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Americanised tv...

Dizzi

magical internet cat....
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Jun 22, 2016
Watching a red dwarf thingy and they made an american version amd ive heard it happened to being human....and im like why?? Is it cuz americans wont understand the humour or cuz something??
 
Sometimes when a show is successful in a country, other countries will buy/use the 'format' and change it to better fit the demographic for their country in terms of referential humour or historical facts.

Americans may not understand some things that British people will because of things being specific to each country.

For example. There's a scene in a British film called Hot Fuzz and the director said there's a joke many Americans don't understand when it is revealed that Bill Bailey is playing a double part in the film as two different characters.
People who don't know who Bill Bailey is may think it's a comedy double act and that they're identical twins, not that there's just one of him.
With Bill Bailey being a British comedian/actor, more British people than Americans will probably understand the joke.

It often happens with gameshows (which is why they look the same in different countries like Who Wants to be a Millionaire), but shows like The Office have had it happen too.
 
Joined
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First reason is profit. Companies want to emulate the success of those shows in other markets. The second reason is to try and domesticate the show to attempt to get a broader appeal in those new markets. Even from a British > US version point of view, it's happened to a significant amount of shows, I think the success rarely translates however.

Best examples I can recall are The Office and Gordon Ramsay's various shows, however even those have some significant variances from the original works to increase success (i.e. Michael Scott's change in personality/appearance, Gordon Ramsay's US shows being highly dramatised and editted).

On the other hand, US versions of shows like Dad's Army, Red Dwarf, Inbetweeners heavily flopped despite major success in the UK. Wether that's down to those shows just never realistically having a chance in the US market or just pure execution, it's difficult to tell.
 

Princess Niki

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I know they made Doctor Who movies based on 2 of the 1st Doctors two major Dalek stories and Broadchurch has an american version (it has a different name) which I have yet to see, but David Tennant is in both.
 

Jimmu

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I've always thought it is weird to remake sitcom series' for a different country. Sure people might miss some jokes but maybe they'll get a chance to briefly break out of their own bubble and experience some other culture if they just watch the original version. Obviously though I can see how it could be more profitable to sell a remade version in some cases.

This reminds me of when I recently saw a program on YouTube that was a documentary set in Australia. The people in the documentary were speaking english and their accent wasn't even strong, but they were all dubbed over with an American woman's voice (the same woman for every single person). It was incredibly frustrating to watch.
 

Hylian Viking

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I am an American and I understand the comedy of Red Dwarf, I think it is all about basically the Americans trying to mimic what happens across the pond and failing epically. coincidentally there is an American pilot to Red Dwarf, which spoiler alert; is absolutely horrendous, the jokes and acting does not seem to coalesce evenly with American accents. If anything the British version is far superior.
 

Bowsette Plus-Ultra

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I can't speak for the popularity of something like Red Dwarf in the United States, I can confidently say that nothing about its humor would be lost on American audiences. I've always looked at the need to Americanize it as part of the misguided belief that Americans need media centered around them. It reminds me of places like Netflix trying to adapt Death Note for American audiences.
 

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