
Da Ali G Show
Sacha Baron Cohen gained fame in Britain for playing three characters: bumbling foreigner Borat, fashonista Bruno, and wannabe gangsta Ali G. Tying them together was Da Ali G Show. Part candid camera, part sketch comedy, Cohen would switch seamlessly between interviewing unsuspecting media and political figures and scripted material. In 2003 HBO tried to duplicate Ali G for an American audience.
What It Kept: The core concept. Claiming to be a British talk show host when Ali G, Cohen flayed unsuspecting Americans from all walks of life.
What It Shed: Scripted material. While the British show contained monologues, skits, and musical performances (often deliberately ruined by Cohen) the US version was wholly improvised.
Why It Was A Wash: Sacha Cohen who? Pre-Borat, mainstream America had never heard of the comedian-provocateur, and HBO declined a second season. That was OK, because the British show only lasted a season as well. And the American episodes were exported back to the UK as Ali G in Da USAiii, so we’ve come full circle!
All in the Family
In 1971 Archie Bunker came on-air and took America by storm. The racist funnyman made an indelible mark on our culture, helming a show so famous, few Americans even know it’s a British remake. Originally ‘Till Death do us Part, the British show featured Warren Mitchell as Alf Garnett, a bigot even more cutting and clueless then Bunker.
What It Kept: The core concept. Bunker and Garnett were working class everymen, and both series played off their reactions to the changing outside world.
What It Shed: The darker tones of the original. While both Bunker and Garnett were racist, Garnett was much more vicious, and the series ultimately ended with him divorced and alone.
Why It Succeeded: Just as it did in the UK, AITF struck a chord with a changing American audience, at once both embracing and fearing the upheaval of the 1970’s.
Coupling
Take Friends, add a dash of awkward, a pinch of absurdity, and a lot of talk about sex and you get Coupling, the hit BBC comedy. Based on the real-life coupledom of creator Steven Moffat and producer Sue Vertue, Coupling pushed the sitcom envelope, employing split screens, non-linear narratives, and an episode half in Hebrew. In 2003, America tried to bring its own version of to primetime.
What It Kept: Everything. NBC hoped to position it as the new Friends, and reshot the original scripts, shearing off jokes here and there for time.
What It Shed: The British cast for an American one.
Why It Failed: Lambasted in the press for its explicit sexuality and for being a poor imitation of the original, after four episodes NBC decided the ratings weren’t there, and called it quits.
American Idol
In Britain it was known as Pop Idol, a talent show competition that searched for the UK’s next big pop singer. Each week contestants sang before a panel of music industry professionals, and the viewers got to vote on who went home.
What It Kept: Everything but the title.
What It Shed: The British judges, minus Simon Cowell.
Why It Succeeded: The American public was fascinated by the combination of good music, the chance to vote on national TV, and the real life obscurity-to-fame stories unfolding before their eyes. Also, there was a chance someone really awful would be on—even William Hung gets to be an Idol!
