12 TV Sitcom Remakes That Completely Bombed
9. Brighton Belles (ITV, 1993)
When a sitcom runs for seven seasons and 180 episodes, a foreign producer is going to try and jump on the bandwagon at some point. It’s basically a law of nature. Enter ITV with their remake of US house-share comedy The Golden Girls, set in Brighton and starring Sheila Hancock, Wendy Craig, Sheila Gish, and Jean Boht as the middle-aged housemates. But, much like in Brighton itself, the sun didn’t shine on this remake; faring so poorly in the ratings that it was axed six episodes into its only series, with the remaining four episodes being quietly aired a year later.
Some have suggested that its failure was at least partly because The Golden Girls had already been broadcast on Channel 4 for years beforehand. Something that, despite it never becoming a big success, made Brighton Belles basically redundant. Especially since not only did Brighton Belles use the original Golden Girls scripts, but ITV jumped the gun and aired the pilot while the original show still had a month left in its final season on Channel 4.
Oh and if you want to look up the show yourself, make sure to Google “The Brighton Belles” and not just “Brighton Belles”. Unless you happen to live on the south coast of England and are looking for either the WI, a local choir, or some... paid female company.