The last British invasion not to involve Francis Scott Key or Hessians took place in the late seventies and was led by the likes of Johnny Rotten and Elvis Costello. It was called “punk” and it would change music for the better at a time when the medium needed it most. MTV helped champion the cause by making Brit bands such as Dire Straits, Def Leppard and Depeche Mode household names. First it was music, and then came television.
It seemed to start sometime around Y2K. Another British invasion force landed on American shores with the small screen as their objective. To be accurate, U.S. producers have been lifting from our friends across the pond for decades. Both All in the Family and Sanford and Son are two landmark American shows stolen borrowed from Britain. But the influx of TV series being repackaged by Hollywood has taken off in the last ten years.
Some of these altered imports have been hits: The Office, Dancing With the Stars and American Idol. Others have been complete misfires: Coupling, Touching Evil, Men Behaving Badly and Life on Mars. With few exceptions, the Brit versions are superior. In fact, Touching Evil and Life on Mars are so much better one wonders if U.S. producers ever watched the original shows before butchering them for American audiences.
The beauty of Cable and Satellite is we can see most of these series in their true form thanks to BBC America, a channel I absolutely love. The Anglophile in me can’t get enough of the accents and bad teeth. I rarely make it three days without using “bollocks” or “roger” in public. Hey, we all have our vices. It just so happens that mine involves spewing British slang in everyday conversation.
Due to my predilection for all things English, I’m going to share my thoughts on BBC America’s current crop of programs on a regular basis. So stay tuned in the coming weeks and months for what I call “BBC Babble.” It may sound a bit dodgy, but I assure you it will be easy-peasy.
Clacked by Scott Tunstall 
on Jan 07, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
I never watch the original but Life on Mars is pretty good. I prefer when american adaptation take a different take on the original concept. The pilot of Coupling was pretty much the same script as the british one and it sucked hard.
Come on – The Life on Mars remake is pretty good so far! I dunno what’s not to like about it & I’m English & a fan of the original (but not the sequel Ashes to Ashes, it didn’t do a thing for me) I think the only misstep was casting Harvey Keitel but they seem to have him taking more of a backseat role in the US version.
Oh, and as funny as it is for shows to take the mick out of our teeth (Family Guy & South Park immediately spring to mind & crack me up) it’s not really true insofar as I’m pretty sure people who can be bothered to pay for veneers, like, oh everyone over in the USA, do get them done but I only know one or two people with really grim gnashers!
What about all the British actors who’ve become American in recent years – Hugh Laurie, Kevin Mcloud, Him from Life – we’re not only invading your airwaves with ideas but taking over your actors too!
Can’t agree with you Paul about Life on Mars. They try too hard to make 70s jokes and references in the US version. The original is twice the show, IMO.
You’re right about the actors, though. They are really taking over. If you’ve ever seen The Wire you know that half those guys are Brits doing Baltimore accents.
The original Life On Mars was at least twice the show, but I still like the American version. Honestly, trying to hold any show up against the British Life On Mars is really a ridiculously high standard of measure. I guess I wasn’t expecting much from the US one, so I was pleasantly surprised to find I like it. Harvey Keitel really isn’t a good Gene Hunt, and I’m being kind. Everyone else I like.
I never watched Kitchen Nightmares but I’m now hooked on the repeats shown constantly on BBC America.