5 Reasons Why American Remakes Of British Sitcoms Fall Flat

2. What Have They Done To The Storyline?

One remake I have to mention is America's The Office. Ricky Gervais's ground breaking gem sounds like something so good it would be impossible to adapt. When watching the first season of the US version you might find yourself quite underwhelmed. The pilot episode echoes a very similar storyline regarding the downsizing of the branch and the introduction of a new office colleague. You'll find the same pointlessly identical story lines with The Inbetweeners USA and the US pilot of The IT Crowd. Do American audiences really need a remake if the only differences are very slight? The good news is America's version of The Office gets a whole lot better from season two onwards. Regardless of having the typical American "let's run this TV show on for countless amounts of seasons" approach, it works surprisingly well when it picks up. All the characters are different to the originals or at least similar but unique at the same time. The story lines edge more and more away from what was already done in the UK and take their own individual shape. Sitcom adaptors, please take note!