List of American television series based on British television series
Many successful British television shows (particularly sitcoms and reality shows) have been remade for the American market. The amount of reworking varies with some shows (such as All in the Family) keeping the basic situation and then adding many original features while others have taken complete scripts verbatim (such as Amanda's).
There are relatively few examples of American shows remade for the British market (the majority of these being game shows), and the British television audience are very accepting of the American originals while being much less accepting of British remakes (see, for instance, the failure of Brighton Belles, the British remake of The Golden Girls). The U.S. remakes have sometimes been imported back into the UK. By contrast, original British programmes are rarely seen on the major U.S. networks in modern times (in the 1960s the airing of UK-produced programs such as The Avengers and Fireball XL5 on U.S. network TV occurred frequently) and are usually broadcast only on the Public Broadcasting Service and on cable television, especially BBC America, with only a few purely British shows having gained mainstream popularity in the United States. This list includes a number of pilots not subsequently made into series.
UK original | U.S. remake | Notes |
---|---|---|
Absolutely Fabulous | AbFab | Two pilots attempts, one by Roseanne Barr, another by Jennifer Saunders (who created the UK version). Both were passed over. |
Agony | The Lucie Arnaz Show | |
Airline | Airline | British version renamed Airline UK in the US. |
Da Ali G Show | Da Ali G Show | The second (two series) series by Channel 4 in the UK and HBO in the US. |
Antiques Roadshow | Antiques Roadshow | Reality. |
Are You Being Served? | Beanes of Boston | Comedy. Un-aired pilot. |
As If | As If | US remake canceled after two episodes on UPN. |
Bad Education | An American Education | Unaired pilot for ABC. |
Balls of Steel | Balls of Steel | |
Ballykissangel | Hope Island | |
Being Human | Being Human | SciFi drama on SyFy. |
Birds of a Feather | Stand by Your Man | |
Blackpool | Viva Laughlin! | US remake canceled after two episodes (CBS). |
Brat Camp | Brat Camp (U.S.) | |
Broadchurch | Gracepoint | Crime drama. Cancelled by FOX after one season. |
Cash Cab | Cash Cab | Game show. Aired on Discovery Channel. |
Cash in the Attic | Cash in the Attic | Reality. |
CD:UK | CD USA | |
Celebrity Fit Club | Celebrity Fit Club | Reality competition. Both versions featured Former US Marine Harvey Walden IV as a judge, but the other judges are changed often. |
Changing Rooms | Trading Spaces | Reality. |
The Chase | The Chase | Game show. The US version only uses one Chaser, Mark Labbett (a.k.a. "The Beast"), who was brought over from the UK to participate. |
Cold Feet | Cold Feet | |
Cracker | Cracker | US remake is known as Fitz in the UK. |
Coupling | Coupling | Comedy. US remake was canceled after four episodes. |
Cuckoo | Cuckoo | Sitcom. NBC ordered a pilot in 2013. |
Dad's Army | The Rear Guard | Pilot episode only. |
Dancing on Ice | Skating with Celebrities | Reality. |
Dear John | Dear John | Known as Dear John USA in the UK. |
Distraction | Distraction | Game show. Same host (Jimmy Carr). |
Dog Eat Dog | Dog Eat Dog | Game show. US version hosted by Brooke Burns. |
Don't Forget Your Toothbrush | Don't Forget Your Toothbrush | Game show. US edition aired on Comedy Central and was hosted by actor Mark Curry. |
Eleventh Hour | Eleventh Hour | Drama. (CBS). |
Faking It | Faking It | Reality game show. |
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin | Reggie | |
Farmer Wants a Wife | Farmer Wants a Wife | |
Fawlty Towers | Chateau Snavely | Comedy. Pilot episode only with Harvey Korman & Betty White. |
Amanda's | Starring Beatrice Arthur. | |
Payne | Starring John Larroquette. | |
Footballers' Wives | Football Wives | Drama. Confirmed pilot. |
Four Weddings | Four Weddings | Reality, British original is known as Four Weddings UK. |
Free Agents | Free Agents | Comedy starring Hank Azaria. US remake cancelled after four episodes. |
Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon | Gameshow Marathon | Game show. |
Gavin & Stacey | Us & Them | Comedy. Unaired seven episode order for Fox |
George and Mildred | The Ropers | Comedy. |
Gogglebox | The People's Couch | Observational documentary picked up by Bravo. First aired in 2013. |
Getting On | Getting On | Sitcom. After a successful pilot episode HBO ordered a 6 episode run in 2013, with a second season to air in 2014. |
The Grimleys | The Grubbs | |
Hell's Kitchen | Hell's Kitchen | Reality competition. American version broadcast in the UK as Hell's Kitchen USA on ITV2. Gordon Ramsay appears in both series. |
Hit Me Baby One More Time | Hit Me Baby One More Time | Same host (Vernon Kay), both ITV productions. |
Holding the Baby | Holding the Baby (U.S. TV series)' | |
Home to Roost | You Again? | |
Honey, We're Killing the Kids | Honey We're Killing the Kids | |
House of Cards | House of Cards | Same premise, though British version was a short series, as Netflix's version will continue. |
How Clean Is Your House? | Kim and Aggie Clean Up America | |
I'd Do Anything | I'd Do Anything | George Gray hosted US version on ESPN—hosted his third US version of a British show. |
It's Me or the Dog | It's Me or the Dog | |
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! | I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! | Reality. |
The Inbetweeners | The Inbetweeners | Comedy — Cancelled after one series |
The IT Crowd | The IT Crowd | Pilot canceled in 2008. |
The Jeremy Kyle Show | The Jeremy Kyle Show | Chat show. US version ended in 2013 after two seasons. |
Just for Laughs (UK TV series) | Just for Laughs | U.S. version was a repackaged version of the Canadian version. |
Keep it in the Family | Too Close for Comfort | Final season of US version initially aired as The Ted Knight Show. |
The Krypton Factor | The Krypton Factor | |
Life on Mars | Life on Mars | SciFi Drama. |
Little Britain | Little Britain USA | Comedy. A full series was made and gained popularity after various repeats. HBO ordered more, but makers and stars David Walliams and Matt Lucas declined. |
Love Thy Neighbour | Love Thy Neighbor | |
Man About The House | Three's Company | Comedy. |
MasterChef | MasterChef | Reality. |
Max Headroom | Max Headroom | SciFi. |
Men Behaving Badly | Men Behaving Badly | Comedy series. Aired for two seasons on NBC. |
"The Million Pound Drop Live" | "Million Dollar Money Drop" | Game show. The American remake was cancelled in 2011. |
"The Million Pound Hoax" | "$25 Million Dollar Hoax" | |
Mind Your Language | What a Country | |
Mistresses | Mistresses | Drama series. |
Mr. Men and Little Miss | Mr. Men Show | |
Never Mind The Buzzcocks | Never Mind The Buzzcocks | |
The 1900 House | Frontier House | Reality. Frontier House broadcast in the UK on Channel 4. |
Not the Nine O'Clock News | Not Necessarily the News | The Daily Show, especially in its earlier incarnation under Craig Kilborn, also owes a great deal to this show. |
The Office | The Office | Comedy. The US version is broadcast in the UK as The Office: An American Workplace, The Office USA, or The US Office. |
On the Buses | Lotsa Luck | |
One Foot in the Grave | Cosby | Many differences. |
Outnumbered | Outnumbered | Picked up by Fox. |
Pyjama Party | Pajama Party | Same presenter (Katie Puckrik). |
Pop Idol | American Idol | Reality competition. UK judge Simon Cowell was also a judge on American Idol. |
Porridge | On the Rocks | |
Pulling | Pulling | Pilot with creative input from Sharon Horgan |
Prime Suspect | Prime Suspect | Started on NBC on September 22, 2011. |
Queer As Folk | Queer as Folk | Drama. |
Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares | Kitchen Nightmares | Reality. Both versions feature Gordon Ramsay as host. US version broadcast in the UK on Channel 4 as Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA. |
Red Dwarf | Red Dwarf USA | Two un-aired pilots. The 2nd pilot is titled Red Dwarf USA. |
Robin's Nest | Three's a Crowd | Comedy. |
Robot Wars | Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors Nickelodeon Robot Wars | Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors was filmed alongside the UK show in 2001 and 2002. |
Scrapheap Challenge | Junkyard Wars | Scrapheap and Junkyard have gone head-to-head in transatlantic challenges in the UK.[1] |
Secret Millionaire | Secret Millionaire | |
Shameless | Shameless | US version starring William H. Macy. |
Sirens | Sirens | Comedy Drama. Cancelled after two seasons by The USA Network. |
The Sketch Show | The Sketch Show | US version featured Kelsey Grammer. |
Skins | Skins | Ran for one season only in 2011. UK version shown on BBC America. |
Spaced | Spaced | Only a pilot episode was made. |
Spitting Image | D.C. Follies | Loose adaptation. |
Spy | Spy | Situation comedy. ABC ordered a remake in 2013. |
Steptoe and Son | Sanford and Son | Comedy. Relied on race as well as class. |
Strictly Come Dancing | Dancing with the Stars | Reality competition. UK judges Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli are also judges on Dancing with the Stars. |
Supernanny | Supernanny | Reality. British episodes shown along with US episodes. Same host (Jo Frost). |
Take Me Out | Take Me Out | Dating game show. |
Teachers | Teachers | Canceled after six episodes. |
That Was The Week That Was | That Was The Week That Was | Satire. Both versions hosted by David Frost. |
The Thick of It | The Thick of It | Unaired pilot made for ABC. |
Veep | HBO series produced by Armando Iannucci and the same team of writers as the British version. | |
This Life | First Years | |
Till Death Us Do Part | All in the Family | Comedy. Coincidentally, the All in the Family spinoff Maude was remade in the UK as Nobody's Perfect, and the Maude spinoff Good Times was remade as The Fosters. None of the UK series were connected to each other or to Till Death Us Do Part. |
Touching Evil | Touching Evil | Drama. |
Top Gear | Top Gear | Reality. Similar format to the 2002 version, was cancelled in 2008 without a single episode being broadcast. Both are BBC productions. A second pilot was made in 2010 with two of the three hosts replaced and was picked up for ten episode run on the History Channel. |
Top of the Pops | Top of the Pops | Sometimes aired performances recorded by its BBC counterpart. Aired as part of CBS Late Night. |
Trigger Happy TV | Trigger Happy TV | Dom Joly appears in both versions of the show, despite the US version having a mostly new cast — Joly was the only on screen star in the UK Version. The American version is known as Trigger Happy USA when aired in the UK. |
Trisha Goddard | Trisha Goddard | Chat show. US version ended in 2014 after two seasons. |
Two's Company | The Two of Us | Comedy. |
Upstairs, Downstairs | Beacon Hill | Drama. |
The X Factor | The X Factor | Reality competition. Same executive producer/judge (Simon Cowell) and production company (Syco TV). Cheryl Cole was also a judge on the US version but was dropped following the audition stage. US edition cancelled after three seasons. |
The Vicar of Dibley | The Minister Of Divine | Comedy. Pilot episode only. |
The Weakest Link | Weakest Link | Game show. Anne Robinson hosted both the UK version and the original US primetime series. Subsequent US syndicated series hosted by George Gray. |
Undercover Boss | Undercover Boss | Reality. |
Utopia | Utopia | |
What Not to Wear | What Not to Wear | Reality. |
Who Do You Think You Are? | Who Do You Think You Are? | |
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | Game show. US edition adopted new format in 2010. |
White Van Man | Family Tools | Comedy Sitcom. Picked up by ABC for a full series in 2012. |
Whose Line Is It Anyway? | Whose Line Is It Anyway? | Improvisational sketch comedy. Both used panelists Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie, among others. Last episodes of UK version were produced in the US. |
Wife Swap | Wife Swap (ABC) Trading Spouses (Fox) | Reality. |
Wild at Heart | Life Is Wild | US version cancelled after thirteen episodes. |
The World's Strictest Parents | The World's Strictest Parents | |
The Worst Week of My Life | Worst Week | Comedy. |
The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star | My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star | |
The Young Ones | Oh No Not THEM! | unsuccessful pilot, Nigel Planer only cast member from the original |
Footnotes
- ↑ The original show for Channel 4 was called Scrapheap, but renamed Scrapheap Challenge starting from series two. When shown in the US this reverted to Scrapheap. When the program started to use US teams and a US presenter it was re-titled Junkyard Wars for both US and UK audiences. In the UK episodes involving UK teams remain under the title Scrapheap Challenge
if Dancing on Ice, a reality tv is included, then all the others should also, mostly in recent years, Americas Got Talent (UK Got Talent original) Dancing With the Stars, American Idol, (idol), X Factor, and many others