Comments on: pondering the deep questions

By: damselfly

damselfly — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 21:30:22 +0000

Thanks all, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one confused by this state of affairs! I was also thinking maybe I was mean to consider it a situation of sanitising US television of everything non-US, but it seems I'm not alone in that thought either. Which is both comforting, and not a little scary.

@ Liz: LOL – exactly. I have nothing against selling our shows to the US – I hope to sell my books there one day, after all. It's just this fascination with translating it and remaking it and turning it into an American show which perplexes me. Scrubbing their media of anything that might mention a world beyond the borders of the US…

@ Gregory: I'm thankful I know plenty of US people (through the skiffy and net scene, it has to be said!) who prefer the original version of things. I am saddened and appalled that we have sold Kath & Kim to you guys and you've remade it – it's very, very ocker, and I know plenty of Australians (myself included) who don't actually enjoy it. I don't think it will translate well. On the other hand, to think you're missing out on shows like…oh, hey… hang on, I'll think of an Aussie tv show, just give me a minute… At least you guys haven't tried remaking Doctor Who, although I hear Life on Mars fell to the trend!

By: Gregory

Gregory — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:21:19 +0000

The idea, alas, is literally something of the "Americans won't watch non-American" things. I wish I could say that the studio execs are full of it, and to some extent they are — there are definitely Americans who prefer the originals, even a lot of us. But most don't watch such things. Or, to put it another way, BBC America is successful, but only in digital cable terms. And overwhelmingly the only non-American stuff that even sees the light of day here is British — through BBC America and through PBS (which has jokingly been called "The BBC in America," given their penchant for showing some old British sitcoms and dramas). The only non-British thing I can recall was a Canadian sitcom that PBS showed for a while, and some Canadian comedy sketch shows over the years.

By: Jan Schmidt

Jan Schmidt — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:02:06 +0000

Hey cool, T.S. Eliot – one of the few poets I can recognise.

I don't understand The Office or Kath & Kim and friends either. It's some national NIH syndrome afaics.

Good luck with starting the story

By: Liz

Liz — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:30:01 +0000

Australians sell their series to America (just like the Brits and lots of others) because they are paid lots of lovely money to do so. I mostly just find it funny that the media in Australia is having such a field day with how the series is doing in America – is it doing well? no it 's not – oh wait, it got some good reviews – oh no it's tanking! etc. It's not the same series people! This doesn't reflect either way on the series you know and love – it just reflects on the career of Selma Blair. Who should probably stick to geekily cool stuff like 'Hellboy'.

By: Sir Tessa

Sir Tessa — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:55:51 +0000

I don't really get it either. I have heard it's something to do with the assumption that if it isn't american, then it won't appeal to americans, which isn't a particularly good reason or excuse.

By: Ben Payne

Ben Payne — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:37:56 +0000

Watching the US version of Kath & Kim strikes me as being like using crappy translation software to translate from English to another language and back again.]