Would 'Cobra 11' work in North America?
Youtube has given me a taste of the German TV show "Cobra 11" despite the fact I live in Canada. Despite the intense action sequences, on the Western Hemisphere of this planet the show seems to be unheard of. I've heard someone describe it as the German version of the American show "Fastlane" (Despite the fact Cobra 11 pre-dates Fastlane by quite a few years and unlike Fastlane, is still in production).
I wonder if any TV execs from the U.S. (or Canada) have seen this show and wondered if it would work. I hear it's a hit in Germany but differences in taste may hamper its sucess in North America if it were to be imported to this side of the globe. First thing I noticed is after seeing the over-the-top action sequences (What I like the show for) I questioned how much effort was put into things like plot and storyline. True to my prediction, reviews on IMDB that have seen the show claim that those things are poorly implemented at best. Unfortunately, for a lot of people plot and storyline are much more important than crazy special effects and a few people (who are Canadians like me) I have shown Cobra 11 footage to have said it's too far and even stupid.
Being a foreign language show, I wonder if that would pose problems. Unlike other countries, very few foreign shows get imported here (North America) and I wonder if the show could be sucessfully dubbed over into English while preserving lip-syncing, or sub-titled. There has been a history of U.S. networks showing interest in a foreign show but instead of bringing it over create their own version of the show locally (Such as how there is an American version of "The Office".
That being said, how do you think Cobra 11 would fare on American/Canadian soil?