h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The world of American Television reinventions - A1067339
Author: Ecnal Silyab - U226013

This is an article about the translation of UK programmes to the US, a subject which I think makes an interesting dicussion point.

Other reasons why US television stations don't simply broadcast the British versions --

1) It has been tried, and it has always failed. Humor is culturally bound, and doesn't necessarily translate. The accent is also a turnoff to some segments of the American popuation, who tend to associate it unconsciously with snobbery.

2) The cutoffs for what's acceptable on TV are different between the UK and the US -- the British versions often contain many bits and pieces that wouldn't be seen as okay in the US, especially when it came time to courting commercial sponsors. On the other hand, the British versions are often too subtle in other areas in which American audiences expect things to be more blunt.

If you're going to mention Red Dwarf, it's worth mentioning that this is one British TV show that *did* play in the US (and was quite successful for many years), albeit on PBS, and so not available in all locales. In fact, I'd say that it was probably one of the more successful of the transplants -- here in Seattle, it was (still is, with reruns, actually) one of the biggest money raisers for the PBS station in their annual telethon.

A good start, though.

Quite a good start!

If you want my opinion, I feel that this entry could be better organized. It would be much easier to use and tags to take away from the harsh bold text.

You don't seem to admit that many adaptations were incredibly sucessful, IE Sandford and Son, All in the Family and Three's Company.

There's also a redundancy- You say 'But whereas...' might read better without the but in it.

There's also an excellent entry in Peer Review at the moment on All in the Family that mentions much of this. It's worth taking a look at it or at least linking to it

Hello

Another one was One Foot in the Grave, it starred Bill Cosby, and David Renwick said something to the effect of he didn't know why they bothered to buy it because they rewrote it so much.

Researcher PSG

Hello all!

Thank you for your kind comments. I shall make an effort to re-edit it later (still getting used to "GuideML")

I had actually forgotten about Red Dwarf being a success on the PBS stations. I'll be sure to add it in.

I'll take a look at the All in the Family entry later - I wasn't aware there was one. I'm sorry if I've repeated anything that was in it.

Thank you all again for your feedback.

Was 'Grounded for Life' an adaptation of '2.4 Children'? It sure looked like it on the one or two occasions I watched it.

Oh, this hasn't moved for two months, but it looks pretty good to me.

Anyone else want to comment?


Geggs

It seems to have missed Cracker, and the aborted Ultraviolet conversion (they made a pilot but it was so bad they never even broadcast it)

Researcher PSG

And they missed One Foot in the Grave, and the upcoming Father Ted conversion (I have said it before and I will say it again Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!).

Also the near miss Absolutely Fabulous conversion with Roseanne Barr (or whatever her second names is at the moment)

Also I don't know if they have mentioned they even convert series that are already US successes.

I would like to mention the fact that Coupling is being brought over, probably as a filler for Friends when NBC finally gets sick of paying the stars six million a year! (and I never liked Friends gag)

Hello all! Thank you for your vested interest in my little webspace!

Thank you also for suggesting the items I've forgotten - Cracker, that was the programme with Robbie Coltrane, right? I think the American version featured a very young Josh Hartnett, before he starred in "Pearl Harbour" and the like.

I'll make an effort to "update" it when I can. And, once again, many thanks!

If you're not intending to get this entry into shape within the near future Ecnal, perhaps you could remove it from Peer Review and re-submit it when it's ready. In the meantime, you could submit it to the Writing Workshop if you wish, where other Researchers will help you

Oh, and 'Stars in Their Eyes' is about to make an appearance on American tv as a show called 'Performing As...' It's going to be shown on Fox... where else?


Scout

Hello there!

I'm working on an updated (and, hopefully much more interesting) entry as we speak, including analysis of both versions of each programme and incorporating the information kindly given in this thread. I'll edit it in within a couple of days. I hope it will be more platable.

(The current one is rather lacking ... it observes the programmes, but doesn't really compare or contrast them. I'm going to make that better.)

Sounds good


Scout

Yep, definately sounds good. Looking forward to it, and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask

Oh and just for your note, yes Robbie Coltrane was in Cracker, and info on the Ultraviolet pilot can be found in the threads on the edited Ultraviolet entry (I'll dig around and try and find them for you sometime this week in case you don't get chance.)

Researcher PSG

Cheers mate!

I was just wondering - Would I be breaking the law if I "quoted" little snippets from the episodes? In my comparisons between some of the series I've found it helps to actually contrast little bits of dialogue as well (as sometimes the dialogue is almost identical yet different in the various versions, and it's worth noting) - Do you know if I'm allowed to do this? I'm not breaking a copyright law, or anything?

Thanks in advance.

I think your allowed to quote lines so long as you are making it clear that your quoting, don't reproduce entire scripts, and attribute the sources. Here is the thread where the UV info is, it is more sparce than I remember, but it is what I have http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/F72057?thread=127029&latest=1 Researcher PSG

Looking at the content of this page http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/HouseRules-Copyright
I think quoting lines comes under insubstantial extracts.

Researcher PSG

I must be feeling helpful

http://www.btinternet.com/~screeny/guides/ultravioletus.htm

Researcher PSG

Thanks for all the links, Mister PSG! I appreciate anything that gives me scope for what I'm writing. I won't be taking anything from those articles/sources directly, of course, as that WOULD be illegal.

So, "Ultraviolet USA" didn't make it past the Pilot stage then - Another casualty of the "Red Dwarf USA" typeset?

I've just read a synopsis of the (so far) rumoured USA "Father Ted" - Yekkk! I'll certainly add it to my new "upcoming projects" section. I believe there was a rumour about 'The Royale Family' getting a crossover, and although I'm not certain it's the case now that too will be mentioned.

Is the 'One foot in the Grave' remake that programme called simply 'Cosby'? I can certainly see the basic resemblance in the basic idea, but it always struck me as simply a remake of his old 80s series. It's worth a mention though!

Thank you again for all your assistance -- I should have something new (and quite different) online within a few days.