# Why not more remakes of BBC series?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-more-remakes-of-bbc-series/388524>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 19, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-more-remakes-of-bbc-series/388524 "2007-01-19T00:01:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-more-remakes-of-bbc-series/388524/21 "2007-01-23T08:58:53Z")

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According to Pliny writes:

\> You’re forgetting the show that Letterman credits for his long-running Will It  
\> Float segment, the British hit “Is It Buoyant”

I think that’s just a joke by Letterman. I think that there’s no such program or sketch in a program or anything else on British TV by that name. There’s no program with that title listed in the IMDb. When I do a search on “Is It Buoyant?” on all webpages with no mention of Letterman, I get nothing (except for cases where these words occur in the middle of random sentences). I certainly wouldn’t put it past Letterman to make up a source for the “Will It Float?” sketches.

Dr. Rieux writes:

\> On the other hand, All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Dear John, and Three’s  
\> Company were all successful American translations of Britcoms.

In an earlier post, I said that the only American remakes which lasted a reasonable time were (_All in the Family_, _Three’s Company_, _Sanford and Son_, _Too Close for Comfort_, _Cosby_ (the 1990’s show, not the 1980’s one), _Queer as Folk_, and _The Office_. As you point out, there’s one more, the show _Dear John_. I think these seven shows are the only ones that lasted more than a single season. Successful? _Too Close for Comfort_, _Cosby_, and _Dear John_ struck me as no better than average sitcoms. _Sanford and Son_ and _Three’s Company_ may have been fairly popular and lasted a while, but I don’t think they were that all-fired great. I suppose you could make an argument for the American versions of _Queer as Folk_ and _The Office_ being important. I would say that only _All in the Family_ was a major sitcom among all the American remakes of British shows.

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**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2007, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-more-remakes-of-bbc-series/388524/22 "2007-01-23T09:57:15Z")

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[QUOTE=SmackFu]  
They try every few years and they fail, so that scares them off for a while. Like they did “Coupling”, and it got nowhere.

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I can’t understand why they would want to do a remake of Coupling. I haven’t seent he US version but I’ve heard that it was awful.

The British version though is quite brilliant.

> [@Lute Skywatcher](#):
>
> And was a mix of “Friends” and “Seinfeld”, so bringing it over here didn’t really make sense in the first place.

While the setup for Coupling looks similar to Friends (3 guys, 3 girls, centered around a café/bar). Coupling has more of an hard edge whereas Friends is very polished and family friendly.

One of the reasons I think that Coupling (UK) works so well is the actors. It can’t be easy to replace characters like Steve and Jeff.

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