They did Skins, Shameless and The Office among other programmes, but it is The Inbetweeners turn to receive the American treatment. And if the TV series isn’t enough, the US is also planning to make their own version of the smash hit Inbetweeners movie.
Last year, MTV debuted the US version of Skins, which featured the same characters but with an American accent. The airing of the first episode infuriated fans of the UK series, and it was cancelled after only ten episodes due to a dramatic dip in viewing figures. This makes us wonder if The Inbetweeners will be successful on the US or will the British humour confound the American audience.
US Shameless was more successful than Skins, however the changes made altered the themes within the programme losing the impression of the series. The state of poverty within the programme is more relevant and amusing here, than in the States.
The most successful remake would have to be The Office that aired 176 episodes and achieved a rating of 22.9 million viewers. But again, the programme was altered to suit American humour, however, sexual innuendos and jokes are removed which could once again anger the UK viewers when it comes to The US Inbetweeners.
Also, The Inbetweeners is not original comedy. Everything that happens to the characters is an exaggerated version (we would hope) of the situations the writers found themselves in. It is hilarious because the audience can relate to it. Everyone has a friend like a character in The Inbetweeners, and this relation and comedy could not be reconstructed easily or even successfully.
Lets hope that the producers of the American Inbetweeners film understand this will not take away what makes the original Inbetweeners one of the funniest programmes of today.
Through The Door Promotions 