American Televsions Versus the U.K. Telly?
by Liv | Published on September 11th, 2009, 8:37 am | Arts
So I am watching Life on Mars last night. No not the U.S. version, but the U.K. version. It's good. Real Good. That fact doesn't surprise me much, as it was a green-lighted project from Julie Gardner before she moved from Wales to L.A. She's the same individual who spawned the remake of Doctor Who. (Which really makes me wonder what's going on because Julie is in LA, and Davies is in L.A... but I'll save that for some other time)
So I've seen the U.S. version, and remarkably the U.K. version is stunningly similar. Almost as if the U.S. writers, just hashed through the words like "Cheeky", "Dodgy", and "Sod" and replaced them with the U.S. equivalent. Even the sets are strikingly the same. So this is when I turn to Shannon and ask:
Why did they need to remake it for the U.S.?
I mean, I think I sort of already know the answer.... but It's worth asking isn't it? It's not one of those story-lines that get lost in translation, it's fundamentally a cop show from the 70's with an ambiguous plot twist of how the main character ends up in the 70s....
So if the answer I already think I know is the answer to my own question, what does that say about Americans, when there are tons of U.K. shows that get "remade" for American audiences, but I'm not aware of any U.S. shows remade for the U.K. (I'm guessing there has to be at least one, doesn't there?)