MovieChat Forums > Allegiance (2015) Discussion > For those of you who think that Allegian...

For those of you who think that Allegiance is just a rip off...

posted 9 years ago by freys2
6 replies | jump to latest

of The Americans, you're wrong. If anything, The Americans is a rip off of Allegiance. I'll explain...

(Under the assumption that you people think that the number of similarities between Allegiance and The Americans constitutes a rip off).

Allegiance is a remake of (NBC bought the rights to) an Israeli show, The Gordin Cell, which came out before The Americans. So in essence, the plot of Allegiance was actually developed before 2012, and the rights were owned by NBC. The Americans actually ripped off the Gordin Cell (for which Allegiance is the foreign adaptation)

That said, imo I don't believe it matters who's ripping off who; the only thing that matters is which show is better. Personally, I think Allegiance is better than The Americans. The writers aren't afraid to kill off main characters, the plot is intelligent (enough), it has comic relief, and it has enough action to keep me entertained. The Americans is dark and brooding (all the time), slow-paced, lacking in action, and not nearly as intelligent as people pretend. Ever since Breaking Bad perfected the art of a slow build-up, for some reason the gen pop has fallen under the fallacy that any show that's slow-paced must automatically be intelligent; how else can they justify to themselves investing all the time they've spent watching?

Unfortunately, it looks like Allegiance is headed for cancellation (if not already). My wishful thinking is that Netflix will pick it up at some point.

[–] johnhelv 9 years ago

Problem with this thread is that you have no way of knowing if the creator of the Americans watched or even heard of the Gordin Cell. I would agree that posters on imdb like to see the term ripoff when the correct term would be similar.

[–] freys2 9 years ago

Aye I should have stopped at the fact that Allegiance is not a rip off of the Americans. That extra bit is conjecture

[–] !!!deleted!!! (41638798) 9 years ago

Allegiance is so very closely aligned with The Gordin Cell, I never considered The Americans to be anything but a coincidence in topic.

Weisberg early on said from his work at the CIA he had thought of this topic of illegals, and then when some were arrested in the U.S. and sent back to Russia he decided to go for the tv show.

Besides, the recruiting of the child doesn't begin in The Americans until Series 3 as only one development.

In the Allegiance and The Gordin Cell, it's the entire central core of the story.

I liked The Gordin Cell better, because it was deeper in plot, the characters were more numerous and complex and deep and mysterious and there were twists and turns and double crosses and triple crosses.

Not to mention which Granny made the show for me! When she tells Eyal's boss on the phone, the general that's head of the Israeli Air Force, that Eyal is in bed sick and he won't be calling him back until his grandma tells him he can (then hangs up on the general), it was a laugh out loud moment.

Too bad Allegiance doesn't have a granny! She was the best thing in The Gordin Cell for me. She was a hard core spy granny.

[–] dimsum73-1 9 years ago

I don't think the OP is good at math. The Americans was already into their third season before this show debuted. So I don't see how it's a ripoff.

[–] freys2 9 years ago

And I don't think you read past the first line of my post...

[–] FireHorse418 9 years ago

Completely agree with your posts, Freys2.
So disappointed Allegiance was cancelled.
I'll watch Americans out of curiosity and boredom but with low expectations. Last season was a yawn.