Fox & McG Americanising 'Spaced' (SAY IT AIN'T SO!)

Basq

Some comedies are sacred.. leave 'Spaced' be!

Probably the most consistent, innovative and downright genius comedy of the last 15 years!

I only really watched 'Spaced' soon after it's finished on DVD and i loved it.. had bought them on DVD and could re-watch them religiously. And now rumour is they're planning a US remake but Edgar Wright has commented on his MySpace that:

The interesting part of that is, no-one has been in touch with me at all. Haven't deigned to get in contact. So my involvement is indeed very unclear.

Share your thoughts on this remake possibility / memories of 'Spaced' / favourite scenes etc!

odyssey06

Number of recent successful remakes of British scripted shows by US networks - 2? The Office; Queer as Folk (maybe).

Number of failures:
Too many to count - Coupling, Footballers Wives, Ultraviolet, Cracker, Wild at Heart, Blackpool, Men Behaving Badly...

The jury is out on the proposed Life on Mars remake. The cast looks good but it could go either way.

I'd be more than surprised if Spaced is successful, but did anyone really think The Office would work?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/10/26/DDHIT023N.DTL

Mossy Monk

The Office worked out to be better than the original.

Basq

Woe is me... one of my favourite bits from 'Spaced' isn't on YouTube.

The one with Tim (Pegg) is standing at a urinal, and recites the famous line from the Ki-Ora ad ("it's too orangey for crows!") to a bewildered youth in the urinal next to him.

po0k

What's wrong with the yanks watching the originals? No subtitles available?
Surely royalties to the British production companies are less than the cost of re-creating the show, and arsing it up?

The Don

I hope that they don't. The original is legendary. Even if they managed to create a better US version they shouldn't.

Mossy Monk

The Don wrote: »

I hope that they don't. The original is legendary. Even if they managed to create a better US version they shouldn't.

No one would force you to watch so what's the problem.

Bounty Hunter

cos of Shaun of the dead and Hot Fuzz, and Simon Pegg and Nick frost's new found popularity in the states why wouldent the original succeed over there? though i think they could use having the homageometer on as standard (if anyone has the dvd they might know what im talking about).

The Don

Mossy Monk wrote: »

No one would force you to watch so what's the problem.

Very true. Some things are better left the way they are.

ixoy

SyxPak wrote: »

Surely royalties to the British production companies are less than the cost of re-creating the show, and arsing it up?

Sure, but if it's a success then there's less money to be made for the network in terms of DVDs, syndication, etc.

Also the British series has, I believe, six episodes a season. That's far too short for a mainstream US network which would typically have 20-22 (only cable networks have shorter seasons). They would have a difficult time getting advertising slots for a show that was so short. Typical minumum I might expect is 13 episodes, which is often used to guage interest in a mid-season show.

pauldeehan

I'm a big fan of the show but I'm not too worried about any remakes. If it's good it might be worth a watch, if it isn't I'm not bothered. Best case scenario would be it being such a success that Pegg and Wright decided to do a 3rd series. Bloody unlikely though.

I suppose a remake of Spaced can be justified in that a lot of its humour and culture references are from adverts/tv shows/etc from the UK and wouldn't translate to America.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

the more they do this, the more I think osama's got the right idea.
bastards.

Dodge

nothing wrong with US remakes, if done correctly (The Office)

However McG shouldn't be allowed near anything the public have access to

ScruffySlayer

I get the impression McG is not that hands on though, more of a money man realy.
I mean look at 2 of the shows he did for FOX, the O.C. and Fastlane. They both turned out very different but both had his name on them...

Basq

ScruffySlayer wrote: »

I get the impression McG is not that hands on though, more of a money man realy.
I mean look at 2 of the shows he did for FOX, the O.C. and Fastlane. They both turned out very different but both had his name on them...

And 'Chuck' for NBC too.

Mr E

And Supernatural .... good show.

sweetie

what was the ultraviolet remake?

odyssey06 wrote: »

Number of recent successful remakes of British scripted shows by US networks - 2? The Office; Queer as Folk (maybe).

Number of failures:
Too many to count - Coupling, Footballers Wives, Ultraviolet, Cracker, Wild at Heart, Blackpool, Men Behaving Badly...

The jury is out on the proposed Life on Mars remake. The cast looks good but it could go either way.

I'd be more than surprised if Spaced is successful, but did anyone really think The Office would work?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/10/26/DDHIT023N.DTL

odyssey06

Fox in the States did a pilot of an American version of the series, with Idris Elba (Vaughan) reprising his role from the UK show. I don't think it was ever aired publicly, but there may be a copy of it floating around somewhere...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_(TV_serial)

There was also a pilot version of an American Red Dwarf, starring Jane Leeves from Frasier, don't think that was ever aired either.

Now that the TV writers have gone on strike in the US, you may see some of the American networks showing British programs "as is" to fill their schedules.