"Spaced " to the US?

[Compound]

From Variety:

Fox housing British 'Spaced'
U.K. comedy being remade for U.S.
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER
Fox has locked its orbit on "Spaced," a U.K. comedy being retooled for American auds.

Net has given a put pilot order to the project, originally created by the "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" team of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright (as well as Jessica Stevenson). "Will & Grace" alum Adam Barr is set to adapt the show for the U.S.

"Spaced" revolves around a young man and woman (played by Pegg and Stevenson in the U.K. version) who pose as a couple in order to rent a cheap apartment. They're soon surrounded by colorful neighbors and eventually begin a flirtation.

The single-camera comedy is particularly known in Britain for its frenzied use of pop culture references -- particularly when it comes to sci-fi, horror, comicbooks and videogames.

Wonderland Sound and Vision is behind the project, as well as Warner Bros. TV (where Wonderland is based) and Granada, which holds format rights. Wonderland TV prexy Peter Johnson first discovered the show while talking to someone at a comicbook store; as a "Shaun of the Dead" fan, he quickly looked to seal the rights.

Wonderland's McG and Granada's Robert Green will exec produce alongside Barr; the extent of Pegg's and Wright's involvement is still unclear. But Johnson likens the effort to NBC's adaptation of Ricky Gervais' and Stephen Merchant's "The Office" for the U.S., with Greg Daniels in charge.

"Spaced" has been nominated for a BAFTA and an Intl. Emmy Award, among other honors. Channel 4 aired seven episodes of season one in 1999 and another seven segs of a second season in 2001.

Barr's other credits include "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and "Desperate Housewives."

Well, this could either be very good or very, very bad. And even if it is very, very bad, hopefully it'll inspire a DVD release of the British version. However, neither Wright or Pegg seems to be involved...

[dignan]

I've heard the extent of Pegg and Wright's involvement is nil.  I'll also assume that Jessica Stevenson is not involved.  I can't imagine this being very good.  Just release the original version in the US on DVD already! 

[doggans]

Wright and Pegg apparently weren't even told about this until they read about it in Variety.

I'm very, very, very scared.

[MrTorso]

It is produced by a guy who calls himself McG. I hate that guy...

[bettertomorrowamy]

Crap!

[Tripe]

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Still, not to prejudge it....

Ah hell Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

[Compound]

It is produced by a guy who calls himself McG. I hate that guy...

On the bad side, McG  did direct the Charlie's Angels films.
 
On the plus side though he is an executive producer on both "Chuck" and "Supernatural", which shows that he's at least got some genre awareness.

He is a bit of a jerk in real life though, but so is 85% of Hollywood.

[Dim of the Yard]

Oh, my.

There haven't been very many Britcoms adapted for American audiences that have done all that well.  The Office has done pretty well with itself, sure, but I've heard horror stories about Red Dwarf and Coupling.  Both were amazing shows in their own right, but they didn't last beyond a handful of episodes when they were re-cast and American-ized.

I second dignan's statement.  Just give us the original series on DVD, pretty please.

[RoninFox]

Even if this completely flops, I see this as a step toward getting the UK version here.  If it does well, the company will want to increase revenue by putting out the UK sets for fans to compare and contrast etc.  If it bombs, the company will want to put something good out to appease the audience and regain the money they lost.

It works in theory anyway, and I can hope, and I'll at least give the new version a chance.

[Tripe]

The Office has done pretty well with itself, sure, but I've heard horror stories about Red Dwarf and Coupling. 

never watched the US Coupling but I have seen one of the Red Dwarf pilots and oh it was not good.

[Taufiq2u]

Yup, look at the monstrosity. Peep Show, Red Dwarf, The IT Crowd, Coupling, The Office and now...Spaced? What's next? Only Fools and Horses? QI? Black Books? The Mighty Boosh? Nathan Barley? Oh for fucks sake.

[Tripe]

Yup, look at the monstrosity. Peep Show, Red Dwarf, The IT Crowd, Coupling, The Office and now...Spaced? What's next? Only Fools and Horses? QI? Black Books? The Mighty Boosh? Nathan Barley? Oh for fucks sake.

And that gives me a great idea for a game.

[daltysmilth]

Even if this completely flops, I see this as a step toward getting the UK version here.  If it does well, the company will want to increase revenue by putting out the UK sets for fans to compare and contrast etc.  If it bombs, the company will want to put something good out to appease the audience and regain the money they lost.

It works in theory anyway, and I can hope, and I'll at least give the new version a chance.

And if it fails, it will probably destroy any chance of ever seeing the UK version on DVD here.  The problem with many of these American remakes is that they always hire a huge team of writers to try to replicate what one or two people wrote in the UK.  Sure, you can get more episodes into a season that way, but it's harder to keep a consistant style of writing that way.  And it almost always ends up turning the shows into conventional sitcoms.  Maybe without the laugh track, but still sitcoms.  I'm very wary of this project.  I'm not saying it's going to be bad, but it has a LOT to live up to.

[Dim of the Yard]

never watched the US Coupling but I have seen one of the Red Dwarf pilots and oh it was not good.

According to the stories about the American version of Coupling that I've heard, the writers essentially re-created the pilot episode of the UK version.  From there, they kept the same script in some places, but added their own little bits here and there in an effort to try to reach American audiences.  The casting was horrendous, the show was considered to be a cheap send-off of Friends, and the show was pulled from the air after only four episodes.

[jewishcarpenter]

I have looked into the future and have seen the next British-to-American TV adaptation.
Larry Anaconda's Hovering Carnival The "muskrat sketch" will be a classic.