Over in this thread, we’re talking about a British show that was remade in the U.S. and was/is a success (“Ghosts”). Adaptation of British shows for the U.S. audience has been hit-and-miss. American adaptations of “The Office” and “Shameless” were huge success. “Coupling” and “Fawlty Towers,” not so much.
What are some others?
I submit: Steptoe & Son/Sanford & Son.
Three’s Company was very successful if not very good.
Britcom was “Man About the House”.
All in the Family was a huge success and great. Based on Till Death Us Do Part
House of Cards
Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Other than The Office, All In The Family has to be the top US remake. Both became, I think, equal to more famous than their originals.
As popular as “The Office” was, “All in the Family” changed TV forever and led the ratings for longer than any other TV show. Nothing really compares to its impact.
“All in the Family” was the #1 TV show for 5 straight years!
House of Cards was pretty popular in the US as well, though it tanked…kind of justifying keeping it down to just a few episodes.
Three’s Company had a sequel/spin off called Three’s a Crowd which was based off of Robin’s Nest the sequel to Man About the House. Three’s a Crowd only lasted one season.
Another successful adaptation, though not nearly as popular as some others mentioned, was the North American version of Being Human. The original UK show ran five series totalling 37 episodes while the adaptation ran four seasons of thirteen episodes each.
While Jesse Armstrong is rightly lauded for Succession, he will achieve actual sainthood for Peep Show. There have been several attempts to create a US version, all doomed to failure.
I can also mention how This Country was adapted into Welcome to Flatch. Okaaaayish, and many of the episodes are scene-for-scene remakes, but it quickly shifted from the original into quirky character niceness. Flatch feels like it wants to be Parks & Recreation, which is entirely the wrong vibe.
And let us never mention the remakes of Kath and Kim or the Moodys - all the problems of translation of British humour are compounded when dealing with Australians.
Getting On had a decent American adaptation of the same name.
Also, George & Mildred/ The Ropers
Panel game Whose Line Is It Anyway, originated in UK, remade in USA. Both good.
Classic British comedy, The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin. A business middle manager dreams of a better life. He fakes his death, then heads off looking for something new. An ongoing story which develops episode to episode. Remade as American comedy, Reggie. A business middle manager dreams of a better life, but doesn’t do anything about it. Episodic sitcom in which nothing changes episode to episode. Totally pointless and point-missing.
The funny thing is, wasn’t the British Coupling basically a knock off of Friends? So the American remake was an American version of a British version of a popular American show.
I’ll nominate Call Me Kat, an American remake of Miranda for “the bad”. I’ve never seen Miranda, but it seems to have been positively reviewed in the UK. Yet I found the couple of episodes of Call Me Kat I tried to watch to be pretty unwatchable. Which is too bad, because I really like Mayim Bialik.
Coupling had a different vibe than Friends, it really wasn’t a knock off and generally a smarter show.
It had many enthusiastic fans, but some people don’t find awkward klutzy misfits funny (not to mention catchphrase humour). I’m not sure it would do so well now.
I’d take it as another example of our liking for sitcoms based on more or less perpetual frustration, which I suspect doesn’t always fit with American ambition (though, granted, Miranda did get her happy ending - with galloping as well!).
Coupling even went to the trouble of denying it had anything to do with Friends: “This is not an American sitcom!”
I didn’t realise the HBO miniseries The Night Of was based on a British show (Criminal Justice). I thought it was really good and Riz Ahmed won an Emmy for his role.
There have been at least three unsuccessful attempts to make US versions of Fawlty Towers:
I remember seeing the pilot for Payne - it just didn’t have remotely the same vibe that made the original work.
The American version of Red Dwarf never made it past the pilot episode.
Gracepoint is the US version of Broadchurch.
I enjoyed both series. The change in location worked well.
