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What's a British TV show that the Yanks did better? (feddit.uk)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'll go first....The Office.

Now I know the two shows are fundamentally quite different, but they adapted what was already a very successful show, and turned It into an event more successfully one that lasted for significantly longer than the original did. I say that's a win for them.

Anything else? Life on Mars, Being Human, The Inbetweeners.....?

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 11 months ago (13 children)

There's quite a good Wikipedia article on this.

Amongst all the quiz and reality shows, there are a few intriguing obscure nuggets:

The Golden Girls is an adaptation of a UK TV series, The Brighton Belles.
They've tried to adapt Fawlty Towers three times.
Not the Nine O' Clock News was adapted for the US.
One Foot in the Grave became Cosby - presumably the British version didn't have enough (ie any) rapists.
They tried to adapt Spaced, IT Crowd and the Young Ones but they failed at the pilot stage. This is probably A Good Thing. Although I might see if I can dig out the pilots.

[–] byroon 2 points 11 months ago

Peep Show also notable I think for how many failed attempts there have been to adapt i

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