12 TV Sitcom Remakes That Completely Bombed

Proving that the West doesn’t have a monopoly on horrible remakes, this Belarusian sitcom was a remake of The Big Bang Theory. With the slight problem that it didn’t have any kind of approval from CBS. But little things like intellectual property laws weren’t going stop our friends in Belarus from creating... television.

The first episode seems to be a fairly close translation of the original but with the characters living in a dormitory while building nuclear plant. Episode one sees all the characters meet as scientists Seva (Leonard) and Alesj (Sheldon) arrive at the nuclear plant, and Seva falls for cafeteria worker Nataša (Penny). One notable difference though is the addition of an older sixth character named Oganes, who is one of the plant’s administrators and close friends with Borya (Howard) and Kolya (Raj). The first episode also focuses more on the character's living arrangements rather than following the plot of Leonard and Sheldon trying to get Penny's TV back.

After discovering The Theorists, Big Bang creator Chuck Lorre was eager to take legal action but discovered that it would be almost impossible thanks to STV, the channel that made The Theorists, being operated by the Belarusian government. But Lorre was about to find help from an unlikely place.

When it came out that the show was in fact an unlicensed knock-off; the cast unanimously resigned, led by Dmitiry Tankovich (Seva). With no cast, The Theorists was forced off the air. Turns out we lied earlier. The lack of rights was actually pretty massive stumbling block. Eventually.

What other sitcom remakes were complete failures? Let us know in the comments section below...