Americanizing Other Nation's Shows: BBC Being Human vs. SyFy Being Human?

[UofMfan]

Originally Posted by Linus

If that (accents and other cultural dynamics) were true then Coronation Street wouldn't be so popular in Canada.

I think there is far more of an incidence of xenophobia in the US than in Canada. To me, it stems from both the desire to not expose Americans to different cultures *AND* Americans not wanting to be exposed to those cultures. It's interesting that the US is ok with bringing Canadian shows to the US because Canada is often viewed as the "51st State of the US".

UK and Australian cultures are different but it's not 100%. For example, Doctor Who has remained entirely UK and the US has never attempted to remake it even with the large following it has (although Torchwood, a spin-off of Doctor Who, will be a co-production with Channel 4 [??] and Starz, keeping many of the main original actors).

I suppose for me it's still a cultural adjustment and I admit to missing the multicultural view I get from daily, regular TV in Canada (not specialty channels but regular from the air channels).

I agree with you Linus. I tend to notice that most Americans, and by that I mean those who live in the US, do not like to be exposed to anything other than their own culture. I said most, not all. And like you, I believe this is a major factor taken into account when remakes are made.

Having lived both in the US and abroad for an extensive number of years I know what my personal experience is on both ends.

For the most part, the majority of US series are subtitled for Latin American audiences (I have worked on a few myself) but to remake something completely it is the exception and not the rule. The only TV content that gets remade constantly are the reality TV shows that mostly originate in the UK and that I can totally understand.

I love watching both US movies and foreign films and I really enjoy the variety of television that I get to see from all different countries here through my local cable provider.

And as to the adaptation of books into movies, few ever get it right. I am looking forward to reading the books then watching the original Steig Larsson's series.

Great topic Linus.