On Monday I do a whole blog post on what it's like to be on a show that is in trouble. Not for the faint of heart.
A reader alerted me to this imdb page. CHEERS is being remade in Spanish. It premiered last month. There's something great about getting a writing credit for a script that's in a language I can't speak.
Congratulations to Jenny Johnson and the other winners of the first (and maybe only) annual National Lampoon Twitter Awards.
Tomorrow I list my all-time favorite sitcoms.
16 comments :
Anytime you hire Hank Azaria and then cast him as the regular guy, you are wasting a tremendous resource. And I'll be surprised if The Simpsons really ends. We've heard this threat before during cast negotiations.
The Spanish Cheers remake was just cancelled the other day. For your own good, I hope you never, ever have a chance to see it.
By the way, I actually loved Free Agents, and I feel really weird after seeing how it got panned by critics and audiences alike.
I have a good friend who just moved to Spain and told me about the Spanish Cheers, knowing I'm a fan. Now, though my high school Spanish is terrible, I really want to see it.
FREE AGENTS was a remake of a UK show which flopped quite a while ago, so it seemed an odd choice.
I'll definitely check out HUSBANDS - Jane Espenson has an amazing CV and a great website - loads of comedy writer advice.
"Exporting Raymond" is a great, funny documentary from 2010 about Phil Rosenthal's experience helping turn "Everybody Loves Raymond" into a series for Russian TV.
FOX re-upped The Simpsons for another two seasons, so Hank gets to keep working after all.
Let "The Simpsons" go for 25 seasons, then everyone can take their residuals and retire.
I had the great fortune of meeting the Husbands cast at Comic Con and had been actively anticipating its premiere ever since. It has not disappointed. Amazing how smart, funny and heart wrenching two minutes can be. I've loved every episode, especially the last one. Cheeks' combination of brash and vulnerable is so appealing, and Sean is every bit as sweet and adorable! would love to see this get picked up by a network--it's far better than any sitcom they're currently airing.
The Spanish Cheers is a mess.
The main characters are the spanish equivalents to Norm, Cliff and Frasier (but a Frasier in very "low-brow" mode). There is no sexual tension between Sam and Diane. Coach and Woody works the bar at the same time. The episodes are ten minutes longer. The rythm is off (as in “it’s not there”).
It's a fine example of how to use a good script of a good series as a basis to do something different and worse (shades of "Coupling" USA). We are specialists of this on Spain (recently, a second failed version of “The Golden Girls”).
Ah, and is not cancelled. It’s only stopped to “correct” and “better” the series.
P.S: Sorry for the “peculiar” english.
Ken, I got a question.
After watching the US and the UK versions of Free Agents I am wondering whether you ever felt seriously constrained by not being able to use swear words on network TV.
Jan
Anonymous guy (a Spanish fella out there? Never thought I would find one around here!) has it right, but he forgot the weirdest thing about Spanish Cheers: Spanish Diane is actually called Rebeca! What the hell?
And yeah, they said they would retool the series, but there isn't much to retool with such a tacky cast and worthless writing staff. That and the last ratings make me think it won't come back, and even if it does, it won't be long for this world.
I follow Jane Espenson and have been excited about Husbands. I hope it does well for her.
I´m Spanish and believe me, the spanish version of Cheers was really really bad.
Here is a promo for the Spanish version of " Cheers". I don't speak Spanidh, but being versed in the original show does indeed make this look odd.
http://tinyurl.com/4xbworl
It's a shame about "Free Agents." The writing was smart and funny and the actors were terrific. Even though it was watered down significantly from British Version (Just caught that on BBC tonight, also terrific and much raunchier)it had a lot of potential. It was a comedy about grown ups with adult relationship problems. I'm guessing the show didn't "test" well in the desired demographics of 18 to 39 the networks whore themselves for and was "pre-cancelled" and dumped into the summer graveyard of failed shows. It's a shame because it deserved much better. The network shows keep getting crappier every season. I mean, "The Playboy Club? "Pan Am?" "Grimm?" C'mon!
As a side note, the only network show this season worth watching is the American version of Prime Suspect. Otherwise, it's all about cable.
Friday question - I thought of you last night while enduring Melissa & Joey on netflix (my kids like it). I think we were watching episode 3 or 4 and I realize new shows take awhile to find a groove. The show ended feeling less-than-resolved and I thought maybe they were working towards a season arc with the story not just one of those that is wrapped up in 22 minutes. But because it's new I don't care all that much and feel frustrated at what feels like loose ends already. I couldn't decide if it was lazy/crappy writing or if it would all make sense if I watch the whole season...and maybe it wasn't lazy or crappy at all. I'm not sure if I'm making any sense - but it must be really tricky to get any show past one season. When you don't have any investment in the characters you aren't necessarily going to keep watching to see how it works out over the season. My gut feeling was the early shows should feel more tight with the story and wait until we care about the show before we drag out story arcs past one show. k
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