The US Crowd!!!!11111

Sun, 17/12/2006 - 08:44 — John Hoare

That's such a clever title. I'm brilliant. Possibly.

So, whilst we're waiting for news on the second series of The IT Crowd in the UK, I thought I'd better mention something announced a while back - that NBC have a version of the show in development. The names involved (David Guarascio, Moses Port, Joe Port, and Joe Wiseman) mean nothing to me, but have been confirmed by Graham as being involved; it also seems that Graham has some form of creative control, although exactly how much control and input he will have is unclear.

The standard response to this kind of thing is "they'll just screw it up", and "why don't they come up with their own ideas"? On the former, yes, there's a long lineage of UK sitcoms transferring to the US, being fucked up, and failing miserably. But there's a far larger lineage of original US sitcoms debuting, being fucked up, and failing miserably. I'm not convinced that whether a sitcom originates from the UK or not has anything to do with the success or faliure of a series - it's all to do with whether you've got a good team making the show.

Let's not forget that it's not unknown for UK sitcoms to work when transferred to the US - The Office being a recent success, obviously, but also shows such as Sanford and Son (Steptoe and Son), All in the Family (Till Death Us Do Part), Dear John, Cosby (One Foot In The Grave), and so on. True, the successes are few and far between, but in percentage terms, I'd be willing to bet the faliure rate isn't hugely different from the number of failed US-originated shows. The whole thing strikes me as a myth, in much the same way that "Oh, British sitcoms made into films were rubbish" is.

As for the "why don't they come up with their own ideas" - if American sitcoms simply took the UK scripts, changed a few placenames, and that was it - fine, it would be a waste of time. But US television production is very different from the UK; the number of episodes they have to produce means that the show would have to find its own direction very quickly. You only have to compare the UK episodes and the US episodes of The Office to see this. The IT Crowd is a very strong idea for a sitcom; as Graham says on the DVD commentary, the idea of the show was like a big bag of money lying on the floor, and all he had to do was pick it up. There's plenty of potential for the US version to go in its own, successful direction.

Which is why, to be honest - I hope Graham doesn't have much input into the show. I think the UK version of the show is fucking brilliant; and, perhaps selfishly, I'd rather he concentrated on the UK show. As The Office proved, for the US version of the show to succeed, it needs to find its own direction. And much as I adore Graham's work - once the show is set up, he just isn't needed for that.

Comments

John Hoare / Tue, 19/12/2006 - 13:48 / # It *is* weird that NBC were interested after six episodes. Six fantastic episodes, I grant you, but still - it usually takes a at least two series...

John Hoare / Fri, 22/12/2006 - 09:44 / # I didn't take to Saxondale at all. I watched the first episode and it made me smile twice and not laugh at all. So I didn't bother with the rest of them. Should I have given it more of a chance? Probably - from what I've heard, it got more enjoyable further into the run - partly because it did actually get better, and partly because you got to know the characters. But I'll freely admit that I get very impatient with comedy. If something doesn't make me laugh in the first episode, likely as not I'll never try it again.