TV Remakes: Should They Be Made?

To make or not to make: US TV show remakes

(image source: http://uproxx.com/tv/5-great-british-shows-america-got-right-remakes-5-cocked/ )

Over the years, it has become almost a tradition for successful shows to get “US spinoffs“. Because the original clearly isn’t good or funny enough for the US market. Or something.

What I’ve realised while reading through a “UK or US version of The Office?“ forum on imdb.com is that people across the pond do not seem to have an appreciation for British natural, ‘awkward’ humour. They also seem to struggle with the accents, so there is that.

(image source: http://uproxx.com/tv/5-great-british-shows-america-got-right-remakes-5-cocked/ )

Most remakes seem to follow a pattern: first they try to replicate the British original scene-by-scene, and fail. Then they break off and start using more “American“ humour and become successful. Finally, before you know it, season 9 is coming out, and everyone is tired and complaining about every single detail, because let’s be honest, the show should have ended after season 4. Interestingly, even though the UK originals of both The Office and Shameless have much lower rankings on imdb.com than the US spinoffs, their popularity is rising, while the US series seem to be losing it.

Fun fact: there was a US spinoff of Skins. It’s got one season. Enough said.

(image source: https://nordicnoirblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/13/your-next-binge-watch-norways-eyewitness-oyevitne/ )

(image source: https://www.usanetwork.com/eyewitness/blog/usa-sets-october-date-for-chilling-new-drama-eyewitness )

However, not only British television has caught the eye of American producers. Last autumn, USA Network aired a show called Eyewitness, based on a Norwegian original Øyevitne. The show follows the case of two boys, who meet up in secret and witness a murder. After watching the first episode and suffering through the bad acting, I decided to go and watch the original version, which turned out to be a great decision. The acting was a lot more natural, there was less unnecessarily dramatic music and moody shots of quite frankly irrelevant things. I was still keeping up with the new US version via Tumblr, and it soon became apparent, that to make the show more popular to the target audience, the producers took out a lot of the actual investigation of the murder, and amped up the relationship aspect of the show. Despite this, the actors ended up begging people to watch the show via social media. Awkward.

(image source: http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/skam/261581/skam-season-4-trailer-release-date-main-character )

I suppose the case of Eyewitness makes apparent the reason why I couldn’t be less excited about the upcoming US remake of my current favourite TV show – Skam (which means „shame“ in Norwegian). The show is produced by the same Norwegian TV network as Øyevitne, and in a matter of weeks became a global sensation. Who cares that the show is in Norwegian and the network doesn’t provide English subtitles? The raw talent of the kids’ acting in this high school drama has drawn people from all over the world to watch the show. It also helps that the producers address very current issues that the youth might relate to such as sexuality, religion, or mental illness. Seeing the success of the show, American Idols producer Simon Fuller has decided to acquire the rights to produce a US version of Skam, and the decision has not been met with much enthusiasm from the side of the fans. The whole concept of Skam is to be as realistic possible, whereas TV shows made in the US often exaggerate the reality for the purpose of entertainment.

But, as they say, each to their own! HCXO

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