US Adaptations

So I've been religiously watching the US Being Human and US Shameless... I love them both.

At the base they are remakes of Being Human Season 1, and Shameless Season 1... but they are both twice the length, in terms of episodes, being they were 6 and 7 episodes, respectively, in the UK.

In Being Human I love the increased depth, and the werewolf CGI is an improvement. I love the characters, or, maybe I love that they are still their original characters... I didn't much like the direction Mitchel (Aiden) went in. In fact, I really love the ghost (whose American name I keep forgetting!) - they've really given her story more depth, she always seemed stuck on in the UK series (at least until season 2, but the story didn't do anything in the long term). I dislike the name Nora though.

And Shameless, I love seeing all the old characters. And I don't miss Micky, who I really hate in the UK series. They haven't changed as much, that I can tell, in Shameless. They've stretched it on, but it's not much different. It's just nice to see a season that is over a decade old (I think) over here.

Just wanted to see how you guys liked it... given it might be the first time for you.

Is there a reason he's locked in a cage that's unlocked?

Edit: It's locked in the next scene. That'd be a no, there's no reason.

I guess that was just a little flop in the set design.

Why do they have to make American remakes of British Sitcoms? I heard that BBC America was going to remake Red Dwarf as a US sitcom, but the Cat was female and wasn't overly obsessed over fashion, more about the nine lives principle so lives on the edge. That kind of destroys the purpose of the cat. The Cat is MEANT to be immodest, vain and stylish, otherwise it wouldn't be what a cat is. And with the cat being female, it eliminates the humour about three men being stuck in space without female company (unless the American Cat was a lesbian).

I still don't see why the Americans have to have a separate series made for them. It loses the British appeal if remade in America, because British humour is charming, witty, sarcastic and ironic, whereas American humour isn't all that subtle. It is pretty much cash down the drain on effectively using the same scripts just with actors of a different nationality.

I personally never watch American remakes of British shows. I'll always go online and find the British ones somewhere or other. If it's good enough to make a remake of, the original is always better.

Well, BBC is adapting the a Danish series, The Killing. Not that it's any good, a woman in a hideous woolen sweater solves a murder, but hey...

Why do they have to make American remakes of British Sitcoms?

The "qualities" you listed of British humour aren't considered qualities in America, at least by those with the pwoer. We are different cultures. On the whole, they don't like our sense of humour... the crass, tasteless, slyness of it all. Thus, it would not prove as popular... and the point of TV are ratings (and thus returns). Vice verse isn't such an issue, as we're accustomed to American TV from the get-go.

It's all about finding a new audience... it's the same reason they redo any franchise (such as Star Trek, Spiderman, etc). The old audience always gets testy... just look at the comic-book community everytime they release a new film-adapation. They seem to forget that it's not being released for them, it's being release to attract a new audience... if the current audience was making enough money they wouldn't need to "sell out".

Different channels also have different standards/reputations, and from what I'm able to sample of American TV (obviously I can't speak for the programs that don't see the light of day over here) - but they don't seem to like lower-budget films/special effects with that quirky, indie feel.

There's also the fact that as a Brit, we're not suppose to see the American adaptation and an American will unlikely see the British version. Jeeves is an exception, as he has a good attitude to it all.

Also, selling the rights to the series is possibly what paid for the upcoming new British series. Also, the US pilot was not well received by the executives, and was never aired. Although, they are trying again. You'll be pleased to know that it appears they agreed with you on Cat, and removed the character entirely. Judging by the name, he/she's been replaced by a Dog.

I've only seen Back to Earth anyway.

3mptylord wrote:Why do they have to make American remakes of British Sitcoms?

The "qualities" you listed of British humour aren't considered qualities in America, at least by those with the pwoer. We are different cultures. On the whole, they don't like our sense of humour... the crass, tasteless, slyness of it all. Thus, it would not prove as popular... and the point of TV are ratings (and thus returns). Vice verse isn't such an issue, as we're accustomed to American TV from the get-go.

Exactly. TV Broadcasters don't want to loose money via commercials. But oh well. I mean we can still buy the British version if we wish, however, we might have to choose the online versions.

American humor tends to be more slapstick, stand-up, situational, sarcastic, etc. Wit isn't considered funny here, which sucks. :\

I personally think that Americans just don't want to listen to our humour to laugh when they hear it only to work out a few weeks later we were being ironic and are actually screwing with them.

Gee thanks... I hope you realize I'm an American. -.-

Americans have different tastes for different styles for humor.

It's just a cultural difference, and I resent your (morbius's) assumption that British humor is somehow inherently better.

Personally, I think British humor is better as well, although not inherently so. Just a matter of taste, but I find most American humor to be just crassness for the sake of being crass. At least the Brits are wittily crass.

but that's the point of all humour...

Forced humour is forced.

Jeeves wrote:Personally, I think British humor is better as well, although not inherently so. Just a matter of taste, but I find most American humor to be just crassness for the sake of being crass. At least the Brits are wittily crass.

I agree! American humor is just immature and rude.

Ugh, immature is such a blatantly incoherent word used by anyone and everyone to insult that which they don't like. and all humor is rude in a way.

Perfect example: Dane Cook

EDIT: Used to like him, but now I rather dislike him.

However, there are other forms of comedy like Scrubs which is situational comedy. I honestly much prefer that.

Hmm, I'd have to disagree with you, Dark. The humor that I like isn't overly rude or crass (or if it is, that's not what I find funny about it.) Exposing truths in a witty way, or just wit in general, or situational comedy, like Dragon said, is more my sort of thing.

Take The Guild for instance. Probably one of *the* funniest things I've ever watched. If you've never heard of it, just type it into google and it'll pretty much be the first thing you get. That's my sort of humor.

Dragon78114 wrote:I agree! American humor is just immature and rude.

I agree with Dark, those are a poor choice of words to describe something you dislike. Personally, rude humour (aka "blue humour") is quite funny (and not a type of humour I see often on American TV shows).

Scrubs is awesome.

I love "cut away jokes", that they use in Scrubs, Family Guy, etc. Where the joke makes absolutely no sense without the fictional contents that is displayed afterwards (like a cutscene or dream-sequence). I also love Family Guy's dragged-on gags... where they go on for too long.

Here are some examples of good comedy;

Blackadder - It's satirical, historical and even though it's fictitious, it is fairly accurate towards attitudes of the upper class in Britain of the past.

Last of the Summer Wine - A timeless classic of a sitcom. It has all the quirky characters, the jokes and the silliness. Even now, some of the antics the trio have gotten up to in this series will make you just laugh out loud. Even the subtle humour of the tea circle women is worth mentioning. A little gem on British television that will be greatly missed.

The Mighty Boosh - The surrealism and sarcasm is what makes this show funny. How many other shows on TV do you meet the likes of an underwater monster with a "mangina", a cockney hitcher from the Victorian era, a jazz fusion guitarist with a door in his enormous afro which he was awarded for wisdom and a shaman who when he turns his back on you is accompanied with a guitar solo?

Friends - For years, this series has been on screen all over the world and with good reason. The quirks of each of the characters are easily relatable to everyone we know. We all know a Joey, we all know a Phoebe and we all know a Ross, a Chandler, a Rachel and a Monica. Even the simplest things of their American lifestyle can be made hilarious by each of their ideas to make something interesting or their ideas to keep in sane.

QI - A gameshow where it is almost impossible to win. In this gameshow, wit and irony are key to scoring points, whilst obvious or boring answers score worse than wrong answers. Hosted by Stephen Fry and co-hosted by Alan Davies, this show is British humour all over.

The Big Bang Theory.

To be honest, there's a lot of good American Sitcoms if you don't watch them thinking "this is no FRIENDS", which I've heard before. The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, etc.

Top Gear's a good example on par with QI - as in, the genre of the show it's almost unexpected how funny it is. Even if you have no interest in cars.

Ugh, I f*cking hate friends...I mean it's amusing...I guess...but I've never liked it.

Okay, I honestly just think it's completely facetious and idiotic to talk about "American humor" In a smaller, more homogenous society like Britain, that's maybe a possibility, but America is 300 million strong, a melting pot of cultures, with many of it's shows having input from international people, and producing a plurality at the very least of the world's entertainment. Can that really be classified?

I suppose it's multiculturalism limits how tasteless it can be somewhat.