5 Best & 5 Worst US TV Remakes

2. Viva Laughlin (Blackpool) An oddball mix of comic drama and song-and-dance musical, Blackpool was a unique and enjoyably eclectic BBC drama from 2004. Boasting excellent performances from David Morrissey and David Tennant, Blackpool was centered on Casino owner Ripley Holden, who becomes embroiled in a police investigation after a teenager is murdered in his casino. The acclaimed serial was a hit in both the UK and US, where it was renamed Viva Blackpool and went on to win several awards and accolades. Three years later in 2007, CBS announced that it was to remake Blackpool as Viva Laughlin, ill-advisedly moving the drama to the glaringly obvious setting of Las Vegas. Even though the remake stayed true to the original €“ bringing across the spontaneous musical numbers and murder mystery plot €“ Viva Laughlin was crippled by lousy dialogue and cheesy acting. Not even a highly publicised appearance by none other than Hugh Jackman could save Viva Laughlin, and it was cancelled after a mere two episodes. The remaining 11 episodes of the season were thrown to the TV scrapheap €“ simply to avoid any further embarrassment for CBS.