10 US Adaptations Of UK TV Shows That Sucked
You may have tried to forget about these catastrophes, but we're here to make you suffer.
Original content is dead. These days, nostalgia is the big selling point, so across film, TV and video games, the majority of content being put out is either reboots or remakes of classic IP's. It's easy to understand why. You only have to look at the success of The Office and Shameless to see the merit in adapting British TV for an American audience.
We recently talked about the efforts that failed to get off the ground, but sometimes producers get a lucky break. Unfortunately, what follows is complete garbage. The show either misses the mark completely or fails to translate the various British idioms that are engrained into it.
No matter what the reason, audiences are left wishing they hadn't just watched the half hour of trash the network came up with. Thankfully, the higher ups seem to be learning their lesson and we're seeing less and less adaptations hitting the schedule, but that doesn't erase the terrible efforts that already made it on air.
You may have forgotten all about these shows, and with good reason. Unfortunately, we're here to remind you all that they actually happened because if we do not learn history, we are doomed to repeat it.
10. Cold Feet
Don't let that awful font fool you, Cold Feet was a masterclass in comedy-drama spanning five seasons before going off the air in 2003. Amazingly, after thirteen years off the air, the show was revived for another four seasons before calling it a day earlier this year.
Cold Feet was the closest British TV ever got to replicating the magic of Friends, offering a look into the lives of a slightly older group than normally seen on TV. The show won more than twenty major awards, including a BAFTA for Best Drama in 2001.
So, if Cold Feet was trying to be the British version of Friends, why did American networks decide to Americanise the show? Obviously, NBC saw the connection and figured they're attempt to cash in with disastrous results.
One
critic said the remake gave her "metal hypothermia" and original
actress Fay Ripley, who played Jenny Gifford in the British series, was a
little less eloquent,
calling it "utterly s**t". The show was optioned for eight, hour-long
episodes however, only four of those episodes made it to air before the
show was cancelled due to abysmal ratings.