Opinions are like armpits: Everyone’s got them, and everyone thinks everyone else’s stink. And opinions about TV shows are even more contentious.
TV-watching habits are formed by preference and, oftentimes, culture. However, where a show is conceived does not necessarily determine where it will flourish, and one would think television shows from English-speaking countries like the U.K. might translate seamlessly into U.S. culture. However, it’s not always the language that needs translating.
For British shows like “The IT Crowd,” a comedy about nerds who work in the IT department of a company, and “The Inbetweeners,” a comedy about a group of misfit friends, their American spinoffs were canceled before they could gather a following. Richard Ayoade, who played Maurice Moss from “The IT Crowd,” said he regretted participating in the U.S. spinoff at all.
Perhaps the most famous U.K. spinoff made for the U.S. is “The Office.” Starring Steve Carell as the inimitable Michael Scott, the show first featured Ricky Gervais as David Brent in the U.K. mockumentary. The original version lasted for two six-episode series and had two specials. The U.S. version struggled in its first season to gain traction with viewers, but the show grew from there, creating indelible characters like Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton) and Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling). It seems to this viewer that the “The Office” adapted well to U.S. audiences because the writers had the most boring setting to bounce jokes off of. Unfortunately for diehard fans, the show ended after nine seasons and more than 200 episodes.
Some might not know that Netflix’s hit political drama “House of Cards” was based on the 1990s U.K. miniseries of the same name. The miniseries lasted for four episodes and was ranked No. 84 in the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes by the British Film Institute. It premiered days before a contentious election in the U.K. and appealed to the audience’s fascination with politics. In the U.S. version, Kevin Spacey stars as the character Francis Underwood, the majority whip in the House of Representatives. A tale of revenge, the show follows Underwood and his wife, Claire, as they attempt to take Washington, D.C., by storm. The reason the Netflix version has thrived is probably for the same reason the U.K. version did: People want to look behind the veil of their countries. The U.S. version is expected to return for a fifth season in 2017.
If you’re not prepared, watching Showtime’s “Shameless” can be a shocking experience. The comedy was first a staple in the U.K., lasting for 11 years under the same name, before it came to the U.S. The U.S. version premiered in 2011 and just started its seventh season Oct. 2. In the U.K., the show is considered a black, or dark, comedy, a style of humor that makes light of things thought to be distasteful. While the two shows mirrored each other in the beginning, the U.S. version began to break away from the shadow cast from across the pond, garnering its own audience and story. The American show follows the Gallagher family living in the South Side of Chicago, scamming and scraping by through life. William H. Macy stars as the deadbeat pathologically lying father, Frank, whose alcoholism and drug addiction attempt to topple his family of six children.
Spinoffs come and go. Whether the jokes or storylines will translate is always a question. Sometimes, a series will get lucky with great writers and make its mark on the face of pop culture in countries all across the world.
