[video] Dear the USA.. please stop remaking things..

[bandgeekmafia78]

I think you are right. If I had never heard of The Inbetweeners I think I'd probably like this. I can't imagine it being as crude as the UK version.

[GREED]

Awww, I was really liking that show.. Didn't know the second season hadn't been green lit...

 

*upset now*

 

John

 

I know, it was one that had so much going for it. Especially as it was done by the same people behind Lost!!!!

 

And Firefly, yes I know that was an awesome series. There are talks about Joss Weadon doing it again now he made uber millions with Avengers.

[Haptic]

Personally I am liking The Newsroom at the minute. Anyone else seen it?

 

 

Chris

 

 

Tumbleweed time hey Well if you get the chance and liked the West Wing you will like this as it is Aaron Sorkin's new project and stars Jeff Daniels (of Dumb and Dumber fame)

 

 

It is better than it sounds! ha

 

Chris

[AMLinington]

The American TV Networks are absolute tosh right now. They give everything one series to be a cult classic and if not it gets canned. A bit of a Sci-Fi buff me, but in the last 4 years they have cancelled truely excellent shows including:

 

Alcatraz

Stargate Universe (after series 2, which was brilliant)

The Event

Flash Forward

 

And what do we still have: Scripted Reality...

 

I'm sorry, Alcatraz was AWFUL. I hated it. LeBoyfriend and I gave it a good chance and Sky+ed it but after the first 5 episodes we realised it REALLY wasn't getting any better and ditched it.

 

Personally I don't like either the UK or US 'Office'

 

We thought Newsroom looked funny but the first 5 minutes of the first episode were enough to make me scream 'TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF' at LeBoyfriend - there is something about people all shouting over each other that makes me want to physically vomit. I actually had to leave the room.

Edited July 19, 2012 by AMLinington

[Haptic]

So what do you like?

 

 

 

Chris

[GREED]

I'm sorry, Alcatraz was AWFUL. I hated it. LeBoyfriend and I gave it a good chance and Sky+ed it but after the first 5 episodes we realised it REALLY wasn't getting any better and ditched it.

 

It got really good towards the end of series 1, it had to build slowly and had a very Lost feel to it by the end... Basically they were all super soldier experiments of a kind...

 

Spoiler alert...

 

 

oh maybe I should have said that first,....

[gpe5732]

Sorry, being an American, I've got to respond. Since I was growing up, OMG has always meant just that, oh my God. It never meant oh my gosh, or oh my goodness. It's always meant oh my God. You'll find the conservatism of America is going out the window with each passing generation.

 

Prior to just recently, the FCC could fine stations for showing nudity and curse words. That was ruled unconstitutional recently, but I'm sure there's other ways the federal government will enforce the rules they wish on cable television. I understand the regulations on public broadcast, but not on cable broadcast where customers pay for the channels.

 

Also, the remakes are not because Americans can't "understand" your shows. We're not morons. In fact, you'll find many of us watch BBC to see shows like Top Gear, and I've found the IT Crowd on Netflix to be moderately funny. Much like our English is different, we also have very different senses of humor. It doesn't mean we're idiots. I thought the American version of the Office was very well done. I can't say the same for the American version of Top Gear, which I've never watched. You'll also find many broadcast companies attempting to remake these shows because they want to hit the air big with an American show and take in a lot of money with their own "original" series, not pay licensing fees to show the shows in the US.

[localzuk]

Also, the remakes are not because Americans can't "understand" your shows. We're not morons. In fact, you'll find many of us watch BBC to see shows like Top Gear, and I've found the IT Crowd on Netflix to be moderately funny. Much like our English is different, we also have very different senses of humor. It doesn't mean we're idiots. I thought the American version of the Office was very well done. I can't say the same for the American version of Top Gear, which I've never watched. You'll also find many broadcast companies attempting to remake these shows because they want to hit the air big with an American show and take in a lot of money with their own "original" series, not pay licensing fees to show the shows in the US.

 

You've just confirmed what many have said though, just in different words. When we say you don't understand our shows, we don't mean you are too stupid to, we mean our style of humour is different to yours so you don't get our jokes. Its well known amongst English comedians that Americans just don't 'get' them.

 

You're right on the last point - a lot of it is about money, but at the same time, the UK production companies would still own the rights to the show format etc... so they would still have to pay licensing fees for those rights.

[witch]

I think a lot of Americans are perfectly capable of understanding our shows, but equally, some do not seem to understand the British (or actually mostly English) sense of humour and irony. I am basing this on my own experiences in the USA over the years.

It is a shame though that they remake shows and often lose the core humour and real point of the English series. Why are their remakes bad when they do make other shows that are really wonderful - that's what I don't get. Sometimes it seems as if they didnt 'get' the series in the first place - but why not?

[AMLinington]

It got really good towards the end of series 1, it had to build slowly and had a very Lost feel to it by the end... Basically they were all super soldier experiments of a kind...

 

I realised this about 20 minutes into episode 2. The whole series was 'over advertised' - they pretty much gave away the secrets in the adverts which spoiled it for us a bit. I think we stopped watching when that prisoner drowned that kid in the boat. We turned it off at that point and deleted it from Series link. I also REALLY hated how they bring the girl in to help them, then don't tell her anything, and tell her that they aren't telling her anything and constantly make oblique comments that are supposed to be 'clues' but which just serve to annoy me.

 

So what do you like?

 

 

 

Chris

 

Grimm - I really got into this. It has it's moments of being a bit cliche and after all the weird and horrible things she's seen, Juliet's 'disbelief' is a bit silly. But I really like it. LeBoyfriend isn't a fan so it's my 'guilty pleasure' series.

 

Awake - I started watching this because my deep and abiding crush on Jason Isaacs (SO much hotness) won't let me bypass anything he is in and I've actually REALLY got into it. I'm loving the whole '2 realities' thing. Every week I swing wildly from 'Wife world is real' to 'I think he's in a coma and neither world is real'. There are a lot more '3rd party' scenes in 'wife world' which lends credence to this being the 'real' world but it's got me hooked and I can't wait for Season 2

 

Spartacus - Blood and Sand was my favourite as Andy Whitfield (RIP) was brilliant - perfectly cast, but I also love Crixus and enjoyed Ashur's comeuppance so I'm still watching.

 

Suits - I LOVE this. Harvey is brilliant. Can't wait for Season 2

 

Burn Notice - LeBofriend and I totally love this but we're completely out of sync - we seem to have missed half a season so we've stopped watching and are going to try to pick it up where we left off.

 

We used to be into Sanctuary but again we got out of sync so we need to go back and pick up from where we left off.

 

FRINGE - OMG I love this series so much!

 

To be fair, America has WAY more awesome shows than the UK, but then the audience and budgets are bigger so I would expect that to be the case. Almost all my favourite shows are American. There have been some british shows that I've really gotten into but the majority of our favourites are US.

 

We've started recording Sinbad but really the first episode didn't blow me away. I was a bit 'meh' at the end.

 

The new series of Borgias looks EPIC but then I might only be watching this because of Jeremy Irons. I have a bit of a crush on him too for inexplicable reasons.

 

We're suckers for period dramas - I'm trying to record the rerun of 'The Tudors' on the Sony channel but I put it on series link and nothing happens so it seems like they aren't actually running it as a 'series' more as a 'filler'. Hornblower and Sharpe are faves in our house too. Downton Abbey was boring though. Sorry. The period is too 'recent' for my liking. I prefer Napoleonic war and older. Although American Civil war period is good too (only slightly more recent than the NW). Medieval is my favourite although Tudor and Elizabethan are particular faves. I like Roman and Saxon period stuff too, although I tried to watch 'ROME' and hated it. LeBoyfriend claimed it was brilliant but I got bored halfway through episode 1 and tanked some random Hour of Twilight dungeons instead.

 

Edited to add: OMG OMG GAME OF THRONES! So much love for this series. Just hoping GRRM releases the next book BEFORE I'm a grandmother!

Edited July 20, 2012 by AMLinington

[localzuk]

If anyone wants another couple of good American shows to watch, I would recommend:

 

Leverage

White Collar

Warehouse 13

Person of Interest

[Haptic]

No-one has even mentioned Boardwalk Empire. Possibly one of the best shows I have ever seen! I didn't think anything would ever rival The Wire or Sopranos but I cannot wait for the 3rd season - more Stephen Graham apparently as it starts to focus on Capone's rise to fame!

 

 

Chris