Many of the programmes based on British television series and remade for American audiences have been family focussed, intended to be enjoyed by parents and their children. Of course, children can be any ages from toddlers to teenagers, so 'family programming' covers quite a wide range of series. This articles compares and contrasts just a few examples.

Many family programmes are animated series. With these, rather than remake the whole series it is an increasingly popular trend to redub voices when they are broadcast in America. For example, British television series Octonauts (2010+) when broadcast on the American Disney Channel has a different voice artist for Peso. Similarly, many, though not all, voices for British animated series Chuggington (2008-12) were redubbed when broadcast in America.

The Muppet Show / Muppets Tonight

The Muppet Show (1976-1981)

The Muppet Show was a puppet-based variety show in which audiences not only see the acts performed, but also the frantic behind-the-scenes activity of the varied cast and crew. The series was made in Elstree Studios in the UK by Lew Grade's company ITC as, although creator Jim Henson had made pilot versions of the show in an attempt to sell his idea in America, no American television company was interested in making a family programme featuring puppets. Grade, who specialised in selling television shows worldwide and had made programmes like Thunderbirds, knew it would be successful and it became one of the world's most successful television series, even in the US. The version broadcast in America was two minutes shorter than that seen in the UK, due to American television having longer advert breaks at the time. The missing two minutes from each episode usually revolved around Rowlf and/or Fozzy singing songs.

Key characters included Kermit, the leader of the Muppets, Miss Piggy, the diva pig who wanted Kermit all to herself, Fozzy Bear, the nervous comedian often heckled by two old men in the audience named Statler and Waldorf, Gonzo, a strange stuntman, Rowlf the piano-playing dog, Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem Band, including Animal on drums, Janice on guitar, Floyd Pepper on bass and Zoot on saxophone, scientist Dr Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker as well as the Swedish Chef.

Muppets Tonight (1996-1998)

Made with the same crew, this followed the same formula, only with the Muppets trying to make television episodes rather than a theatre show. It featured an expanded cast that now includes a television host named Clifford, security guard Bobo the Bear and Pepé the King Prawn. Though enjoyable, it did not have the same impact as the original series.

Curiously, like The Muppet Show, each episode of Muppets Tonight was 2-minutes longer in the UK, where it was broadcast on BBC and did not have advert breaks.

Fraggle Rock (1983-87)

Following The Muppet Show's success, Jim Henson was determined to create international appeal with his follow-up. When he made Fraggle Rock with his new company Henson International Television, it was made as a British-American-Canadian co-production and it was intended to allow each country that broadcast it to have its own bookending sections. So in the UK Fraggle Rock was set beneath a lighthouse, while North American countries had it set beneath a barn owned by an inventor, etc. Most of the regional characters owned a dog named Sprocket. A later animated series of Fraggle Rock was made. Henson International Television, now HiT Entertainment, now make shows like Thomas and Friends.

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends

Thomas and Friends, though still more commonly known as Thomas the Tank Engine, is a children's programme based on the Railway Series by Reverend Awdry that has drifted across the Atlantic in the early 21st Century.

Thomas the Tank Engine (1984-6, 1991-5, 1998)

Initially famously narrated by Ringo Starr, the original series involved a narrator describing the adventures of a series of engines that ran on the fictional Island of Sodor, under the organisation of the Fat Controller, Sir Topham Hatt. Later series were narrated by fellow Liverpudlian Michael Angelis, with different narrators in America.

Thomas and Friends (2002+)

In 2000 an unpopular Americanised film, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, was released in cinemas and flopped. The rights to Thomas and Friends were then bought by HiT Entertainment in 2002, initially sticking close to the original series before replacing the theme tune and later replacing the original models with CGI characters. From 2009, the series was made in Canada rather than Britain in order to take advantage of tax incentives.

The Mr Men / The Mr Men Show

The Mr Men and Little Miss stories are a series of children's books by Roger Hargreaves, with the first one, Mr Tickle published in 1971. These characters have proven popular all around the world.

The Mr Men (1974)

The first television series based on these stories was made in 1974. Sticking very closely to the original stories, the series consisted of 28 episodes narrated by Arthur Lowe, with a catchy theme tune by Tony Hymas. In 1983 a series based on the Little Miss books was made, although as Arthur Lowe had died in 1982, these were instead narrated by John Alderton and Pauline Collins. A later series entitled Mr Men and Little Miss was made in the mid-90s, although this was dubbed when broadcast in America.

The Mr Men Show (2008-9)

The American version made many changes to the original format. Controversially many of the characters' appearances were drastically altered for this series, most notably Mr Strong. Originally conceived as a red square, for this series he was redesigned as a red triangle. Other characters' appearances and colours changed slightly. Some characters changed names, so Mr Fussy became Mr Pernickety, Mr Jelly was renamed Mr Nervous etc, while whole new characters were invented, such as Little Miss Calamity and Little Miss Daredevil. While Little Miss Stubborn and Little Miss Scatterbrain were changed to Mr Stubborn and Mr Scatterbrain.

The series features far more interactions between all the episodes, with episodes based on different themes rather than concentrating on a specific character. All the characters now live in the same town, Dillydale.

SuperTed

SuperTed was a Welsh cartoon series that proved popular internationally. The creator, Mike Young, was determined to prove that it was possible to make a successful television series in Wales, rather than in London where Britain's film and television industry was based. In 2014 it was announced that a new series would be made, to be broadcast in 2016.

SuperTed (1983-5)

SuperTed (Derek Griffiths) was a rejected teddy who was brought to life by Spotty (Jon Pertwee), a visiting alien, and given super powers by Mother Nature. Living in a tree house and also having his own space station, he fights the evil schemes of cowboy Texas Pete (Victor Spinetti) who is assisted by the effeminate Skeleton (Melvyn Hayes) and Bulk (Roy Kinnear).

The Further Adventures of SuperTed (1988)

The original series was considered to have been made to such a high quality that it became the first British animated series to be broadcast on America's Disney Channel. This popularity led to an American version, with new characters created. Of the original voice cast, only Victor Spinetti and Melvyn Hayes stayed as Pete and Skeleton when it was made, however for the British broadcast the BBC redubbed the series with original voice artists Jon Pertwee and Derek Griffiths.

The Tomorrow People

Unusually a series whose reinvention saw it going from Britain to America via an island in the middle of the ocean.

The Tomorrow People (1973-1979)

The Tomorrow People was made by Thames Television as ITV's answer to Doctor Who through the 1970s. A group of teenagers learn they have super powers; telekenisis, the ability to communicate with their minds as well as teleport if they wear special belts or bracelets, a process they call 'jaunting'. They live in an abandoned London Underground station and have a sentient computer called TIM. A key part of the series was when tomorrow people developing and discovering their powers, a process they call 'breaking out'. They believe themselves to be the next step of human evolution, hence tomorrow people, and call themselves 'Homo superior' to distinguish themselves from Homo sapiens, who they nickname 'saps'. Unlike homo sapiens, they are incapable of killing.

The series featured Nicholas Young as John, the leader of the Tomorrow People, new break out character Stephen who is guided by Carol as well as other cast members who came and went. An early villain was a shape-shifting robot named Jedikiah. A Galactic Federation also played a key role.

The Tomorrow People (1992-1995)

The original series, despite being cheaply made, continued to prove popular and so the early 1990s saw a cross-Atlantic remake by Thames Television's American subsidiary Reeves Entertainment and Tetra Films. Instead of living in a base in the London Underground, Break Outs were drawn to a psychic spaceship hidden in a South Pacific island (although the island only appeared in the first series for budgetary reasons.).

The international cast played different characters from the original, with Neighbours' Australian actor Kristian Schmid starring as Adam, aided by American, British and Canadian Tomorrow People, including Naomie Harris¹ as Ami Jackson. The music and title sequence were different. There are notable differences from the original series, as not only does TIM not appear, the ability to teleport no longer requires belts or braces.

The Tomorrow People (2013)

In the early 21st Century, many of the most successful films were about superheroes, including the Dark Knight, X-Men and Avengers series. Similarly, television series Heroes (2006-2010) also dealt with people with powers. Following this popularity, it is perhaps unsurprising that a remake of The Tomorrow People was made, with this remake staying much closer in plot to the original than the 1990s series, only without the need for belts.

The series follows Stephen as he breaks out, learning that he is an especially powerful homo Superior and has powers known as the three Ts:

1. Telepathy
2. Teleportation
3. Telekinesis
4. Time Distortion²

Stephen tries to balance having a normal family life with ensuring the safety of the Tomorrow People. He aids fellow Tomorrow People led by John and Clara, a similar character to the original's Carol, in trying to learn why his father, one of the first Tomorrow People and their leader, disappeared years earlier. The Tomorrow People, who have a computer called TIM, hide in an underground lair near New York's subway system as they are hunted by a secret organisation called Ultra. Ultra is headed by Stephen's uncle, Jedekiah and was set up to prevent humanity from being replaced by the Tomorrow People.

This new series had a much bigger effects budget and, unlike the original, contains moderate sex references, showing it is aimed at an older audience. Nicholas Young, the original John, even appears in a couple of episodes. Sadly the series' ratings were unremarkable, leading it to be cancelled after only a single series.

Primeval

After the BBC brought back Doctor Who in 2005, ITV wanted something similar. In the 1970s their answer had been The Tomorrow People, but for the early 21st Century they responded with a series in which time portals from different eras in the past carry prehistoric monsters to within easy commuting distance of a top-secret organisation in the present. Starring former S Club 7 singer Hannah Spearitt as pants-wearing Abby Maitland, accompanied by geeky Connor Temple and dinosaur hunter Nick Cutter.

The five series made by the same people behind Walking With Dinosaurs were highly enjoyable silly fun, but ITV budget cuts led to the series being cancelled.

Primeval: New World (2012)

This time a Canadian reinvention, Primeval: New World was very similar series to the original, but set in Vancouver, Canada. Instead of a team of professionals, the characters focus around the friends of Evan Cross, a rich inventor who spends his time investigating anomalies after one led to the death of his wife. This series had a new theme tune and opening sequence, but kept its connection to the original by book-ending the series with appearances by Connor Temple.

Robot Wars

Robot Wars was a show in which home-made 'robots', remote controlled vehicles with weapons, fought each other in a championship competition. Broadcast in Britain between 1998-2004, it was extremely popular and soon there were World Championship competitions in which robots from all around the world, not just Britain, competeted to become World Champion. An American series was made in 2002, although this only lasted one series.

LazyTown (2004-7, 2012+)

Of course, it is not just British family shows that gain American remakes. One popular Icelandic show is LazyTown. This show mixes actors and puppets to tell about the people of a small town whose inactive ways are challenged by visitor Stephanie and a superhero named Sportacus, much to the annoyance of Robbie Rotten, the bad guy. In 2008 a spin-off show, Lazy Town Extra, was made for Britain's CBeebies channel. In 2011 Turner Broadcasting, part of the Warner group, bought the rights to LazyTown and from 2012 made new episodes. The girl playing Stephanie has been changed and the puppet voices are now much more American than previously.