Why are Americans Execs so f'ing stupid?
Trying to remake Spaced is like trying to remake Seinfeild. You can't!
shareI cannot agree more. This will be as bad as the US Red Dwarf. Fox sucks.
shareyou can aaaaall relax!...it didn't get picked up!
MovieChat Forums > Spaced Discussion > Why are Americans Execs so f'ing stupid?
Because most people here have never heard of Spaced. Or most British shows for that matter. And ripping off and dumbing down all the good Brit shows to appeal to lowest common denominators here is seemingly what the suits do best. And FOX... sh*t, don't get me started...
Calm down there, psycho. If you had never heard of Spaced before and saw it on Fox you'd probably laugh your pretentious ass off.
shareWell, if the first five minutes of the pilot are anything to go by you are most DEFINITELY wrong and the psycho was right. I don't care if you're from the past and never even heard of television before, you would not have wanted to watch that.
Anyway, this cake is great. It's so delicious and moist.
edited: accidentally called the 'pilot' the 'trailer'.
Actually I never mentioned how *I* felt about an American version of Spaced, but I'll give you points for spelling "definitely" correctly. I saw the trailer for the show and, as expected, it was beyond painful to watch. But surely even a person such as you, who likes to jump to conclusions about people's motives, understand that there is a certain intolerant smugness that comes from militant fans of shows like this. I was only saying that if y'all never heard of Spaced before and saw the pilot you might just be intrigued enough to watch it.
Of course I wouldn't, but I'm not a slave to alternative culture.
Haha, you got all offended and I didn't even mention your motives. I just said you were wrong if you thought someone could possibly like this show. And you said exactly that. You told someone how they would feel given a situation which can't exist (if Spaced had never existed before this American pilot).
You kinda accused me of something I didn't do and then you did it to the person you responded to first, and now you've don it it to me: "But surely even a person such as you, who likes to jump to conclusions about people's motives..."
Just to sum all that up: You suck.
Thanks.
Anyway, this cake is great. It's so delicious and moist.
They're not all stupid. Some of them are just weak, unimaginitive and desperate to ride to glory on the back of someone elses good ideas before claiming all the credit. Fox seems to breed this mentality. To them nothing is sacred, so no-one is safe..I'm surprised the haven't tried to remake Star Wars. It's just the kind of bone-headed thing they'd do, despite the fact they made the first ones. After all, we're dealing with an entity that clearly doesn't know its arse from its elbow.
sharefear not. this ill conceived mess is doomed to a quick and quiet death:
1. if it's on Fox, it will get canceled almost immediately because that's just what Fox does
2. i've seen all of series one and two and, while i think it's hilarious, 'spaced' isn't nearly as universal as...say...'the office'. some things just don't translate properly (imagine a US version of 'withnail and i')
3. unlike 'the office', 'spaced' DVDs have (unbelievably) still never received US distribution (even after the successes of 'shaun of the dead' and 'hot fuzz') and therefore are virtually unknown here. sales of the UK 'office' DVDs were already through the roof before NBC tried launching the US version.
4. IMO what made this show truly special was its cast and the creative collaboration of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Jessica Hynes. without that, you are left with a pretty weak premise for a sitcom.
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Someone said that it would get canceled quickly, but I think that's nearly equally as bad. Yes I'm a very big fan of the original series, it's tragic that the dvds haven't even been released here in America, but I have still seen every episode multiple times. I don't know though, I mean if the show gets picked up and is canceled, then that's it. Instead of saaaay, not having the show get picked up now, and instead maybe in the near-future have some of the original creators try to work on one for the US?
If they have to make a US adaptation then at least let them try to make it right and get some of the original writers in there.
p.s.
didn't they flat-out not even ask Edgar Wright about it? Bastards.
this is just the same thing that's been going on for years. Most people in the U.S. cant stand watching anything foreign (British tv, Japanese Horror Movies, etc.) that they feel the need to remake it into a much worse version of something that was perfectly fine to begin with. I am an American and being a massive Spaced fan (and anything else Edgar Wright does) will just ignore the show and hope it gets canceled. By the way the U.S. version of the office sucks compared to the British version.
shareYou're crazy with respect to the Office. The American version is smarter in a lot of ways (and dumber in others). It's necessarily more subtle and complex as it does have to support 22 episodes a year.
shareWhy don't they just run the original series in the US?
We have plenty of American shows over here (UK) with things that some exec would think wouldn't 'translate'.
But why not give it a go and see how people respond? I think they might be surprised at how intelligent a lot of their audience actually is, and how people can adapt if it isn't fart jokes with a canned laughter track.
Or maybe i'm wrong?!
deejaydubl: (imagine a US version of 'withnail and i')
There are several buddy movies where they take drugs and go on a road trip....Pineapple Express is the latest.
I was at a local store a few weeks back and happened to glance over at the DVD shelves and, much to my amazement, staring right back at me was the last (and probably only) copy of the complete Series of Spaced. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to buy it. I'm not sure if it was a fluke or if they've finally released the DVD's to the U.S.
shareDon't blame it on being American. Blame it on the few dumb *beep* who can't get a remake right! Sam Raimi is ONE OF THE FEW guys who can get a remake right...HANDS DOWN!
link: http://www.myspace.com/pkgangsta18
I know this is a really old post, but I have to say that Sam Raimi, though I love the guy, screwed up Ju-on: The Grudge when he made The Grudge. I can't blame it all on him, though, because they even had the original director working on it. It really pissed me off though because I figured it had all the right elements (director, Raimi production, and Toshio) to make it fantastic but rather than remaking the film as it was, they made a dumb heroine movie...ugh. I've not watched the directors cut but I doubt it would help much from the scene list I read.
shareSimon Pegg said that he hated the idea of having it adapted, and he said it didn't work out. I don't know if that has changed, but I hope it hasn't. I like both versions of The Office. But the first season of The Office US was pretty bad until it came into it's own. I don't see that happening again.
As long as they don't remake Spaced and Extras I can live.
When i think of the disaster that has been averted by the pilot not being picked up... shudder the US versions of coupling and r.d. were atrocious. What next? McG will want to import black books, father ted, extras
dairy for me, none for the non-believers!
It looks like it is more down to Granada wanting to make a quick buck by selling the rights to the show without consulting any of its creators - nice work guys!!
As for the US execs, they should have more respect for their audience really and not just assume they won't watch anything foreign. It is this kind of jingoism that gives the US a bad name in international affairs. btw has the original spaced ever been aired in the US? Here in the UK we have been waiting for a 3rd series of this work of pure genius for about 8 years now!!
Homercles - yes. Spaced has aired, here in the US.
Once on the now defunct Trio network, then again in 2006, when BBC America showed it.
I was fortunate enough to discover it, during a 2001 trip to the UK. We got in on a Friday afternoon, and I was jet lagged, and didn't want to leave my hotel. So that night, we stayed in and watched TV. I fell in love with Spaced, instantaneously.
Actually, the execs rejected the pilot, and we should be thanking them.
It's Mayor McG, and Andy Barr, we should vent our hatred towards.
I can't believe they're trying to remake spaced, im american by the way, its f ucking fine the way it is. Its gonna suck major donkey balls if they actually go through with making it.
share