# Why do American Networks "re-work" successful TV formulae? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940 "2010-08-11T15:54:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/41 "2010-08-13T00:19:38Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > On the other hand you’d have a hard time putting a show on American TV like _AbFab_, but _Cybill_ was pretty much a very tame reworking of that show. Both Edwina and Patsy were far too hateable and hateful in Patsy’s case to appeal to a wide enough American audience. Cybil and MaryAnn were enormously normalized. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/42 "2010-08-13T00:26:06Z")
I watched AbFab in the states. I believe it was on Comedy Central. Imho, the remake was Sex in the City. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/43 "2010-08-13T08:16:33Z")
Every other show on BBC America is Gordon Ramsay swears at people. 7PM Chef Ramsay swears at people cooking in their restaurant. 8 PM Top Gear 9 PM Chef Ramsay swears at some people cooking in his restaurant. 10 BBC News America 11PM Chef Ramsay swears at some small animals and the cooks and eats them. ---
**Author:** ![Elvis\_Chimney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/50afbb/32.png) [@Elvis\_Chimney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elvis_Chimney)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/44 "2010-08-13T09:41:20Z")
> [@Carl\_Corey](#): > > **Elvis** , the character was Al Bundy. > > Although a sitcom with Ted Bundy could be interesting. Ah yes - good point, well made. Although, fantastic as that idea is, I’m pretty sure that a sitcom where Russ Abbott played Ted Bundy would still manage to be rubbish. ---
**Author:** ![Aversin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Aversin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aversin)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/45 "2010-08-13T11:07:48Z")
Which version or Ramsey’s show is aired on BBC America? I have seen episodes on BBC America which are described pretty well by Sri Theo’s post. I was under the impression BBC America is owned by BBC Worldwide. If that is the case, wouldn’t that mean there is no American involvement in how the show is produced? ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/46 "2010-08-13T11:29:44Z")
I don’t have anything useful to add, I just wanted to say that I think I’m sorry NBC’s plan to do an American remake of the Eurovision Song Contest seems to have fallen through. That would have been delightfully awful 😃 (Seriously. It took _fifty years!_ for the ESC to get this weird. You think you’re going to copy it in one season?!?) ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/47 "2010-08-13T12:46:57Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I watched AbFab in the states. I believe it was on Comedy Central. > > Imho, the remake was Sex in the City. Actually, it was “High Society”. [High Society (TV Series 1995–1996) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112002/) Only know because of Mary McDonnell was in it. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Sablicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Sablicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sablicious)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/48 "2010-08-13T13:19:56Z")
> [@kim\_jung\_il](#): > > Why do American Networks “re-work” successful TV formulae? I think it stems from the inherent isolationist and insular nature of ‘United States’ Americans. Just like the truism that Yanks can’t see past their own back fences, they don’t ‘get’ (or care?) about anything “foreign”, even if it’s clearly better. The Office is an excellent example of an ingeniously funny concept utterly ruined by ‘Americanization’. Sure, it was a hit in the Sates from all accounts. But from a more refined viewer’s standpoint, the US version was utter tripe compare to the Ricky Gervais original. It lost all that je ne sais quoi that made the UK original so believable and thus the awkward humour funny. It came across completely ‘acted’ after the transition to US TV and like they were _trying_ to be funny, rather then actually being so en passant. Another is how reluctant Hollywood are to have Asian leads in their movies. Every time Chow Yun Fat effaces himself [for money] and agrees to a Western flick, he’s relegated to sharing the lead role (if not playing second fiddle) to an oftentimes less vastly inferior and less respected actor. Al Pacino would never play support for Sean William Scott! Asinine. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/49 "2010-08-13T13:35:33Z")
[quote=“Sablicious, post:48, topic:549940”] > [@kim\_jung\_il](#): > > Just like the truism that Yanks can’t see past their own back fences, they don’t ‘get’ (or care?) about anything “foreign”, even if it’s clearly better. No kidding. We stupid boorish Americans just can’t recognize when something is “objectively” better. :rolleyes: I happen to enjoy some British programming even though it looks like it was produced by the A/V department of a community college but I don’t think it’s any better than American television. Odesio ---
**Author:** ![Sablicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Sablicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sablicious)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/50 "2010-08-13T13:42:50Z")
[quote=“Odesio, post:49, topic:549940”] > [@Sablicious](#): > > No kidding. We stupid boorish Americans just can’t recognize when something is “objectively” better. :rolleyes: I happen to enjoy some British programming even though it looks like it was produced by the A/V department of a community college but I don’t think it’s any better than American television. > > Odesio It wasn’t a blanket statement of 300 million people… if that wasn’t obvious. So you can put your offense back in. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/51 "2010-08-13T14:31:08Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > It isn’t that there aren’t any well-written foreign TV shows, it is that most Americans aren’t used to seeing them and the production values always seem a little off to American viewers. American TV is shot in a certain style with very high production values and foreign shows look a little odd when flipping through channels. The production values thing is probably true in general for non-US shows, but IMHO Top Gear as mentioned in the OP boasts better cinematography than most Hollywood blockbusters. Here’s a [link with lots of stills from the show](http://forums.finalgear.com/top-gear/top-gear-cinematography-and-camerawork-discussion-37680/) to demonstrate. (I’m not disagreeing with you, just sharing a nice link you might appreciate if you’ve never seen TG) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/52 "2010-08-13T14:46:45Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Every other show on BBC America is Gordon Ramsay swears at people. Actually, I find that Gordon Ramsay is _very_ different on the shows airing on BBC America (The F Word, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon’s Great Escape) as compared to the ones airing on the US Fox network. On the UK shows, he’s much calmer and the shows are far more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/53 "2010-08-13T14:51:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > On the UK shows, he’s much calmer… :eek::eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/54 "2010-08-13T14:53:59Z")
Have you _seen_ him on any of these UK shows? If your only exposure to him is on Fox, I think you’d be surprised. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/55 "2010-08-13T14:59:44Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Have you _seen_ him on any of these UK shows? If your only exposure to him is on Fox, I think you’d be surprised. My only exposure to him is from BBC America’s _Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares_. If that’s a “much calmer” Gordon, then my heart goes out to anyone within a three mile radius of him on Fox. ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/56 "2010-08-13T15:02:03Z")
> [@jinty](#): > > The production values thing is probably true in general for non-US shows, but IMHO Top Gear as mentioned in the OP boasts better cinematography than most Hollywood blockbusters. Here’s a [link with lots of stills from the show](http://forums.finalgear.com/top-gear/top-gear-cinematography-and-camerawork-discussion-37680/) to demonstrate. (I’m not disagreeing with you, just sharing a nice link you might appreciate if you’ve never seen TG) This is definitely true. I love watching Top Gear (I’m American, I dl it from the internet), and the production values are higher than any show I can think of. The American version will have a very hard time recreating the magic of the British version, but on top of that, I can’t imagine that they will get the budget to 1/10th of what Jeremy and crew get to do. That show must have endless coffers of money to spend. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/57 "2010-08-13T15:09:03Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Have you _seen_ him on any of these UK shows? If your only exposure to him is on Fox, I think you’d be surprised. > > My only exposure to him is from BBC America’s _Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares_. If that’s a “much calmer” Gordon, then my heart goes out to anyone within a three mile radius of him on Fox. If these are the episodes in which he’s working in US restaurants, then they are the shows originally produced for the US Fox network. Look for the episodes in which he’s working in UK restaurants (although one was in a restaurant in Spain and another in Paris). These episodes were produced for the UK network Channel 4. (Note too that the US version had an American narrator while he narrates the UK show himself, in a very different manner.) ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/58 "2010-08-13T15:15:13Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Have you _seen_ him on any of these UK shows? If your only exposure to him is on Fox, I think you’d be surprised. > > My only exposure to him is from BBC America’s _Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares_. If that’s a “much calmer” Gordon, then my heart goes out to anyone within a three mile radius of him on Fox. I’d recommend watching a season of The F word to get a much better sense of who Gordon Ramsay really is. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/59 "2010-08-13T15:16:38Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > [@KneadToKnow](#): > > > > My only exposure to him is from BBC America’s _Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares_. If that’s a “much calmer” Gordon, then my heart goes out to anyone within a three mile radius of him on Fox. > > If these are the episodes in which he’s working in US restaurants, then they are the shows originally produced for the US Fox network. Look for the episodes in which he’s working in UK restaurants (although one was in a restaurant in Spain and another in Paris). These episodes were produced for the UK network Channel 4. (Note too that the US version had an American narrator while he narrates the UK show himself, in a very different manner.) I was unaware that he had ever done any shows in American restaurants. My entire concept of Gordon Ramsay is “good cook, savvy businessman, short fuse, handy with an f-bomb.” Its the third one that makes me want to never, ever be anywhere near him. And if its even worse on the Fox version of his show, then I’m glad I haven’t had the pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940/60 "2010-08-13T15:53:38Z")
> [@Sablicious](#): > > The Office is an excellent example of an ingeniously funny concept utterly ruined by ‘Americanization’. Sure, it was a hit in the Sates from all accounts. But from a more refined viewer’s standpoint, the US version was utter tripe compare to the Ricky Gervais original. It lost all that je ne sais quoi that made the UK original so believable and thus the awkward humour funny. It came across completely ‘acted’ after the transition to US TV and like they were _trying_ to be funny, rather then actually being so en passant. I watched the American Office regularly and tried to watch the British version. What you call “je ne sais quoi” in the original, I’d call British provincialism. I couldn’t get it. The motivations of the characters were inscrutable, the situations unrelatable, and the speech patterns difficult. I’m sure it all works into something funny to those familiar with British culture, but I’m guessing the humor is all in the subtleties, because I missed it completely. Because comedy relies so much on cultural expectations, I am not at all surprised that comedies are regularly remade for different audiences. British and American cultures are not simply the same as other except for odd accents; there’s no reason to expect what’s funny for one will be for the other. BTW, your use of “a more refined viewer” is insulting, even if it wasn’t your intent to be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-american-networks-re-work-successful-tv-formulae/549940.md?page=4)