Americanizing Other Nation's Shows: BBC Being Human vs. SyFy Being Human?

[Waldo]

Originally Posted by Linus

If that (accents and other cultural dynamics) were true then Coronation Street wouldn't be so popular in Canada.

I think there is far more of an incidence of xenophobia in the US than in Canada. To me, it stems from both the desire to not expose Americans to different cultures *AND* Americans not wanting to be exposed to those cultures. It's interesting that the US is ok with bringing Canadian shows to the US because Canada is often viewed as the "51st State of the US".

UK and Australian cultures are different but it's not 100%. For example, Doctor Who has remained entirely UK and the US has never attempted to remake it even with the large following it has (although Torchwood, a spin-off of Doctor Who, will be a co-production with Channel 4 [??] and Starz, keeping many of the main original actors).

I suppose for me it's still a cultural adjustment and I admit to missing the multicultural view I get from daily, regular TV in Canada (not specialty channels but regular from the air channels).

I know next to nothing about what is broadcast on television in Canada. But you asked about the dynamics of this in the US. And I stand by my answer. Even your xenophobic comments reinforce exactly what I'm saying. I worked in the film distribution industry for years and while I've seen it get better in the decade+ since then, it holds true today.

Dr. Who certainly has a following, but to say that it's *popular* in the US would be vastly overstating it.

Here's a little something for you to chew on - each of these shows has been remade for the UK:

Married With Children
The Golden Girls
That 70s Show
Law & Order
Mad About You
Who's The Boss
Maude
Good Times

And I can't even count the number of "reality" series and game shows.


AND... here's a little gem that just floors me. The Nanny, with everyone's favorite nasal-affected actress, Fran Drescher, was shown in over 90 different countries, but TEN countries felt it worthwhile to make localized versions: Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Russia, and Turkey.