"I can't think of any cases where it's happened the other way, where a US series or film has been rewritten and re-made to make it palatable or comprehensible to an audience in some other country"

Ballykissangel "borrowed" heavily from Northern Exposure.

Obviously you folks have a kinship to the original, so nothing is going to compare in your eyes. As Jeffp pointed out, All in the Family and Steptoe and Son took two silly comedies and reworked the premise into an entirely different type of program, a far more satisfying program in my opinion.

The British original of the Office is a classic.   The American version simply went in a different direction using the strenghts of the cast, much as the Brit's did in theirs. It is a great program. Sorry Sinsull, you just don't relate to the American brand of comedy in that one.

Kath and Kim is a one joke situation comedy that just doesn't work. I have not seen the Aussie version, but it has to be better.