The World Beyond BetterMost > Anything Goes
Why does the US do remakes?
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: David925 on December 13, 2006, 11:16:46 pm ---I don't know why we take wonderful British shows such as "Queer as Folk", "Men Behaving Badly", "Steptoe and Son" (just to name a few) and totally destroy them. It's an awful damn shame. "Queer as Folk" might be an exception. I didn't really care for it, but obviously many other people do. "Men Behaving Badly", a brilliant British comedy was remade for US audiences back in the 1990's and the story took place in Indianapolis. It was terrible and didn't even last one full season before getting axed.
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David, reading your comment stirred a memory--and this is not meant to give you an argument--but wasn't "All In the Family" adapted from a British original, too?
I suddenly find myself wondering, too, whether "British comedy" covers a wider range than U.S. comedy. I can only think of myself as an example. I hated Benny Hill, and Monty Python has always left me cold. I like "Keeping Up Appearances" and "Are You Being Served," and I love "As Time Goes By." All British comedies, but all very different. Is there as great a diversity in U.S. comedy?
starboardlight:
--- Quote from: Mikaela on December 13, 2006, 06:35:30 pm ---Out of curiousity, and from the vantage point of being neither American nor British I can easily see why "Queer as folk" got remade, I think...... I've only seen the UK version and I somehow can't imagine US general audiences managing to cope blithely with that degree of explicitness at all. Maybe that's just me confusing the US general audience with the AMPAS. ::) Was the US version watered down in that regard, or just as explicit?
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actually, QAF was on Showtime, a permium cable channel, so it was able to get away with lots of explicitness. The UK version would have been fine. The US version is just as explicit. By the way, I always wondered if the US viewers understood where the title came from.
but it's not just tv shows from over the pond that got remade. Hollywood has been remaking material from the East as well. The Magnificent Seven, with Charles Bronson, Yul Brynner, and Steve McQueen is a remake of Japan's Seven Samurai. More recent films are The Ring, The Grudge. The Departed (a remake of what was called Infernal Affairs). If anyone remember Shall We Dance with JLo and Gere, you should catch the Japanese original by the same title. It's absolutely beautiful, and Hollywood completely butchered it. I think for the most part, remaking film is just Hollywood trying to cash in on ideas rather than giving artistic integrity any credit. Their argument that American public can't deal with foreign film or subtitles has also been proven false. The mainstream success of "Crouching Tiger" and "Beautiful Life" shows that American audience are willing to see film that come from outside their culture.
Kelda:
--- Quote from: David925 on December 13, 2006, 11:16:46 pm ---Kelda and Melissa...
Please don't give up on us Americans, okay??
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oh god! I'm totally not giving up on you - some of my fave comedies are USA. As I said in my first post, you've got to get it right for the mainstream audience don't you? I'm sure there are american shows which have been adapted for here.
But The Catherine Tate Show and Little Britian are just soooooo British I just don't know how they are going to change it to appeal to the American Market. It'll be a totally different show - so why therefore base it on those shows?
Re: the background to 'queer as folk' - it comes from the expression 'there is nowt as queer as folk' which is a northern English phrase, which means "there's nothing as strange as some people", ie, whoever you were talking about just before is very strange.
Interesting that you all liked Keeping Up Appearances - did you ever see the actress playing Mrs Boo-kay - Patricia Routledge - in her other show? It was called Hetty Wainthrop Investigates. she was an OAP solving mysteries - and her side kick nt hat was a very young Dominic Monaghan. I love the theme tune for this - always wanted to oplay it as a solo in my band.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: starboardlight on December 14, 2006, 04:21:45 am ---but it's not just tv shows from over the pond that got remade. Hollywood has been remaking material from the East as well. The Magnificent Seven, with Charles Bronson, Yul Brynner, and Steve McQueen is a remake of Japan's Seven Samurai.
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Just goes to show, though, that you can't make a blanket statement that "all remakes are bad." All due respect to it's being a remake of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven is considered a classic Western in most people's books.
David In Indy:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on December 14, 2006, 10:36:58 am ---Just goes to show, though, that you can't make a blanket statement that "all remakes are bad." All due respect to it's being a remake of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven is considered a classic Western in most people's books.
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I wasn't trying to make a blanket statement Jeff. Not at all. There are many great remakes in this country. I cited "Queer as Folk" as one example (I don't really care for it, but many people do). But there are some pretty bad remakes included in the mix too.
You mentioned "All in the Family". I remember watching this show when I was a child. I remember hearing a toilet flush for the first time on television while watching this show. (When I was young, they never even used the word "toilet" on television, much less show a toilet or hear it flush). I loved that show and I still watch the reruns on TVLand.
I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression Jeff.
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