A few that spring to mind are Red Dwarf, The Office, Steptoe and son ( which was renamed Sanford and son) and recently Life on Mars which will be filmed in LA.
2007-11-24 05:22:37 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Entertainment & Music ➔ Television ➔ Other - Television
Money :)
Seriously, most tv shows are based on a pattern and then tweaked slightly. If a British show is successful, then it makes good business sense to remake it with American actors and repackage it in a way the execs think will appeal to the most number of viewers. They don't have to pay people to come up with a new concept, they just use what already has a proven track record. This is done with US shows that have proven successful as well .. think of all the "fat lazy Dad/smart Mom/random set of kids and/or parents in law" shows that cropped up a few years ago - yuck!
Personally, I prefer the original British versions, but even on BBC America they re-edit the shows so that they don't always air in the same way they did in England. The spot that ran inferring that British people "talk funny" therefore shows would be close captioned was rather insulting to people on both sides of the pond.
2007-11-24 05:37:28 · answer #1 · answered by mystikalyx 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Their sense of humour is quite different.
The USA funny shows are not contrived around a specific situation (sitcom) but rather the less complex: " any situation in which a "one liner" comment can be made" and hopefully receive a laugh. Likely they count the number of laughs, to decide if the programme should stay on the air or go to the wall.
No great thought or concentration is required to understand what is happening or intended: it is the one liner that counts. Television viewing is not taken so seriously, but rather more as "wallpaper and background noise". Don't look for anything deeper; plots and other such complications are not required; that would not be entertaining!
2007-11-24 13:47:12 · answer #2 · answered by Rolf 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
they ( tv business) fiqure that if a show was a sucessful in the uk then it will be sucessfull here---and of a course means they don't have to think of an Original idea-
- much like why they do remakes/squeals of movies they think there is a 'built in " audience
I can't really see Life on Mars working as the UK version was such a " The Sweeny" 70's world.
2007-11-24 13:33:21 · answer #3 · answered by LadyMerton 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Accents is one reason, they use exactly similar scripts so national sort of humours dont add into it, really it would seem things like that, in the same way northern lights has become the golden compass i guess somewhere high up that American intelligence isnt quite as valuable as i percieve it to be.
2007-11-24 13:33:02 · answer #4 · answered by Calum of Calderdale 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the Americans can't get the nuances in the language, the subteltys in the scenes and have to explode everything so it appeals to everyone. Good job they haven't had to deal with the subtle and bawdy humour of Shakespeare!
2007-11-24 14:13:54 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because they dont understand our Comedy ,We dont theirs either ,I have never laughed out loud at any of the Imports from America Films or Television
2007-11-24 13:56:37 · answer #6 · answered by Marion, 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One factor may be that UK series' only run for 6 or so shows, whereas a US season is over 20.
2007-11-24 13:56:04 · answer #7 · answered by pluginmaybe 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I imagine for the same reason that I would prefer American programmes to be remade. We are culturally very different.
2007-11-24 13:35:50 · answer #8 · answered by resignedtolife 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because a lot of USA folk don't understand British humour.
Also, they want their own actors in them, not foreign ones.
2007-11-24 13:26:50 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Because they think they have better looking people over there to play the parts and they cant understand our accents
2007-11-24 13:34:16 · answer #10 · answered by rosettayelow 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋