Posted on 09/15/2008 5:31:55 PM PDT by lowbridge
1. The Office
Greg Daniels' American adaptation of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's cult Brit phenomenon The Office creaked out of the gate with a shaky pilot episode that leaned far too heavily on gags from its British cousin. Dark rumblings claimed that the show would be a quickly cancelled disaster, but The Office quickly found its feet with a more likeable, attractive, and considerably less pale cast, plus a rich assortment of new characters, like Paul Lieberstein's bashful human-resources guy, Mindy Kaling's hyper, flighty flibbertigibbet, and Creed Bratton's unpredictable space cadet. The Office boasts perhaps the deepest bench of ace supporting players in sitcom history. Sixty-six episodes in, it's still going strong, and expectations are high for its recently announced, shrouded-in-secrecy spin-off. The Office has managed to lighten the tone and expand the show's comic universe while retaining the undertone of despair and existential frustration that made the original so resonant for wage slaves everywhere.
2. Sanford And Son
In the '60s and '70s, lefty television kingpin Norman Lear hit paydirt adapting class-conscious British sitcoms about endearing blowhards and their families, first with the zeitgeist-friendly All In The Family, an adaptation of Til Death Do Us Part, and later with Sanford And Son, which re-imagined the early-'60s English smash Steptoe And Son and wound up using it as a vehicle for popular comedian Redd Foxx. Steptoe And Son starred Wilfrid Brambell—best known to American audiences as Paul McCartney's irascible grandfather in A Hard Day's Night—as a junk dealer who uncomfortably cohabitates with his upwardly mobile son, a moony Labour supporter whose big dreams bring him into conflict with his cynical, reactionary father. Like Til Death Do Us Part, Steptoe & Son proved too big a phenomenon
(Excerpt) Read more at avclub.com ...
They would not dare to try Keeping Up Appearances. They also tried Absolutely Fabulous and failed miserably, and it is the funniest thing on BBC America.
Actually I can imagine an American version of Keeping Up Appearances, with a wannabe-yuppie lady and her Nascar-loving family. Might be cute.
The Office (Brit version) was absolutely THE funniest thing I have seen on television since Fawlty Towers. I love the Scranton, PA version too, but it’s more a fondness, than hysterical laughter.
I thought Katherine Tate’s show was pretty funny, too. I loved her crabby old foul mouthed lady.
To be fair, "Coupling" owes a bit to the "Friends" dynamic, but it managed to quickly distance itself from that.
I saw the first episode of the American version. Jeff came across more sleazy than goofy.
Not too many shows make it the other way around.
I’m just glad that the Americanized Red Dwarf went nowhere.
For a long time, BBC 7 used to play the radio episodes of Steptoe and Son. I found it quite funny, and with more of an intellectual edge than Sanford and Son ever had.
Catherine Tate is hilariously funny. Did you see the episode of her show about the safe house for gingers?
WHAT Americanized version of Red Dwarf????
Sets and Krytie are the same. ..
We watch Top Gear and Torchwood regularly. Both GREAT shows. I’m not into cars and am female, but I love Top Gear! Just ignore the occasional America bashing, and it is a fantastic show.
I haven’t heard of an American version of Red Dwarf either.
Um. No. No.No.no.no
Also Sanford and Son is as much a descendant of Amos and Andy as any Brit Show, and the Cosby Show a descendant of Life with Father.
I'm with you on that one.. . YIKES!
That was painful.
SMeggin’ he//!
we need MORE not less Red Dwarf!
where’s teh cat? did you lose the cat?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.