BS: Remakes

Subject: BS: Remakes
From: Bagpuss
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 02:02 PM

I was reading recently about an American remake of Father Ted, with Steve Martin rumoured to be cast as Ted and it got me thinking of how I have never seen a British sitcom which was made into a US show and not been completely ruined. Is a remake EVER as good as (or better than) the original? And I'm talking comedy, drama, film, anything.

Any takers?

Bagpuss

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 02:18 PM

I've yet to see one that even came close...

Case in point is the abortive John Larroquette series, "Payne"... It said it was based on "Fawlty Towers" But I don't think ANY of the writers had even seen the show! It was gods awful!

All most as bad as "3's Company" vs "Man About The House"... Or "Junkyard Wars" Vs "Scrapheap Challenge"

To say NOTHING of the crap-fest that the US has managed to make of Dr. Who! Blech!

The upcoming "Red Dwarf" movie, will likely suffer from being "Hollywood" Just like the upcoming American version of "Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy".... *urlp*

So, remaking Father Ted? I'll pass as well... and I even LIKE Steve Martin...

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: Bagpuss
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 02:22 PM

I'm keeping an open mind for Hitchhikers. I know Martin Freeman (of The Office) has been cast - presumably as Ford Prefect, and I think he could make a good stab at the role.

See, I *want* to be wrong...

Bagpuss

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: Bagpuss
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 02:26 PM

I meant Arthur Dent, not Ford Prefect. And Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast, I have just read.

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 02:32 PM

Mos Def has been cast as Ford...

Sam Rockwell as Zaphod....

:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 02:37 PM

WW1, WW2. ¦;¬]
John

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 03:26 PM

Has anyone ever made any remakes of American sit-coms?

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: GUEST
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 03:30 PM

movies have been done - but I can't think of any series that have been.

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 03:50 PM

There was a "Comic Strip" Spaghetti Western, "Fistful Of Travellers Cheques" - but I don't think that really counts.

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: Cluin
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 03:51 PM

Did you see the American TV remake of the "Cracker" series?

PEE-YEW!

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: jacqui.c
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 04:23 PM

Just a thought - could they improve on Blake's Seven?

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 Mar 04 - 05:21 PM

I wonder, when they decide to do an Amereican remake of a series from elsdewhere, do the people who made the original see this as a compliment or an insult?

It seems a very strange thing to do, really.

It could mean "this is very good - but we can't expect our audience to like anything where all the characters are foreigners"; or it could mean "this is a good idea - but of course we could do it much better".

Father Ted? Now that is one remake too far. Mind you, I suspect by the time they've got through doing it it'll probably be more like Going My Way or The Bells of Saint Mary's...

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: Allan C.
Date: 01 Apr 04 - 12:16 AM

In the "anything" department, I thought Trading Spaces came pretty close to the British forerunner, Changing Rooms. Seems to me the US has done a few game shows of British origin. But how could you ever tell if either was better?

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 01 Apr 04 - 03:06 AM

McGrath, Funny you should mention this...the show just finishing this past week called "Hustle", though probably not an actual re-make, reminds me a lot of an American TV series back in the 60s... It was called "The Rogues", a 1964-65 program starring David Niven, Gladys Cooper, Robert Coote, Charles Boyer, Larry Hagman, Gig Young. If you want to read more about it..go to


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057782/

PS-I thought this program far superior to "Hustle"..xx..e

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: JenEllen
Date: 01 Apr 04 - 06:15 PM

It seems a very strange thing to do, really.

I agree. I think they (re-makers) fail to realize the alchemy of the moment, or try to grow something in a foreign enviroment that just isn't suitable. It reminds me of an article I read once about SF being the only place in the world to get true SF sourdough bread, simply because that area has the certain invisible airborne bacteria it takes to make that flavour. People in other areas might enjoy the bread, but they'd not be able to aptly replicate it.

I think they also fail in trying to expand the premise. What might work in a 30min sitcom may not work in 'made-for-tv-movie' format. Like the Douglas Adams-penned Dr.Who movie? I am a woman who would circle the calendar, make popcorn, and grab my blankie just to watch Paul McGann take out the trash, and I still was disappointed.

That said, my fave offender in the States would have to be the Sci-Fi channel. They have completely ruined scads of delighful programs, just by trying to modernize them. CGI-wish-they-wouldn't.

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 02 Apr 04 - 09:08 AM

I'm waiting for the new version of Little Women with Dolly Parton and Pamela Anderson.

RtS

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: Bagpuss
Date: 02 Apr 04 - 02:14 PM

I know they are planning on remaking The Office in the US, but that Riucky Gervais is going to involved so it may stay more true to the original. But I dont expect it to be good. In common with many British sitcoms the US decide to remake, its very appeal seems to be tied to the whole Britishness of the humour. If you try to remake it more for a US audience, you lose the very thing that made it great. Maybe the main problem is the difference in the ways was write comedies. In the US most successful comedies are "written by consensus" - ie there is a whole room full of writers, and nothing gets included unless the majority finds it funny. In contrast, the british way is usually the inspiration of one or two writers which is a bit twisted and not likely to appeal to everyone, but to those it does appeal to, it is genius. So if you apply the US way of working to a British comedy, the individuality and inspiration is lost.

Personally, my worst remake is the film "The Vanishing". How on earth could they change that ending!?!

Bagpuss

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: JenEllen
Date: 02 Apr 04 - 07:26 PM

I just heard about this travesty. I imagine it will be painful to watch but will make someone a lot of money.

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: Johnny in OKC
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 11:56 AM

There was Sanford and Son, a remake of Steptoe and Son.
It ran for years.

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: Don Firth
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 01:19 PM

"All in the Family," an American adaptation of "'Til Death Do Us Part," was not too shabby.

A few years ago they tried to do an adaptation of "One Foot in the Grave" with Bill Cosby as the Victor Meldrew character, but it bombed. It was just "The Cosby Show" all over again with Cosby being a little bit cranky.

If any U.S. outfit tries to make an American version of "As Time Goes By" or "Waiting for God," I shall personally track down the producer, grasp him or her firmly by the nose, and twist.

But an American version of "Yes, Prime Minister" (e.g., "Yes, Mr. President") offers some interesting possibilities. . . .

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Remakes
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 01:24 PM

I suspect that one thing that would be likely to stop remakes of American sitcoms would be that non-American audiences are much more at ease watching American programmes than the other way round. So while a British sitcom is unlikely to get a mass audience in America, the other way round for an American programme is quite likely, it it's any good. (We even saw Archie Bunker, though he didn'tvreally measure up to Alf Garnett.)

And that would be reflected in the cost - the makers of a British    programme might get more money from allowing America to remake it in its own image than they would from broadcasts of the original in the USA.

Maybe someday we'll see the adventures of Blackadder's cousin in the Wild West.