fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #1005 ]

[ SECRET POST #1005 ]

⌈ Secret Post #1005 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

101.

__________________________________________________

102.

[Albert Ellis/Carl Rogers]

__________________________________________________

103.

[Soul Eater]

__________________________________________________

104.

[Loony Toons]

__________________________________________________

105.

[Glee]

__________________________________________________

106.

[Dreamcatcher]

__________________________________________________

107.

[Dollhouse]

__________________________________________________

108.

[Air Force One]

__________________________________________________

109.

[Folklore]

__________________________________________________

110.

[Final Fantasy 9/Phoenix Wright/Mega Man/Gurren Lagann]

__________________________________________________

111.

[Patrick Stewart/Jeremy Northam/Hugh Laurie/Cary Grant]

__________________________________________________

112. [too big]

__________________________________________________

113.

[07-Ghost]

__________________________________________________

114.

[Supernatural]

__________________________________________________

115.

[Charm School]

__________________________________________________

116.

[Avatar]

__________________________________________________

117.

[Bosom Buddies]

__________________________________________________

118.

[Fame]

__________________________________________________

119.

[X-Factor]

__________________________________________________

120.

[Kev and Alice]

__________________________________________________

121.

[Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle]

__________________________________________________

122.

[Scott Gairdner]

__________________________________________________

123.

[Zero Punctuation, Guitar Hero World Tour, Neon Genesis Evangelion]

__________________________________________________

124.

[Questionable Content]

__________________________________________________

125.

[Homeward Bound]

__________________________________________________

126.

[Supernatural/Pita-Ten]

__________________________________________________

127.

[Lena Headey]

__________________________________________________

128.

[Veronica Mars]

__________________________________________________

129.

[Last Days, deleted scene]

__________________________________________________

130.

[Supernatural, The Amazing Race]

__________________________________________________

131.

[The Dresden Files]

__________________________________________________

132.

[Song of Ice and Fire]

__________________________________________________

133.

[The Vampire Diaries]

__________________________________________________

134.

[Supernatural]

__________________________________________________

135.

[Juno]

__________________________________________________

136.

[Elijah Wood]

__________________________________________________

137.

[Life on Mars]

__________________________________________________

138.

[Days of Our Lives]

__________________________________________________

139.

[Good Omens]

__________________________________________________

140.

[The Mentalist]

__________________________________________________

141.

[Supernatural]

__________________________________________________

142.

[Lie to Me]

__________________________________________________

143.

[Supernatural]

__________________________________________________

144.

[Burn Notice]

__________________________________________________

145.

[Fullmetal Alchemist]

__________________________________________________

146.

[3rd Rock from the Sun]

__________________________________________________

147.

[Supernatural]

__________________________________________________

148.

[Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog]

__________________________________________________

149.

[Song of Ice and Fire]

__________________________________________________

150.

[Gyro Gearloose/Uncle Scrooge]

__________________________________________________

151. http://i37.tinypic.com/acwnrc.png
[porn... I think?, A Mate]

__________________________________________________

152.

__________________________________________________

153.

__________________________________________________

154.

__________________________________________________

155.

__________________________________________________

156.

__________________________________________________

157.

__________________________________________________

158.

__________________________________________________

159.

__________________________________________________

160.

__________________________________________________

161.

__________________________________________________

162.

__________________________________________________

163.

__________________________________________________

164.

__________________________________________________

165.

__________________________________________________

166.

__________________________________________________

167.

__________________________________________________

168.

__________________________________________________

169.

__________________________________________________

170.

__________________________________________________

171.

__________________________________________________

172.

__________________________________________________

173.

__________________________________________________

174.

__________________________________________________

175.

__________________________________________________

176.

__________________________________________________

177.

__________________________________________________

178.

__________________________________________________

179.

__________________________________________________

180.

__________________________________________________

181.

__________________________________________________

182.

__________________________________________________

183.

__________________________________________________

184.

__________________________________________________

185.

__________________________________________________

186.

__________________________________________________

187.

__________________________________________________

188.

__________________________________________________

189.

__________________________________________________

190.

__________________________________________________

191.

Notes:

New affiliates I forgot to announce!

wow_secrets - for all you World of Warcrafters.
Accompanying

startrek_secret,

st_secrets_arc - all the ST secrets from FS in a convenient archive!

Secrets Left to Post: 10 pages, 250 secrets from Secret Submission Post #144.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've not watched the US version yet so this is by no means me getting on its case, because I agree with your overall comment OP. People should just let people who love things get on with it. If they don't like something they don't have to watch.

BUT I think from a UK person's point of view, it does sometimes get annoying when our shows are remade in the US all the time because they very rarely translate well. It's wrong to assume something you haven't seen would fit that pattern but I am guessing that's where some of the UK-based hate might be coming from. People are very protective of LoM over here so perhaps they see a remake as a slight against the original as well.

However, for all I know the US LoM is one of those remakes that actually works. So I won't assume anything about the actual show.

^this, because the reverse never happens. Good US shows get screened in the UK as they are - there's no expectation that they should be 'translated'. It's annoying because it's a form of US cultural imperialism - the networks are basically declaring the products of other cultures to be not fit for your consumption - and as a US fan it's probably best for you to try not to take the annoyance that causes personally, or as a slur against your version of the show.

I'm sure this isn't the case, but if there aren't any non-US English language TV/movies you like, you should probably ask yourself a few questions about why not.

^^ Both of these. I'm American but as it turns out most of my favorite shows are British and it's just the *idea* that a show needs to be re-made for American audiences when the original versions speak the same dang language, it's just offensive. I heard that US LoM was pretty good, but it still bugged me that it had to be made at all.

Also, who the hell is still talking about this? I think everyone needs to move on. UK LoM still is awesome, US LoM still got canceled, nothing to see here, move along.

Amen to this. Couldn't agree more!

How many UK shows do you know of which have been remade? I can only think of the Office, LoM, Coupling, and Queer as Folk (and Antiques Roadshow, but that doesn't really count, and it airs alongside the UK version). I can think of many more that aired unaltered--Red Dwarf, Dr. Who, Torchwood, Monarch of the Glen, Little Britain, Monty Python, the originals of the remade shows... a bunch, really, (to say nothing of the anglophilia fueled by Harry Potter and the fact that 90% of our public television miniseries are Andrew Davies imports) though presumably not nearly as many as the US exports. Anyway, I think it's a stretch to call a handful of examples "all the time" and then say they very rarely "translate well" when several have been hits and LoM got good reviews but not enough viewers to keep it on the air.

The US Life on Mars was very good, and I actually prefer it to the original. It's just a personal preference; I liked the characters and pacing better on the US version. That isn't always the case for me and I understand why someone else might prefer the original, but I don't understand why the mere existence of a remake is so offensive to some. It gets tiresome when people complain about the same things when a) remakes are a rare occurrence, and b) they have everything to do with the profit model of US TV rather than "translating" it or dumbing it down for a US audience. It's the reason Dr. Who would never be remade here but the Office and LoM both had to be if they were going to air on network TV.

It's been going on for years and years and years... Many iconic American TV shows, the ones most Americans can reference are remakes of Brit shows like Archie Bunker ('Til Death Do Us Part), Sanford & Son (Steptoe and Son) and even Three's Company (Robin's Nest).

Hell, the last failed Bill Cosby show was an attempted remake of One Foot in the Grave.

Hell, the last failed Bill Cosby show was an attempted remake of One Foot in the Grave.

IIIIIIIIIII DON'T BELIEVE IT

Ah, now that you mention it, I did know about Sanford & Son, but not the others. Point taken. I was thinking more of shows people from my generation might have watched, post-1990 or so (not many people my age know who Archie Bunker is). I think the context is different, though. That is, US Life on Mars was a true remake--it takes the plot and characters basically whole-cloth from the original, whereas Sanford and Sons take the character archetypes, interprets them for the US context (black instead of working-class/lower-class Brits), places them in roughly similar situations, but writes different episodes based around those characters. Those earlier shows seem to be more like UK Law and Order vs. US Law and Order, or even old Battlestar Galactica vs. new.

That is, US Life on Mars was a true remake--it takes the plot and characters basically whole-cloth from the original...

No, it doesn't. Having watched both versions the plot is *not* very close to the original plot and nearly all of the characters are distorted, renamed and re-purposed for no apparent reason. Changing the pop culture references makes sense, but an astronaut? REALLY?

I think it's absolutely fine that someone would prefer the US version, hell, why not, there are some people who prefer the US version of Queer as Folk (although I can't help but think the Yorkshire saying behind that title isn't known here) and the US/Canadian version of Touching Evil (Robson Green's other detective show along with Wire In The Blood) was actually pretty good.

I don't like "knee-jerk" critical responses of any kind. That said, in the case of Life On Mars, I'm not reacting to it being a "remake" on principal at all. I watched the US version and hoped they might do something interesting. They had my good will. They proceeded to destroy that good will by taking something that was brilliant and innovative television and attempting to turn it in to a bog standard US detective show with dodgy casting and "added time travel."

they did change the “big reveal” because they wanted the US version to not have a “spoiled” ending (and I think they were trying to avoid "real" sci-fi since there's such a stigma, so there were limited options that didn't involve time travel or a coma). That didn’t bother me at all, since the actual explanation of the mystery is not really important in either version. Both were pretty superfluous to the story for me; they’re just MacGuffins, though I actually liked the US explanation. They did a good job of dropping inscrutable little hints for it and it was vaguely novel. I suppose it’s just different framing, because I think they’re quite similar and are telling the same story-within-the-story. Anyway, if you watched the show and didn’t like it, that’s totally fine. You have an informed opinion, and don't seem to mind that other people like it. I’ve seen people say similar things having never seen the show, or complain about its mere existence, or belittle fans of the remake. The elitism of that attitude bothers me.

The IT Crowd, Peep Show.. Tons of UK shows have been attempted, maybe even made a pilot for US TV but those pilots have been so horrendous they've given up on it.

It's not a stretch because okay, only a handful have been remade but also, only a handful of British shows are good. So they make the really good shows, and they rarely succeed. For every The Office there's 3 or 4 total failures.

Little Britain didn't air unaltered, they made a separate series called Little Britain America. Same with the Ali G show. Those were good because they had the same makers as the British shows. The humor worked because everybody knew what they were doing, what they were going for.

I can't speak to failed pilots, because I don't follow TV closely enough to know what's been opted and dropped. But yes, several of the reboots have been atrocious. Definitely not disputing that. But several have been popular, and several more have been truly iconic if you count the series pointed out to me in an above comment. I don't think remakes are a "good" thing, I think they're neutral. They don't effect the original, after all, and if they're terrible then they disappear into the ether, and if they're good then there's more of something I enjoy out there. (I was a fan of the UK Office and was skeptical of the reboot, but I find it enjoyable; similarly I'm really fond of Wire in the Blood and am skeptical of the--if the pilot is picked up--remake, but I'll probably give it a shot). Perhaps writers should be more original, but that's a separate issue from whether I liked US Life on Mars on its own merits.

I'm pretty sure Little Britain did air in its original format on BBC America. Little Britain America aired on HBO.

Not joining in on the debate as I'm pretty much on the fence in this one (can completely understand the knee-jerk reaction against remakes but it all comes down to money and US scheduling eventually - there are only 16 episodes of UK LoM total, that's not even a full American season!), but just to say that they did try to remake a US Red Dwarf. It was apparently truly, truly dreadful. The guy who played Cat in the remake was Sweet in the musical episode of Buffy which is the only other thing I know about it!

I would point out that most of the UK shows that air unaltered in America air on channels like BBC America which not everyone has and not many people watch unless they're deliberately looking for British TV. To make it on to network television, like you said, they simply have to have more episodes. However good the original is, most British shows have 6-12 episodes a series which doesn't fit the American schedules.

Oh, god, that Red Dwarf remake sounds beyond-words awful. It’s a little unfathomable that anyone would think that was a good idea or worth the money to film. I’ve had cable off and on for eight years, and didn’t get BBC America until a couple months ago. I think a lot of markets still don’t carry it. I watch basically all the BBC shows I like on DVD or streaming Netflix. I get the knee-jerk reaction, too, (understand it as well as get it myself sometimes) and I don’t care if someone says they like the original and don’t want to watch the remake, or watches it and doesn’t like it. What bugs me is people who are rude to remake fans, or cheer for its cancellation, or complain about how Americans “won’t” watch the original, or that they’re dumbing it down (when they’ve never seen it). I wish PBS picked up more of these shows so they’d air on network TV, but they don’t, and few have access to where they do air. It would be nice if people could live and let live, or just encourage fans to check out the original without being catty.

Hey, I wasn't saying those things. Perhaps I wasn't clear. I was saying that's what I've heard/the general impression I get when people are complaining about US remakes. I think sometimes people feel something is lost. The show is their precious and anything that changes the original format just isn't the same/is being dumbed down/whatever excuse they use.

Anyway, in addition to your list off the top of my head I know several attempts were made to remake Fawlty Towers - and they all bombed, which does suggest to me that for that show in particular there were issues with changing the setting.

Also good point on Doctor Who but remember the TVM was made to attract American audiences and I see plenty of bitching about that (and it's not even a remake), not that I'm among that number because I think that in general the plot would've sucked no matter where you set it!

I get the sentiment that the original is precious and they aren't interested in giving the remake a chance, it's just that a vocal minority is a lot nastier than that for no reason. (And also there are apparently several recent remakes I never knew existed, some of which are more ridiculous than others.)

Anyway, remaking Fawlty Towers is abominably stupid. It's so quintessentially British I don't know who could have thought that anything that even vaguely resembled the original would have the same effect set in America. The original is charming and has an audience in the states (iirc it aired on Comedy Central; it was on when I was a kid). Most Americans I know who like those types of UK shows like them *because* they have a palpable flavor that's different from the norm in the US. Fawlty Towers US makes much less sense to me than adapting something like Queer as Folk where the characters and premise translate fairly readily. Comedy is more national-border-bound than drama. Though--perhaps because I live in a country of cultural imperialism--I can't really think of any American shows which are so quintessentially American that they couldn't be transposed and remade in the UK.

I don't follow Dr. Who so I didn't know they have changed the style to try to attract a US audience, but that's a stupid decision as well. (Do you mean the past 3 (?) seasons with the 9th and 10th Doctors or just more recent Tennant seasons?) It will never be totally mainstream here because it doesn't have decades of history and nostalgia, it's sci-fi, it airs on cable, and the effects would be considered low-budget by network standards. It already had a good niche US following and wasn't likely to get dramatically more on a sci-fi cable station. So it's just poor a decision to try to tailored it for the US given that it has such a strong following in the UK and was already modestly successful as-is in the states.

The "TVM" refers to the TV Movie, which features the 8th Doctor (Paul McGann). It was made as a joint venture to gauge interest in the US for Doctor Who. It bombed. The Ninth and Tenth (and soon Eleventh) are back to being under total BBC control and made for British audiences.

Oh no I didn't mean the new post 2005 Doctor Who, which is awesome and retains much of the spirit of the original show while updating it. I meant the TV movie that was made in 1996. Some fans like to pretend it never happened and "Americanised" is one of the accusations levelled at it.

You have no idea how much I hate to even mention this but yes, the networks have been considering remaking Doctor Who and no cultural switch was needed for shows like Coupling to make sense either.

That's baffling. Remaking a series that's already aired in the US and is already as popular as it's going to get with its target audience is just patently stupid. Whoever proposed that should be shot. So should whoever okays it on the British end. (Though theoretically a BBC/US Network team up to produce a bigger-budget Who with the British cast to be aired concurrently could be interesting. They already do similar partnerships for the PBS miniseries.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #1005 ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject