Quote: zooo @ November 16 2009, 3:16 PM GMTYay!
Just don't watch the American version.
I didn't even know they had one! God damnit, every other country in the world just shows foreign programmes they think are good. What the hell is it with the US feeling they have to remake everything!
Quote: Moonstone @ November 16 2009, 3:31 PM GMTI didn't even know they had one! God damnit, every other country in the world just shows foreign programmes they think are good. What the hell is it with the US feeling they have to remake everything!
I think American audiences notoriously don't like to watch stuff set outside the States. The rest of the world are used to it.
Jeebus, talk about closed minded!
I can remember when I thought the World Cup was just one match, like the F.A. Cup Final.
Quote: Dolly Dagger @ November 16 2009, 3:33 PM GMTI think American audiences notoriously don't like to watch stuff set outside the States.
I don't think that's the case. We're used to seasons of 26 episodes, so the typical 6-episode UK series would barely get off the ground before it was forgotten.
Comedies from the UK also struggle because there is so much "local" humour that Americans wouldn't understand. Take last night's Top Gear, for example: there were jokes about Vernon Kay and he's an unknown over here. Same thing with football players, rhyming slang, UK politicians, etc. We have a powerful television industry worth billions of dollars, so the networks would rather remake shows that are proven winners. Sometimes it fails (Life on Mars) and sometimes the remake turns out better than the original (The Office.)
Quote: DaButt @ November 16 2009, 5:33 PM GMTI don't think that's the case. We're used to seasons of 26 episodes, so the typical 6-episode UK series would barely get off the ground before it was forgotten.
Comedies from the UK also struggle because there is so much "local" humour that Americans wouldn't understand. Take last night's Top Gear, for example: there were jokes about Vernon Kay and he's an unknown over here. Same thing with football players, rhyming slang, UK politicians, etc. We have a powerful television industry worth billions of dollars, so the networks would rather remake shows that are proven winners. Sometimes it fails (Life on Mars) and sometimes the remake turns out better than the original (The Office.)
We have the same problem with shows from the US, Australia etc. South Park for example often mentions names I don't know or uses cultural references I don't understand. And it wouldn't exactly be difficult to make a Brit version of that show but what's the point? The original is good so I'm happy to watch that.
From what you say it really does just sound like simple closed-mindedness. Americans are unaware of aspects of other cultures so instead of learning about them they choose to ignore them completely and draw on/replace them with things they already know.
Quote: DaButt @ November 16 2009, 5:33 PM GMTSometimes it fails (Life on Mars) and sometimes the remake turns out better than the original (The Office.)
Very dangerous words. They're almost two completely different shows, IMO. And the original has the significant edge, certainly from my British perspective. 
(And to be fair to our US cousins, when the original show was broadcast on BBC America, a lot of viewers loved the show so much that they wanted to understand the references. If I recall correctly, a forum on the BBC America website was set-up to explain alien concepts such as "Yates Wine Lodge", "Monkey!" and "Sessions", to name but three.)
Quote: Moonstone @ November 16 2009, 5:51 PM GMTAmericans are unaware of aspects of other cultures so instead of learning about them they choose to ignore them completely and draw on/replace them with things they already know.
Speaking of closed-minded and stereotypical thinking ... 
Quote: DaButt @ November 16 2009, 6:05 PM GMTSpeaking of closed-minded and stereotypical thinking ...
I based that on what you told me, Randy. That's how it seems to me. But anyhow, perhaps you should read 'American networks' rather than 'Americans', which is really what I meant.
I have to agree with that, I've seen one or two early episodes of the US version which looked to be doffing its hat very much to the original, but the latest couple I saw are nothing really like The Office, they are from a horribly extended, rather unsubtle, very Americanised version of it. Infact it seems to have created brand new characters and elements you couldn't imagine the short original series having. As for it being better, it's either a question of taste or bias, because I definitely prefer our one.
Quote: Moonstone @ November 16 2009, 6:08 PM GMTI based that on what you told me, Randy.
I tried to explain that a 6-show series would have a very difficult time gathering viewers in this country. HBO has experimented with it (Extras, Little Britain) but let's face it - the bottom line is all about the bottom line.
Plenty of UK shows air on BBC America and they certainly have their fans, but an American network would rather pay for the rights to an established hit, remake it with popular American actors and crank out 26 money-making hit episodes year after year until the viewers get sick of it. It's all about money and has very little to do with a blinkered, ignorant view of the rest of the world.
Two of my favourite American re-makes were Sanford and Son (Steptoe and Son) and All In The Family (Alf Garnett).
Though they had to re-cast Steptoe as a black sitcom because American audiences wouldn't believe that white folk would ever be that poor and live that kind of lifestyle.
In fact, when I look back at Steptoe and Rising Damp, I find it hard to believe that Britain was that impoverished and depressing in the 70s, it's like looking at a documentary about the former Soviet Union (but with more laughs and fewer firing squads).
Well it's a shame that it's like that. I'm pleased it's not like that here. How's Merlin doing on (NBC is it?), by the way?
Quote: Moonstone @ November 16 2009, 6:36 PM GMTHow's Merlin doing on (NBC is it?), by the way?
I never watched it. Wikipedia's figures seem to indicate declining viewership.
My father in law, who will watch anything, gave up on it almost immediately.