# Any other bbc shows that were reversioned for america? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 22, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035 "2010-12-22T02:39:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/41 "2010-12-22T20:05:42Z")
I’ve seen previews for a US version of “Top Gear.” It just doesn’t quite have the same feel to it. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/42 "2010-12-22T22:14:10Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > It’s not really about the accents, it’s about the format. British shows don’t fit into US time slots; the episodes are often a different length, and the number of episodes usually doesn’t fit in with the US season/ratings setup. And there are usually a limited number of series, too, and the US studios want a successful show (and they want all their shows to be successful) to continue on indefinitely until the ratings fall. > > Though if people exist who won’t watch something just because the characters have British accents (man, I didn’t know such xenophobia still existed) - screw 'em. It’s not xenophobia. I just can’t understand what they’re saying half the time, especially in sitcoms. Case in point: “Absolutely Fabulous” was supposed to be hilarious, but I tell you I only understood maybe 10% of what those two leading ladies said. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/43 "2010-12-22T23:42:47Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > It’s not xenophobia. I just can’t understand what they’re saying half the time, especially in sitcoms. Case in point: “Absolutely Fabulous” was supposed to be hilarious, but I tell you I only understood maybe 10% of what those two leading ladies said. Watch a couple more. It’s really easy. It’s only English. I have that same issue with some American shows. I stick with it, and (depending on the show) am sometimes glad I did, because the reward is well worth the effort. Crap, the first few episodes of \*The Wire \*were just mumbo-jumbo mumblings to me; couldn’t understand a single word - they may as well have been speaking Dutch. Glad I watched it though, because we humans adapt and soon I could understand it. It’s the not even being willing to try which is the xenophobia. “Them furriners speak different to us!” What a sad, boring world it would be if we were all the same. Delight in the differences; enjoy and embrace them. They’re a feature of humanity, not a big. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/44 "2010-12-23T00:01:08Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Watch a couple more. It’s really easy. It’s only English. > > I have that same issue with some American shows. I stick with it, and (depending on the show) am sometimes glad I did, because the reward is well worth the effort. Crap, the first few episodes of \*The Wire \*were just mumbo-jumbo mumblings to me; couldn’t understand a single word - they may as well have been speaking Dutch. Glad I watched it though, because we humans adapt and soon I could understand it. > > It’s the not even being willing to try which is the xenophobia. “Them furriners speak different to us!” What a sad, boring world it would be if we were all the same. Delight in the differences; enjoy and embrace them. They’re a feature of humanity, not a big. And failing that, this is why God created DVD subtitles. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/45 "2010-12-23T00:08:07Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > And failing that, this is why God created DVD subtitles. Oh certainly. Whenever I watch a movie or TV show from Britain on DVD, I almost always turn the subtitiles on. I wasn’t watching AbFab from DVD. I think it was on PBS. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/46 "2010-12-23T00:09:42Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Watch a couple more. It’s really easy. It’s only English. > > I have that same issue with some American shows. I stick with it, and (depending on the show) am sometimes glad I did, because the reward is well worth the effort. Crap, the first few episodes of \*The Wire \*were just mumbo-jumbo mumblings to me; couldn’t understand a single word - they may as well have been speaking Dutch. Glad I watched it though, because we humans adapt and soon I could understand it. > > It’s the not even being willing to try which is the xenophobia. “Them furriners speak different to us!” What a sad, boring world it would be if we were all the same. Delight in the differences; enjoy and embrace them. They’re a feature of humanity, not a big. Come to think of it, it’s not just British English. I’m American, and I can’t understand most of what they’re saying on Deadwood either. And I’ve watched the entire first season of that show. I stopped watching the second season after I realized that I still had no idea what was going on. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/47 "2010-12-23T00:23:28Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Hmmm, perhaps the ad meant it was the first American drama to be remade in Britain, as it looks like everything else on that list are game shows, reality shows or sitcoms. With those restrictions, perhaps worth pointing out that - going by [the Wiki list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_television_series_based_on_British_television_series) linked to by **Tengu** - it’s also only recently that US networks have remade BBC drama series either. I’m not really seeing anything before _Cracker_, _Shameless_, _Teachers_ and _Life on Mars_. As far as drama series are concerned, a recent trend on both sides of the Atlantic? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/48 "2010-12-23T07:42:42Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Also, I saw a commercial the other day for MTV’s new show **Skins**. Is that a remake of the British show? The British one was great and I have a feeling the American version will a very poor watered down imitation. Yep. Although going by the commercial, and how tame MTV has gotten over the years, it might actually not hold back too much. The language will be cut, obviously, but it seems that the sex and drugs will more or less be intact. The teaser I saw for the first episode makes it look more or less like an exact redo of the UK first episode. ---
**Author:** ![Baboonanza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f475e1/32.png) [@Baboonanza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baboonanza)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/49 "2010-12-23T11:18:14Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Come to think of it, it’s not just British English. I’m American, and I can’t understand most of what they’re saying on Deadwood either. And I’ve watched the entire first season of that show. I stopped watching the second season after I realized that I still had no idea what was going on. I’m British and generally have little problem, even with Deadwood which is particularly opaque. Actually, in some ways Deadwood is similar to British costume dramas in terms language (minus all the ‘fucks’ and ‘cunts’ of course) so maybe that helps. My GF on the other hand has major problems. I watched 4 seasons of The Wire with her only to discover at the end that she had no idea what had happened at all :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/50 "2010-12-23T11:27:39Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Oh certainly. Whenever I watch a movie or TV show from Britain on DVD, I almost always turn the subtitiles on. I wasn’t watching AbFab from DVD. I think it was on PBS. Doesn’t American TV have “normal” subtitles/close captioning? ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/51 "2010-12-23T11:54:27Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Come to think of it, it’s not just British English. I’m American, and I can’t understand most of what they’re saying on Deadwood either. They’re saying “cocksucker”. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/52 "2010-12-23T16:24:52Z")
**alphaboi867** - yup totally agree about your spoilertag. Can you see the US _Misfits_ having shot-for-shot remakes of the sex scenes with glamourous, ripped all-american types? Especially the Hallowe’en and Christmas episodes from the second series! Or, indeed, _any_ of the scenes with Nathan and Mary from the Christmas show. I don’t think there is a big appetite for afterbirth stomping and on screen incontinence. Who on earth would advertise their products in the ad breaks? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035/53 "2010-12-23T18:01:28Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > They’re saying “cocksucker”. That’s only every third word. It’s the other words that I miss. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-other-bbc-shows-that-were-reversioned-for-america/565035.md?page=2)