Original Desmond

There seem to be way more failures so why keep doing it ?

Successes - Office

Failures - Kath and Kim (Aussie, not UK i know), Coupling, Footballers Wives (didn't get past pilot), Men Behaving Badly, Fawlty towers

Now we have upcoming, Shameless, Skins, inbetweeners and Being human

Talking about scripted shows only

Mr. Salty

I still say that's a remake of "Friends."

Other successes: All in the Family, Three's Company, Dear John, Cracker, Too Close for Comfort, Cosby, Queer as Folk, Sanford and Son.

Brooklyn

Success:
Three's Company
Sanford And Son

Failure:
The Ropers
Three's A Crowd

arminius

Success-Life on Mars

calhoun07

Is Men of a Certain Age a remake of sorts of Manchild? I've seen Manchild and when I started watching Men of a Certain Age I thought it was the Americanized Manchild, but I never read anything actually stating it was a remake.

There was a very short lived remake of the Brit-Com "Coupling" made for NBC. It was ironic because a lot of people already thought Friends was the Americanized version of Coupling.

Perhaps this is the way it is with Men of a Certain Age...it's like a British show but maybe not a direct remake so they don't have to pay anybody for the idea.

dan30oly

The Inbetweeners is being done for a U.S. release?

How could anyone possibly believe that show can work over here???

It won't make it past 3 episodes. Not a chance.

Match

NBC was going to remake The IT Crowd. But NBC didn't pick it up in 2007.
http://tviv.org/The_IT_Crowd_(USA))

But it looks like they might be trying it again:
http://veryaware.com/2010/08/the-it-...ng-to-america/

sb5

Wow. I knew that an IT Crowd remake was being considered at one point, but I had no idea that Joel McHale (as Roy? Seriously?) was going to be in it, and the actor who played Moss in the UK was going to play the same character.

Red Dog

Coupling never had a chance on broadcast tv here, given the prudes. SHO or HBO should have just aired the originals (like they do with Secret Diary of a Call Girl).

Spiderbite

There is absolutely no way Skins will be any good here. With the amount of cursing, drug use, sexual situations and occasional nudity, whatever watered down (because you know it will be) version comes here will suck ass.

I love the show and am about to finish the 3rd season (thank goodness for Netflix streaming!). Unless this is coming to HBO or Showtime, it simply will not work. I heard it is MTV that it will be on and you know they will completely fuck it up.

skacore

They made a pilot for Spaced. It's on youtube I think. Don't watch it!

JasonF

Matt LeBlanc is going to be starring in the upcoming remake of Lyman's Boys. He'll be taking the Richard Griffiths role. Should be good!

Boba Fett

There was an American remake of Manchild for Showtime. Kevin Smith was one of the stars and said the only reason it didn't get picked up us was because Showtime picked Californication instead. The pilot has been on YouTube for ages.

wendersfan

In what world was the American version of Cracker a success?

WallyOPD

There are way more failures than successes for pilots in general, yet they continue to make pilots.

resinrats

So does the UK make their own version of US shows or do they go the cheap route and just air the US show as is?

JasonF

For the most part, they re-air our stuff, but they do remake their versions of U.S. shows. Mostly reality/game shows, but there have been some remakes of scripted shows. I know there was a British That 70s Show and a British Who's the Boss (with Honor Blackmon in the Katherine Helmond role!)

Jay G.

Success:
Dear John

Failure:
Worst Week
The Prisoner
Cold Feet
Courting Alex
Life is Wild
The Two of Us

This. Along with failed pilots, most new shows fail, yet they continue to make new shows. And US TV producers take inspiration from everywhere. They remake old US shows, semi-sequelize old US shows (Star Trek, Get Smart, 90210, Melrose Place, Knight Rider), remake shows from other foreign countries (HBO's In Treatment, Ugly Betty), adapt movies to TV shows, and even use "original" ideas.

It's all a crap shoot. Producers like remakes, adaptations, and sequels because there's a track record of success, but that doesn't always translate to new success.


In addition to what JasonF mentioned, the UK just started airing a remake of Law and Order, with episodes from the original show rewritten for a UK context. Wikipedia mentions that it's the first US drama to be remade in the UK:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_%26_Order:_UK

Rypro 525

I saw an ad for it on MTV. Its gonna SUCK.

resinrats

Guess we can add Ugly Betty to the success list. Didn't watch it but it did go several seasons.

That's pretty cool about the L&O. I think it would be interesting to see the original US version then watch the UK version to see the changes.

Jay G.

Ugly Betty wasn't originally a UK show though. It was a Columbian telenovela:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo_soy_Betty,_la_fea

KaBluie

The Golden Girls was remade.

From Wikipedia:

Brighton Belles
In 1993, ITV premiered Brighton Belles, a British version of the American sitcom. The show, starring Sheila Hancock, Wendy Craig, Sheila Gish, and Jean Boht was nearly identical to Girls except for character name changes and actor portrayals. The 10-episode series was canceled after six weeks due to low ratings, with the final four episodes airing more than a year later.

Groucho

Failure: Dead Set --> The Walking Dead

Cardiff Giant11

I totally disagree. The US version PALED in comparison to the UK series, YMMV I guess.

While there have been some funny episodes and it's obviously a ratings hit, the US Office rarely approaches the UK version for me.

Another more recent failure is the US Top Gear. Granted it has improved slightly but it is still miles behind the UK series.

Jay G.

I think the thread is more about financial success, in terms of ratings, and/or longevity, instead of quality. US Networks will keep a "crap" show on the air for years, as long as it pulls in the viewers.

That said, Life on Mars fails on that count, since it didn't get past its first season, and shows that only last one season in the US are typically considered failures.