I'm happy this didn't go much further.
In my list of successful American remakes:
* Wilfred
* The Office
In my list of awful American remakes:
* Dinner for Schmucks
* The ring
* Old Boy
The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
111–120 of 281 posts
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#112I'm pretty sure this pilot is the same script as episode 1 of the original UK series. Clearly someone felt the need to recast and reshoot the series with US actors (plus Richard Ayoade), like they did the US Office. I wonder if that's old thinking (or wasn't actually needed) - the amount of UK TV that's now on Netflix and other OTT platforms seems to suggest that US audiences are open to enjoying original UK series w…
A lot of people in the US would turn it off because "I can't understand what they are saying with their funny accent". The reason they get away with being on Netflix is that they don't need to be super popular to be worth it for the streaming networks if they pick it up for a cheap price. Linear TV had a limited number of time slots and had to be very choosey with what they put on. It needed to have massive appeal in…
It's funny because that show was super popular in France, via subtitles.
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#113Well, we didn't get this one, but at least McHale was free to work on Community!
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#114It's really hard for me to imagine any alternate scenario where the IT crowd could be improved upon. It was kind of a perfect storm - Richard Ayoade during the only time he ever was or ever will be likable or funny, Christopher Morris back when was one of the funniest people on earth, Matt Berry just being absolutely brilliant and completely stealing the show, the cultural "geek" zeitgest of the time, etc etc. It's n…
What's wrong with Ayoade? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wePK__NJ3uw
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#115Too bad they didn't make it to episode 2. I feel like "they're not just THE emergency services, they're YOUR emergency services" is one of the most British things I can imagine. (I say that as an American, though, so I don't really know what I'm talking about.) The IT Crowd always impressed me with their set design. I was working as "IT" at the time, and our office was nearly identical to the one in Season 1. We had…
How did you battle condensation on a super chilled hard drives?
OC did mention a plastic bag. And I bet any condensation would only happen after the copy happened.
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#116The IT Crowd is one of my favorite shows. I watched this awhile back and I was really sad to think, “well good thing that wasn’t made.”
Although if there had only ever been a pilot of The Office (US) I would've felt the same way about that, whereas once it got going I could appreciate it as 'different'. (To be blunt, in the beginning it's just the same jokes with far worse delivery.)
If you've watched the pilots of The Office made in different languages they are all different. The US IT Crowd pilot was the exact same plot.
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#117My opinion is that the original British IT crowd just had actors that were of a different caliber. It's painful to watch all the actors around Richard Ayoade in the American version.
I watched the first bit, but Jen definitely doesn't exude the same weird combination of entitlement and despair. Her entering the basement looks more like an anonymous blonde in a slasher movie, and Reynholm's character is so flat that you start noticing the laughing track. Roy is fine, although he lacks the pent-up anger turned into almost active aggressiveness that made the UK character.
I think Roy was the worst. They turned him into a smug, entitled American.
I think the actor playing Reynholm was the best of the worst but I agree that he didn't manage to get the confident over-the-top intensity that Chritopher Morris had.
Jen wasn't horrible but I pretty much agree with your sentiment.
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#118Terrible casting
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think my issue with the UK office is that it was just too bleak and dull to be funny. I got the jokes, but it didn't make laugh, just made me kind of feel worse about life. This is not a "UK comedy is has more flawed characters" thing either, IT Crowd, Peep Show were full of terrible, flawed, miserable human beings but there were still some drama & larger than life aspects to those shows that gave it some element o…
> UK office [..] was just too bleak and dull > [..] has no relief, it's just pure misery. That's kind of the entire point mate. There is plenty of relief, but it's not your typical American sitcom relief.
I think Bill Bryson commented that, in the US, the dominant culture is an excited hope about how much better the future will be. In the UK, our culture is a mild surprise that things aren’t worse than they are right now.
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think my issue with the UK office is that it was just too bleak and dull to be funny. I got the jokes, but it didn't make laugh, just made me kind of feel worse about life. This is not a "UK comedy is has more flawed characters" thing either, IT Crowd, Peep Show were full of terrible, flawed, miserable human beings but there were still some drama & larger than life aspects to those shows that gave it some element o…
> UK office [..] was just too bleak and dull > [..] has no relief, it's just pure misery. That's kind of the entire point mate. There is plenty of relief, but it's not your typical American sitcom relief.
Yeah look I understand the UK is a bleak and miserable place filled with bleak and miserable people, mate. But to those who have dwelt in lands with sunshine and hope the original Office is a shock to the senses.