12 TV Sitcom Remakes That Completely Bombed

Following the lesser known motto (which I just made up) of “If you balls it up twice, go for the hat trick”, ITV rounded off the 90s with another remake of an American sitcom. This time taking on Fox’s period comedy That 70s Show less than a year after its 1998 debut. And in remake tradition, this one-series definitely-not-a-wonder made it to ten episodes before being cancelled. Which would be a little more impressive if thirteen episodes hadn’t been made.

Adapted by Peep Show writers Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain; Days Like These was an almost word-for-word and shot-for shot transplant of That 70s Show with some slightly different character names, and references to Doctor Who, The Wurzels and the three day week. A noticeable flaw since, beyond the superficial, there’s nothing to make it feel like England in the 70s. Something that was probably a reason for the show’s less than warm reception.

And lo and behold; American 70s nostalgia with some token UK references glued on didn’t go down well with ITV’s audience, and Days Like These performed so poorly that it was quietly taken off the air with three episodes unbroadcast. And with no repeats or home releases since then, it appears that ITV are planning to ignore it for the foreseeable future.