Thursday 9 October 2008

Why I Went Right Off America

I’m not sure if the news has hit you yet, but I have renounced my Atlanticism. Before today, I was a lover of America, its people, and in particular American popular culture. For years now, I have consumed their films, television and music at a rate befitting of the silly little whore that I am.

But now, as the yellowed autumn leaves fall, so must my unfettered, unencumbered love affair with America. I am now an opponent of all things American, a rabid Gaullist, an opponent of America as fierce and outspoken as Hugo Chávez. For they, as a nation have gone too far – they’ve only bloody gone and started remaking loads of British television shows again.

Top Gear – this one may actually work, given that the show’s driving ethos is a thoroughly American one of rampant, blind individualism. They also like pretending that global warming is a myth, in order to keep driving big cars - which I'm sure will resonate with a large enough element of the American public to maintain a regular audience. Don’t be surprised if the hosts are even more afflicted with abject cretinism than Jeremy Clarkson, but without half his talent for sarcasm.

Spaced – thankfully this proposed remake of one our finest sitcoms has recently been shelved, following a largely negative response from fans, who perjoratively dubbed the proposal “McSpaced.”
If it had gone ahead, and have no doubt reader, it would have utterly shite, it would have served as a rather strange side show to the rising careers of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, two of the supremely talented triumvirate behind the original series. As mentioned by Pegg when he appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross to shill How to Lose Friends and Alienate People there are videos of the remake pilot floating about. And apparently it is appalling.

Life on Mars – if you bought into the critical hype this was the nearest thing we have produced that rivals the elite of US television (The Wire, The Sopranos etc) in recent years.
I imagine the US remake will be about as subtle as a brick to the face, and probably half as funny.

Worst Week - I can only echo what my colleague Stuart has previously noted. To see the massive posters for this one up in Times Square as I did was just plain strange. The original British version (The Worst Week of My Life) was high concept (man has a really bad week,) but low in humour (tired slapstick). Aside from being quite dull, it often erred on the wrong side of wacky.
If Americans insist on remaking British sitcoms why not remake a good one? Peep Show undoubtedly wouldn't work, they made a pilot for The Thick of It but it was subsequently abandoned, the same happened to Spaced (as mentioned above), Coupling didn't work, nor did Red Dwarf. So actually, don't bother.

I just spent a month travelling around America, and to be fair to them none of them could understand a word I said in my accent, inflected as it is with a delightful south-east London twang. It’s easy to forget that we Brits are infinitely more exposed to the various American regional accents, than they are to ours. So their common complaint that they simply cannot understand the accents in British shows may hold some truth. But other than that, is there really any legitimate reason to remake all these shows?

So forget universal healthcare, the threat of Islamic fundamentalism and the financial crisis, the real issue in November’s presidential election should be which one of the candidates will put a stop to this remake business.

JAMES MORGAN

(Published in an edited form in the Epigram 15th Oct, issue 205.)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

louis vuitton outlet, ugg boots, ray ban sunglasses, oakley sunglasses, louis vuitton outlet, longchamp pas cher, prada outlet, polo ralph lauren outlet, nike outlet, chanel handbags, louboutin outlet, longchamp outlet, louis vuitton, nike air max, cheap oakley sunglasses, longchamp outlet, jordan shoes, louis vuitton, nike free, tiffany and co, tory burch outlet, prada handbags, replica watches, nike roshe run, longchamp, louboutin, air max, ralph lauren pas cher, christian louboutin outlet, replica watches, louis vuitton, nike air max, kate spade outlet, louboutin pas cher, nike free, oakley sunglasses, sac longchamp, oakley sunglasses, polo ralph lauren outlet, louboutin shoes, uggs on sale, ray ban sunglasses, ray ban sunglasses, burberry, gucci outlet, oakley sunglasses, tiffany jewelry, ugg boots, air jordan pas cher, michael kors

Unknown said...

mont blanc, nike air max, babyliss, mcm handbags, louboutin, herve leger, ghd, hollister, celine handbags, lancel, new balance, nike trainers, valentino shoes, nfl jerseys, reebok shoes, soccer shoes, oakley, vans shoes, p90x workout, soccer jerseys, nike huarache, converse outlet, nike roshe, abercrombie and fitch, bottega veneta, north face outlet, beats by dre, birkin bag, instyler, gucci, mac cosmetics, chi flat iron, ferragamo shoes, insanity workout, ralph lauren, nike air max, jimmy choo shoes, longchamp, wedding dresses, asics running shoes, vans, hollister, timberland boots, iphone cases, baseball bats, hollister, giuseppe zanotti, north face outlet, ray ban, lululemon

Unknown said...

montre pas cher, moncler outlet, moncler, karen millen, moncler, supra shoes, ugg pas cher, wedding dresses, swarovski, moncler, sac louis vuitton pas cher, doudoune canada goose, moncler, louis vuitton, pandora charms, canada goose, ugg,uggs,uggs canada, swarovski crystal, marc jacobs, hollister, moncler, toms shoes, louis vuitton, ugg boots uk, louis vuitton, canada goose uk, coach outlet, louis vuitton, moncler, canada goose, pandora charms, links of london, moncler, canada goose, canada goose outlet, pandora jewelry, juicy couture outlet, canada goose, thomas sabo, juicy couture outlet, pandora jewelry, bottes ugg, canada goose outlet, ugg,ugg australia,ugg italia, replica watches

lamiss ibrahim said...

I definitely love this site.
http://prokr.over-blog.com/
https://sites.google.com/site/prokrservices/
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7421661549272645002#allposts
https://www.prokr.net/ksa/jeddah-water-leaks-detection-isolate-companies/