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Started by Steve Green, 29 August, 2016, 01:04:01 PM

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By-Jove

I remember Good Sweetheart. Not sure I want to see that one remade or any other popular British sitcom. They all seem to belong to the time they were popular in  and they only concentrate on brand new progressive material.

I thought this list might be interesting.

American Sit Coms Based on British Ones


sheridan

Quote from: By-Jove on 11 September, 2016, 07:13:51 AM
I remember Good Sweetheart. Not sure I want to see that one remade or any other popular British sitcom. They all seem to belong to the time they were popular in  and they only concentrate on brand new progressive material.
How about a TV series where somebody from our time goes back to previous time periods where they watch sitcoms involving time travel?  Popular TV Will Eat Itself :-)

By-Jove

Wasn't impressed with the American version of Faulty Towers, despite how much of it I didn't watch. I even suspect those two were paired off because one or two similarities. I just doubt that it's official. Did know about American version of The Young Ones. It never got past the pilot episode where Nigel Planner might have cameoed. How would America recreate that without the special magic of British comedy. Like, one has SNL and the other Monty Python's Flying Circus. Both are funny, but only in their own way. Would have loved  to have still seen that first episode.



Tony Angelino

I remember Dear John (both the UK and US versions). The UK one was brilliant. Written by John Sullivan, best known for Only Fools and Horses. Only two series but every episode was a classic.

Based around a club for the recently divorced most people probably remember the Kirk St Moritz character.

The US version was shown in the UK for a while but was nowhere near as good. 

By-Jove

#19
I had found some old episodes of series one & two of Dear John & watched most of them again right up until the ending. Kirk was my favourite character as well, but I always had a distinct memory of him wearing a more casual tweed jacket with a Rambo t-shirt underneath and some sort trendy denim styled pants. When I couldn't find this in any of those episodes, I checked the America version to find their Kirk was a Blonde guy and not much like otherwise either. In this he was always some 50's Bodgie type. Kind of like the Fonz from Happy Days. I won't let on about the big reveal towards the end of that series, but even the Fonz did this in one episode. Wearing satin shirt with matching pants and the pompadour hair style of a Greaser. I just don't get where I remembered the other stuff from then.

Then I started web searching stuff on Richard O'Sullivan from Man about the House, Robin's Nest & Me & My Girl. I have fond memories of these as well. Along with their related westernised versions Three's Company & Three's a Crowd. The last of which might not have panned out so well. Not sure what ever became of Joanna Ridley from the last one. Then I find the now late R. O' Sullivan was the character lead in this series about Dick Turpin. The premise sounded interesting enough. I can only find a episode dubbed in German. It was a pity he passed on, but I guess he had done much already.

Tony Angelino

I loved those Richard O'Sullivan comedies too. ITV had repeats of Man About the House on recently and I watched them all.

Richard O'Sullivan is still alive but had a stroke in 2003 and I don't think has acted since. 

By-Jove

That's good to hear, thought he passed on. Still, having a stroke isn't pleasant, still hasn't recovered from it.

sheridan

Quote from: By-Jove on 11 September, 2016, 08:04:53 PM
Then I started web searching stuff on Richard O'Sullivan from Man about the House, Robin's Nest & Me & My Girl. I have fond memories of these as well. Along with their related westernised versions Three's Company & Three's a Crowd. The last of which might not have panned out so well. Not sure what ever became of Joanna Ridley from the last one.
'Wild Child' Joanna Ridley (her name always appeared like that in the tabloids, along with Amanda de Cadanet and a few others from the 1980s London brat pack) apparently gave up acting shortly after Me and My Girl finished.  Had a pagan ceremony followed by a short marriage, moved to the US, became Iona Simms and is now a midwife in a Californian spiritual community.  As you do.

By-Jove

If I mentioned anything about The Young Ones getting American make-over. Then Big Bang Theory almost fits the bill. Yeah, sure, there exactly the same, but there are four of them that are students. Who hang out with each other all the time even if they don't all live together in the same building. Big Bang comes close to that one minus the messed up charm of Rick, Vyvien, Mike and Nigel. & the breaking of reality that would always ensure. A chip talking to a carrot comes to mind.

TordelBack

In as far as they are both meanspirited Comedies of Manners, I agree. But there are five (initial) characters in Big Bang Theory, none of them are students, only two of them share a (very nice, well-kept) apartment, and not one of them is the People's Poet.  You might as well say Friends is a US remake of Young Ones

TordelBack

Ugh, cranky morning person makes snarky internet knob reply post.  Apologies, By-Jove, wrong side of the bed etc.