Wed 2 February 2005 - The Office USA
Hmmmmmm. NBC is re-making the seminal Britcom The Office, and they’ve just put a preview on their web site.
You can certainly tell it’s The Office, and I don’t think anybody who’s ever seen the original would look upon it favourably. But who knows, there could be a huge potential audience out there who haven’t seen it and enjoy it.
And I assume that’s why American TV networks have a long history of re-making other countries’ TV shows: even if the original has aired on PBS or BBC America, the bulk of the population still won’t have seen it. And maybe they think the audience is insular enough that it has to be re-done with American actors?
Sometimes it works. Steptoe & Son became Sanford & Son. Till Death Us Do Part became All In The Family.
Sometimes it flops. Red Dwarf’s US remake was woeful, and never got beyond a pilot. Men Behaving Badly was brilliant, but its remake didn’t last long. The US Coupling got panned, too.
Hmm, maybe they should try re-making some Australian shows? Like, maybe Skippy but with a squirrel instead of a roo?