remakes vs porting over

[agent oni]

On another forum, I heard that SyFy was producing the British drama, Being Human.  I thought the premise was really stupid.  I didn't know it was originally a British show.  It also appears to be currently showing on BBC America.

I'm curious as to why the owners of the show would allow a competitor to reimage their show while they are concurrently running it in the same region.

Why would SyFy even attempt to produce a show that is still in production?  Especially since just about every British to American remake failed.  The last attempt I remember was the show Coupling and I think it only lasted a couple of episodes.

[VisualStatic]

Hollywood is out of ideas...

that being said, The Office is also another one based off a BBC show of the same name.   As for Being Human, its got better good reviews as its as good as the BBC, maybe better.   I haven't seen it, wasn't interested, just what I have read.

[ThunderMonkey]

I'm a big fan of the original series and I've watched this one as well.

I don't think the principles are as good as the originals, but they're adequate.

Putting it on Syfy gives the show a chance to go further than the original series. The first season had only eight episodes and Season 2 had 13. They're going to probably cover that many in the first season.

The showrunners are hoping with the American series, they can dive more into the mythology of vampires, werewolves, etc.

[Crafty_Pat]

Hollywood is out of ideas...

There are plenty of ideas in Hollywood. Unfortunately, the entire business is driven by money and fear, or more accurately the fear that a production won't make gobs of money. Executives base creative decisions on the bottom line, knowing that no one really gets fired in Hollywood - unless something they work on "flops." Consider that even movies that make a marginal profit are often considered failures, and you have a recipe for mediocrity.

[Krensky]

Well, this is largely opinion, but here goes.

First, the owners (I'm assuming it's BBC) get money from NBC for the adaptation. Now, I'm fairly confident SyFy is a basic channel on every provider in the US, but BBC America is most certainly not. Heck, to my understanding BBC America isn't even available on a lot of systems.

So, this way BBC makes money on the US audience two ways. Once from the ad revenues for their showing the British version (and the streaming deals and whatever), and once from NBC licensing it.

As for NBC licensing it, well I know a handful of people who refuse to watch anything on BBC, and I doubt they're alone. Add in a decent number of households without access to BBC america and it's an unserved potential audience.

Lastly, I know several people who were interested in the British version, but just didn't feel it. They're all really digging the US version. Likely for the same reasons that East Enders or other British soap operas don't do as well as might be expected in the US. They're just too British for a lot of Americans to fully latch onto.

[VisualStatic]

Must have been a 2 way deal.  Now that BBC has their own version of Law & Order.   Granted, the couple of episodes I saw of it on BBC America, I enjoyed more then any of the versions here in the US.

[Wolverine]

They're just too British for a lot of Americans to fully latch onto.

And this is, I think, why people are so up in arms about that other recent American remake - Skins on MTV.

It's perfectly understandable for shows to be remade for a different cultural market, and we shouldn't expect the show to stay the same when it does happen. Case in point, the American TV show Scoundrels is a remake of NZ show Outrageous Fortune. There were two main reasons the show was redone for the American audience. Firstly, very few people outside of New Zealand understand what a 'westie' is and what sterotypes go along with them. Second, American network TV could not handle the amount of sex, violence, and swearing contained within an average episode of the original show (there were plotlines that involved the daughters making adult films and running brothels, for starters).

This is what I like about Doctor Who. Even though it is unashamedly British, it is still able to cross the cultural divide with minimal hassle. Craig Ferguson was right when he said that intellect and romance triumphing over brute force and cynicism is a universal concept.

[Crafty_Pat]

This is what I like about Doctor Who. Even though it is unashamedly British, it is still able to cross the cultural divide with minimal hassle. Craig Ferguson was right when he said that intellect and romance triumphing over brute force and cynicism is a universal concept.

Indeed. It also helps that both showrunners have been very careful to keep the show from sliding too far into cultural memes, relying instead on sci-fi parable and the intrinsic humanity of every story to establish and expand the world.

As to Being Human, I'm actually reveling in both shows being in production at the same time. I love the original, and was highly skeptical of the remake, but the U.S. version has managed to honor the basic concept without being shackled by it. I'm eager to see how the shows develop independently and in parallel.

[Nepenthe]

Why can the rest of the world watch American series without issues?

[Wolverine]

Why can the rest of the world watch American series without issues?

Because we're usually bought up with it on our TV screens. I remember being somewhat disappointed that high school in NZ was nothing like how it was on American TV shows.

[Krensky]

Why can the rest of the world watch American series without issues?

Because the vast majority of US TV is written to appeal to a wide range of cultural demographics and a relatively low standard since it has to appeal to as many people as possible just within the borders of the US.

[Nepenthe]

Good point. I probably should have elaborated that I've never had any "issues" with material from other countries, mostly UK and France. Of course, since we're all "European", clearly this is how it should be. Except not really.

I'm sure I had a point when I started, not a good day.

[EloiseCartwright]

Pretty much all the TV shows I watch at the moment sound like they should be absolutely dire on paper.
True Blood: A telepathic girl falls for a Vampire in the deep south of America. Sounds like every awful romantic vampire film ever, but pulls it off.
Misfits: A bunch of delinquents develop superpowers. Need I say more.
Being Human: A Vampire, a Werewolf and a ghost move into together.

About the only other thing I've made the effort to watch recently was Doctor Who

[Agent 333]

Why can the rest of the world watch American series without issues?

Because we're usually bought up with it on our TV screens. I remember being somewhat disappointed that high school in NZ was nothing like how it was on American TV shows.

To be fair, high school in America is nothing like high school on American TV.

[Catodon]

Why can the rest of the world watch American series without issues?

Because we're usually bought up with it on our TV screens. I remember being somewhat disappointed that high school in NZ was nothing like how it was on American TV shows.

To be fair, high school in America is nothing like high school on American TV.

And high school in Australia was even more Hellish than seen on America TV