# Father Ted - to be ruined **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 2, 2003, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751 "2003-07-02T11:44:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/21 "2003-07-02T16:53:12Z")
[hijack] Cracker was done in the US? With what show? If it didn’t have Robbie Coltrane, though, I could probably care less. That man’s got immense presence. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/22 "2003-07-02T17:04:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Degrance \* > \*\*I think that that is an ecumenical issue. \*\* It’s fecking sacrilege is what it is. What’s next, an American version of _Dr. Who_? (TV Movie? What TV movie? That was simply a mass hallucination caused by an undercooked potato, or a bit of undigested beef…) ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/23 "2003-07-02T17:07:54Z")
“Will you have a large Coke ™ Father? You bet you will. Go on, Go on,Go on,Go on,Go on,Go on,Go on,Go on,Go on, GAW OWN!!! And I’ve bought 100 Big Macs for your afternoon snack. Then we can all sit down and watch that lovely Justin Timberland on the TV. Is not just the cutest with his curls? Have you heard that Enimen, Father? Is not just terrible with his swearing? What is the word he’s always using…” \ ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/24 "2003-07-02T17:32:55Z")
I’ve seen a few episodes, and only found them mildly amusing, I have to admit, but even I feel confident stating that the US version will suck ass. The BBC is the source for all new US shows these days, though. Has anyone else seen the pilots for the US versions of Black Adder and Red Dwarf? Absolutley horrid. ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/25 "2003-07-02T17:41:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > _Don’t get too upset—remember all those stories about an American AbFab_ a few years ago? That, thankfully, never happened—maybe this won’t, either. \*\* Wait a second. Wasn’t [Cybill](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0111932) the American AbFab? ---
**Author:** ![wayward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@wayward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayward)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/26 "2003-07-02T17:47:54Z")
Down with this sort o’ ting \ ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/27 "2003-07-02T17:53:32Z")
Careful, now. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/28 "2003-07-02T17:55:33Z")
Oh, don’t even _joke_ about such things! No, _Cybill_ was just . . . Well, Cybill. I didn’t hate it as much as most people did. Roseanne bought the rights to _AbFab_ but, thankfully, it fell through. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Tambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr\_Tambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Tambo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/29 "2003-07-02T18:14:49Z")
Sometimes, remakes are good things. _The Magnificent Seven_ is a good film. This will not be a good series. It’s an utterly stupid idea to remove _Father Ted_ from its setting when its setting is absolutely key to the humour. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/30 "2003-07-02T18:46:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jpeg Jones \* > \*\*Wait a second. Wasn’t [Cybill](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0111932) the American AbFab? \*\* Indeed, and it sucked. I once caught a few minutes of the American _Red Dwarf_ pilot. They got the original Kryten actor (though they monkeyed with the timeline so Kryten was on the ship from the beginning) and Terry Farrell played the cat. And it was among the most horrific minutes of my life. The Americans _just don’t get it_. The whole premise of _Red Dwarf_ is that everyone is a bit of an idiot, while the Americans tried to make Lister heroic, Cat intelligent, and Rimmer a latter-day Frank Burns. I’m not really a fan of _Father Ted_, but I have no doubt the American version will soften it into maudlin crap, more _Touched by an Angel_ than _Touched by the Priest During Confession_. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/31 "2003-07-02T18:52:55Z")
Now, to be fair,_dear_, let’s admit that certain American TV execs “just don’t get it.” The fact that it has not aired, and will probably flop, hardly speaks ill of the _entire country and everyone in it._ Rather like saying, “Gosh, _Coupling_ is a ghastly witless _Friends_ rip-off—British people must all be a bunch of goddam idiots!” ---
**Author:** ![Rapunzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Rapunzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rapunzel)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/32 "2003-07-02T19:32:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duke \* > \*\*Well, _Father Ted_’s priests were definately not Anglican–seeing as how the show was set in Ireland! > > I don’t see how the show could be made without Dermot Morgan, let alone in another country. I mean, he was literally the whole show–the star, the writer and I think the director and producer as well. It couldn’t possibly be the same show now that he’s gone. \*\* Sorry Duke, but the writers of Father Ted were two gloriously funny, lovely and talented Irishmen called Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews. Directors and producers were Andy de Emmoney, Declan Lowney, Geoffrey Perkins and the lovely Lissa Evans. Graham and Arthur also wrote ‘Big Train’ with Peter Baynham, some of the Fast Show and Harry Enfield, Brass Eye, Jam, and the first series of Black Books, which is WONDERFUL (with Dylan Moran). ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/33 "2003-07-02T19:35:12Z")
> [@](#): > > From Bakesh (the OP): > Do you find it slightly insulting that your TV execs assume the show can’t be a success in the states without it being remade? It seems like a lack of respect for the intellect of the audience. Oh yeah! Sadly, we’re getting used to the execs insulting our intelligence and giving us assinine garbage copied badly from good series from the UK. Our standards for “Good TV” keep slipping every year. So, since _Coupling_ is a Brit remake of _Friends_ and they’re remaking it in the US, this will be an American remake of a British remake of an American series? Now THAT is stupid! (or do I misunderstand) ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/34 "2003-07-02T19:50:18Z")
**Eve** , lay off Coupling. It isn’t witless by any stretch of the imagination, it’s actually got damn good writing for a sexcom. The charge of ripping off Friends is pretty rich too, whatever merits Friends may have (and it does have some) originality is not one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/35 "2003-07-02T19:56:09Z")
Well, I’ve seen several episodes of _Coupling_, and those must have been the ones that left out the good writing. And the good acting. ---
**Author:** ![Israfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/87869e/32.png) [@Israfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Israfel)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/36 "2003-07-02T23:39:42Z")
I absolutely love Coupling…but anyway. I wonder why execs keep thinking this is a good idea. Aside from a very few exceptions, the number of British sitcoms that became even remotely successful as American remakes is very small. Surely they would have learned something by now. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/37 "2003-07-03T00:32:15Z")
I just got into “Father Ted” last year. It was occasionally on PBS, but I think they have it on DVD, at my local video store, so more Father Ted this summer. I won’t be tuning in to the American one. Well…maybe to see the train wreck, or sheer curiosity–wait…NO. No, I won’t give into temptation. It’s people like me who let bad shows go on too long. Stupid Nielsen ratings… The original one was great because…well, actually, I’m not sure why. But sometimes British TV is like that. It’s just great because it’s so different from American fare, and once in a while, you need a break. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751/38 "2003-07-03T01:00:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Why not just show it as it is? A ‘dated’ looking show will get worse ratings on network TV. People will assume its crap because it looks old. There will always be a market for that stuff on cable, but not the networks. Which is why if they want to show ‘Father Ted’ at all, it’ll have to be remade. Though, of course, in every remake, the remake sucks well beyond belief making people think the original show sucked as well, when it didn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/father-ted-to-be-ruined/185751.md?page=1)