This news makes me want to shower.
Word is out that Fox is currently prepping a US television remake of the classic UK comedy Spaced for audiences here. Why is this a bad thing? The Office made the transition successfully and we're actually looking forward to the upcoming adaptation of The Thick of It so why not this? Well, first of all I've just got a whole lot more faith in the people behind Arrested Developement - who are doing the Thick of It adaptation - than I do in anything inolving McG whose company is behind this. And second, all of those adaptations involved the original show creators. Gervais has been actively involved in the US Office as is Iannucci with The Thick of It. This one? The Variety announcement says that "the extent of [writer / star Simon] Pegg's and [series director Edgar] Wright's involvement is still unclear". Can't speak for Pegg on this one without confirming with him first but as far as Wright goes, he's never even been contacted.
Who has been contacted? Will and Grace's Adam Barr. Yeah. Spaced handled by McG and a guy from Will and Grace without the involvement of the original director. Way to crap on a classic, Fox.
Total horses**t. I don't subscribe to the knee-jerk McG hatred that seems to be the usual reaction to the mere mention of his name - I thought the first CHARLIE'S ANGELS film was quite good for what it was, though the sequel just didn't work - but this is a really, really awful idea. If it ain't broke, don't fix it - and SPACED is about as far away from "broke" as it gets. The only good thing I can say about this is that it might lead to some much-deserved US exposure for the real show. I know plenty of people who got into THE OFFICE (UK) after seeing the American version.
Of course, with the crap writers of the crap WILL AND GRACE on board, it might have the opposite effect. Actually, I'll cut this rant short because just thinking about SPACED in the hands of anyone involved with WILL AND GRACE makes me very, very depressed. Hopefully it A: never makes it to air or B: it's cancelled after a week or two.
This is the single most upsetting thing I've ever read on Twitch.
if you look at edgar wrights blog you'll quickly get a sense that, even though it's reasonably frequently broadcast on american tv, america at large has a similar atitude to british comedy as it does towards foreign films. there's a small audience for it, but unless it's americanised, it simply isn't acceptable.
Never understood the McG hatred. I love the Charlies Angels films but I have never seen any of the TV shows he's behind.
As for Spaced, I'm ashamed to say (at least on this site) that I have never gotten in to that show. I tried and it just didn't work for me. That's why Shaun of the Dead was such a pleasant surprise.
But the remake doesn't bode well for me, I love Will and Grace but somehow I don't think this will work, unless the writing is stellar and the cast supperb.
McG's pilot for Chuck was fantastic work. His sensibilities are probably a better match than most.
Not that it'll be good, but less because of McG and more because it's a show without a high concept that executives and audiences can understand.
But if it clears the way for the original to finally come out here? Necessary evil.
So, people like matrix-esque annoying tricks? bad humour? idiotic characters? That would be the only reason why someone would like Charlie's Angels, both films, because they were exactly the same damn thing.
well said Ard/
Ardvark, I completely agree.
I mean, what exactly are they wanting to remake? The zany characters? The quirky sense of humor? The insane plots? All of the above? You can actually recreate all of that without a "Spaced" remake. Just take the basic premise of a man and a woman feigning an intimate relationship to rent an apartment and go from there. For us, it'll be apparent that they're ripping off "Spaced", but most people won't be aware of that, and legally there's nothing BBC can do.
I really think they just want people to associate a classic show with theirs, meaning that if "Spaced" was exceptional then it's American counterpart must be as well. Perhaps if they just started from scratch with a similar idea, then they'd have their own series, no affiliation with "Spaced" and less of a chance of pissing off "Spaced" fans.
But Swarez is right. Maybe, just maybe, it'll be good. But it can also be good without being a remake.
And on behalf of "Spaced" fans, I'd just like to end by saying: "Hello, Brian."
They did WHAT!!??!
Well Sarkoffagus might be right.
I just saw an ad for a new show, internet only I think, called The "IT Room" about a group of IT workers in a big company. Nerd humor galore and a monkey.
Sounds and looks awefully like the IT Crowd, aside from the monkey.
Swarez, I'm pretty sure "The IT Room" is just a marketing campaign for Dell computers very thinly disguised as a web-series. Looks more like a malformed hybrid of The Office and those old Jimmy Fallon SNL sketches than a ripoff of The IT Crowd.
You may be slightly optimistic to learn that Richard Ayoade will be reprising his role as Moss, but I'm not holding my breath for this one to be any good. Besides, there's a possibility NBC is going to pull the plug on it before it's even aired:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i8cf59c5ed3dd83b7701493d4698eecb9
Oh, and I was wrong in my earlier post, apparently America has tried and failed to remake Fawlty Towers not once, not twice, but three different times:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawlty_towers#Remakes_and_inspiration
Something that won't translate because of fundamental difference in the ways American and British TV enterprises operate is that the BBC frequently commissions shows which are designed to run a set arc (6 / 12 episodes). American shows are commissioned to go for the brass ring - syndication (as many episodes over as many years as possible).
SPACED didn't feature the tightest arc over its run, but it did grow its characters and showcased the evolution of Tim and Daisy's relationship, bringing things to a sensible conclusion in a sensible amount of runtime (I'd sight the original OFFICE as an example of a series which played an arc to perfection across its run). Think about all the superfluous directions long-running dramatic / comedic American programs take - FRIENDS and FRAISER come to mind very quickly.
SPACED's creators worked their limits to the fullest while providing an actual closed-end story over the show's run - not just 30 minutes of disconnected laughs each week. That attitude goes out the window from day one in America.
I noticed people here saying how they risk the wrath of the BBC. No they don't.
Spaced was comissioned and funded by Paramount UK, LWT productions for the Channel 4 Television Corporation.
Now from the comments I can only assume that this is shown on BBC America (Im in UK so i dont know). They don't own the rights anyway.
If something goes so incredible wrong as to ruin the heritage of spaced, they will have Paramount down their thoats....followed by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg.