The Yankee Influence
By Julie Nisbet
I was raised on British humour. Actually, scratch that, I was raised on Scottish humour, which is undeniably funnier than English humour, but for argument’s sake, we’ll just wrap all of the jokes originating from the United Kingdom, under the banner of “British Humour.” It’s hard to describe British humour and I’m not even going to try. I just know that the shit is funny and I also know that whenever the Brits come up with a groundbreaking funny show, American producers are lined up around the block, waiting to pounce. Now, very occasionally, this idea works, and the American version of the show isn’t that bad. But in my opinion, the vast majority of the time, the American version is so much worse than the British version that I just don’t understand why they do it. So here it is folks, my top 3 British TV shows that were transformed into an unwatchable American equivalent.
3. Whose Line Is It Anyway?
It’s true, white people love Wayne Brady, but the American show just doesn’t measure up to the original. Although the producers kept some of the original British cast (albeit, the American and the Canadian) and generally kept the same format, they made a couple of major mistakes. The first was that they didn’t realize that you can’t get away with the same jokes on ABC that you can get away with on Channel 4; the FCC just won’t allow it and the humor suffered because of it. The second mistake…Drew Carey. Oh, Drew Carey! I know that it was probably his idea to Americanize the show, and that’s why he was allowed to be involved in it, but he really shouldn’t have been. Clive Anderson’s dry, sarcastic, unscripted comments were a huge part of what made the show hilarious. Very few people could have filled his seat. Drew Carey didn’t, and shouldn’t have tried.
2. Coupling
I would like to know who thought making an American version of a British TV show that was a remake of an American show would be a good idea. Coupling was a British knockoff of Friends and, honestly, it wasn’t that funny in the first place. Most of the jokes that were funny were too risqué for American audiences (see FCC regulations above), so seriously, whose idea was it and do you still have your job?
1. The Office
I’m having a hard time with this one because I like the American version but how can you have an article about the American influence on British television without mentioning The Office? Yes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, yes, Steve Carrell is funny, yes they’ve finally figured out that word for word translation of the British show isn’t a good idea, but it’s just not the same. Nothing will ever compare to the hilarity of Tim putting Gareth’s stapler into a jelly mold (that’s Jell-O for my American readers), or “Gareth Keenan Investigates” or David Brent’s inspirational speech. If you like the American show, seriously, don’t watch the British one. It will just ruin it for you. RUIN it I say because although John Krasinski looks uncannily like Martin Freeman, Jim ain’t got nothing on Tim.
