Across the Atlantic

American networks are constantly revamping well made British programming to make it more easy to digest for American consumption. Occasionally this works out, The Office being the best example of this. More often than not, in the process of translation the show loses its original appeal and falls flat with audiences all around. Slate's Seth Stevenson talks about why most re-makes don't take off after translation. Stevenson specifically cites the complete failure of the American take on the brilliant U.K. series Life on Mars.


He attributes the success of the American Office to the simple formula worked out by the producers of just adding 10% more hope. Where the utterly dismal outlook of drained zombie-like employees at Wernham Hogg's Slough, England, branch fit in with British television, 10% more hope, a glimmer of optimism without going too far and losing touch with the whole point of the show made the show both palatable and successful on American television.

The failure of Life on Mars (U.S) can be attributed to the skewing of the formula. The American producers seem to not trust their audiences to accept characters who aren't the right definition of beautiful, aren't politically correct and don't fit into the mold of what is typically seen on American television. The American producers added "10 percent more hope, 30 percent more schmaltz, 50 percent more glamour, and 700 percent better production values." In this transformation the show lost its heart and its charm. Gene Hunt isn't nearly as gruff, tough and offensive enough to fill the shoes of his U.K counterpart. Sam is too tall and good looking to create the right kind of tension between his boss, and his love interest is too beautiful but without the sweetness.















Life on Mars (U.S) & Life on Mars (U.K.) Can you spot the differences?

The most offensive move on the part of the U.S. production was its strange attempts to provide closure once the series had been canceled. With no regard to the original concept the producers create a scenario that really sounds like a bad joke. Sam wakes up in 2035 on board a spaceship, the whole life in the 1970s had been a virtual reality hallucination to pass the time on his journey. This basically breaks the entire premise invalidates all the uncertainties (is Sam in a coma? is he dead?)The U.K. series comes to a solid end after two series carefully solving the dilemma. The U.S. series jacked the finale full of crazy and let it set out to sea.

With news breaking of the latest U.K. to U.S. remake of Torchwood on FOX, which way do you think the show will go?


Click here to read the full article on Slate.com.

Hitting the right note: Best musical moments in TV

Tonight How I Met Your Mother will celebrate it's 100th episode with at least one full musical number. It promises to be a hit with professional song and dance man Neil Patrick Harris rounding out the talented cast.

The show has already dipped into the genre on several occasions while exploring Robin's past as Canadian teen pop star Robin Sparkles. Jason Segal has also had a few chances to express himself via song including a very moving ode to slaps.



In honour of this very special musical episode of How I Met Your Mother both Slate and TWOP have composed lists of some great musical television moments.

Slate's video slide show "How I Serenaded Your Mother" provides four examples of television musicals at their best. One the list is; Oz, That 70s Show, Scrubs and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Click here to see the video and find out why these are the best.

TWOP lists their favourite TV musical moments to prep for tonight's How I Met Your Mother. Click here to find out their favourites and how they stood out from the many, many musical numbers to choose from.

Check out these lists then watch How I Met Your Mother's musical 100th episode tonight at 8pm on CBS and see how it stacks up!

TV News Round-Up

To follow up what promises to be a momentous 100th episode of How I Met Your Mother, Neil Patrick Harris will perform double duties as he'll take the reigns as director as well as acting in the101st episode. Amanda Peet will be guest-starring in this episode as Marshall's co-worker.




Mary McDonnell will be reprising her role as Capt. Raydor on tomorrow night's episode of The Closer in season 5, episode 15 "Dead Man's Hand".



Can't wait for January 10th for new Chuck? Producer Josh Schwartz gives some insight into what will go down in season three. This interview contains minor spoilers, so consume at your own discretion.

Tis the season - Slate writer Torie Bosch explains how there are only three types of television Christmas plot lines. I think she's on to something. Find out what these plot lines are here!


And.... new LOST trailer here:

Maybe it's just me, but this actually made me less excited for the new season. Maybe it's the music, or the continued lack of new or provoking material, but I'm sick of this past-season nostalgia. In with the new!

From Slate: "You really should be Watching Parks & Recreation"

I wholeheartedly agree with Jonah Weiner's analysis of NBC's sophomore comedy Parks & Recreation. This is a show that struggled through its short first season only coming back funnier, stronger and with a better focus in season two.

You really should be watching Parks & Recreation and here's why:

Over the past month or so, TV writers have been working to hip America to an apparently little-known fact: NBC's Thursday-night sitcom lineup does not, as one may have thought, kick off at 9 p.m. ET with The Office only to end an hour later with 30 Rock's closing credits. Several critics have encouraged us to check in at 8 p.m., when the daffy new Community airs, followed by Parks and Recreation, currently in its second season after debuting last spring as a six-episode, midseason replacement. The ghosts of Rachel Green and Cosmo Kramer have been drafted to the cause: "NBC's Thursday comedy block," the Los Angeles Times declared, "has matured into a lineup almost as formidable as that of its 1990s heyday."

Going by the ratings, Parks and Recreation is Thursday's weak link, limping behind the pack. According to Nielsen, the average second-season Parks and Recreation episode (as of mid-November) has drawn 5.3 million viewers, compared with current-season averages of 6.5 million for Community, 7.3 million for 30 Rock, and 10.1 million for The Office. In the world of meager TV ratings, the line separating a loser from an underdog can be blurry, but with its second season, Parks and Recreation has vaulted definitively into the latter category. Contributors to Salon, the Los Angeles Times, and New York are among those who have rallied on behalf of the show, which has gone from an erratically funny nonevent to astonishingly good.

Continue reading on Slate.com

From Slate: "Boxed In"

Grady Hendrix writes an insightful article looking at the culture surrounding TV on DVD, and how marathon watching isn't the way TV is meant to be seen.

Boxed In: Giving someone a TV series on DVD is like giving them a life sentence.

By Grady Hendrix
Posted Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, at 12:15 PM ET

Recently, my father-in-law broke his leg when his golfing buddy ran him over with their golf cart. Don't shed too many tears. These things happen as one ages: Eyes dim, hearing fades, reactions slow, and eventually someone runs someone else over. If you have any tears, save them for the sad scene I witnessed when I visited him during his convalescence.

There he was, slumped on the sofa like a dead body in a vacant lot, looking like a man who already saw the vultures circling. I asked him if he was in pain and he moaned, raising one trembling finger like the Ghost of Christmas Future and pointing to the source of his distress. And there they were, stacked up on the other side of the room as menacing and oppressive as the Berlin Wall: Seasons 1, 2, and 3 of Lost, five seasons of The Wire, 16 hours of Foyle's War, Mad Men, The Sopranos, Nip/Tuck, and Prison Break. The most critically acclaimed television series of our time—now on DVD!—looming over him like grim death.

The DVD box set is the newest and most terrifying form of ritualistic abuse we inflict on one another. In the past, a sick person received unwanted hardback books, but these days when someone is laid up with an illness, they are buried beneath an avalanche of DVD box sets containing hundreds of hours of television series.

"You must watch this," devotees say. "You're really going to love it." With the unspoken threat being: "And if you don't, you are an idiot. I will still acknowledge you in public, but in my heart I will know that you are an anti-intellectual vulgarian."

Continue Reading on Slate.com

On DVD: Kings

When the first season of Kings ended we already knew it was the last. This brilliant reimagining of the biblical David and Saul story in a modern setting was cancelled early into its run. You can now catch this unique storyverse, beautiful aesthetics and engaging story on DVD, just prepare to have your heart broken as you finish the discs as we won't be getting a second season.

Kings stars Ian McShane as King Silas Benjamin (biblical King Saul) and Christopher Egan as Capt. David Sheppard.

Slate's David Plotz writes "The Death of Kings: Why you should be sorry you never watched NBC's biblical drama" looking back on the series looking towards the DVD this coming Tuesday (September 29).

http://www.slate.com/id/2229509/?wpisrc=eDialog