The Office And Other British Invaders

The award-winning series, The Office, has become such a staple of NBC's Thursday night lineup, that it's hard to remember that it was once just another in a long line of risky American remakes of hit British TV shows. Looking back, we see that the success of this cross-pond pollination is not unique.

Like America's love of gravy and things baked in pie shells, many of our best TV ideas are borrowed from the British. Just look at three "American" classics - Sanford and Son , All In The Family and Three's Company. They were, in their original Britain, known as Steptoe and Son, Til Death Do Us Part and Man About The House. The UK's reality shows have also provided fertile ground. What Not To Wear, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, Wife Swap, Dancing with the Stars and American Idol are all British ideas we've accepted as our own. 

Of course, there's no shortage of British shows that didn't survive the transplant. As If, Red Dwarf, Coupling, Cold Feet, Viva Laughlin, and a host of others were all canceled in short order. Somehow recent entrant Kath & Kim has been picked up for a second season despite harsh criticism and poor ratings (actually it was originally an Australian show, so maybe they're letting it slip by).

My hopes aren't exactly high for two Brit-coms currently undergoing Americanization. Jennifer Saunder's Absolutely Fabulous (Ab Fab) was not only a hit in its native England, but it also gained a large American following on Comedy Central. And this isn't the first attempt at a remake. In the late 90s, Roseanne Barr and Carrie Fisher tried to bring the series to American audiences. The story about two self-absorbed, boozy broads never got off the ground. Maybe FOX will have more luck. Stranger things have happened.

And I've learned that Kirstie Alley is attached to a remake of Dawn French's The Vicar of Dibley. This quirky 1994 Brit-com told the tale of a new lady vicar at a country parish after the Church of England started allowing women to become ordained. Originally rebuffed by the small town parishioners, her outlandish style and big heart eventually wins them over. Can Kirstie bring the same comic finesse to this rather quaint plot? I guess we'll see. 

Personally, I think most of the original British version of these shows are preferable to their American cousins. And I can't figure out why they never find a larger audience here. Is it "British humor"? Are the accents too hard to understand? Is the slang just too hard to keep up with? I've always enjoyed my British comedies going all the way back to when PBS aired Monty Python, The Good Life and Are You Being Served back in the 70s. Quirky? Sure. But I think they're just ducky.