Peep Show gets another US remake
Peep Show is getting its fifth attempt at a US remake.
The latest pilot, written and executive produced by Emmy-nominated Atlanta scribe Stefani Robinson, is the second try by channel FX to adapt the cult Channel 4 series, and the second adaptation from the channel to gender-swap the two main characters.
According to FX, the 30-minute pilot "follows the relationship between a long-suffering assistant and her boss, an emotionally unstable tech entrepreneur".
The original's co-creators, Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, will act as executive producers, alongside Dianne McGunigle (Atlanta), Hannah Mackay and Ben Farrell for Objective Fiction, who made the British series. As well as Peep Show, Armstrong and Bain also wrote the Channel 4 sitcom Fresh Meat and the 2010 film satire Four Lions with director Chris Morris, with Armstrong going on to become the Emmy-winning creator of Succession.
Yesterday, British Comedy Guide revealed that their production company, Various Artists Limited, is currently making three comedies for the BBC, with Michelle de Swarte's High End Homeless joining Henpocalypse! and Juice.
The Peep Show format of depicting events through its main characters' eyes continues to appeal Stateside. In 2005, Fox cast The Big Bang theory star Johnny Galecki as the lead in a pilot that wasn't picked up, before Spike TV developed another in 2008, set to be written by Armstrong and Bain, that was never realised. There was another attempt by Starz in 2016 and most recently, in 2019 FX tried again with Community writer Karey Dornetto.
Channel 4's longest-running comedy, beginning in 2003 and ending in 2015, Peep Show starred David Mitchell and Robert Webb, with prominent cast members including Olivia Colman and Matt King. Last year, Mitchell & Webb told the LADBible website that they would consider a new series when they are in their sixties, just over a decade from now.
Last week Webb joked that next year's two decade anniversary of the sitcom starting should be commemorated with "a massive Peep Show float being paraded through Croydon".
He told the Metro: "At the time it was one of various plates David Mitchell and I had spinning - we were always writing pilots and sketches for other people.
"We were trying to break through and it didn't feel like Peep Show was going to be the thing that happened. And then it did and it was wonderful to finally be 'proper'. It was much easier to explain to my dad and grandparents what I was doing with my time."
Robinson's writing credits also include What We Do In The Shadows, Fargo and the upcoming music biopic Chevalier.