2005年NPR美国国家公共电台三月-British TV Crosses over the Pond

NBC tonight launches a new series-The Office. It's the American version of a British comedy series. The original has a small but dedicated 1 group of fans in the United States. Remaking British series for American audiences is not new, but as NPR's Kim Masters reports, at this point, it seems like a risky 3 proposition.

The British version of The Office has no laugh track. It's a dark comedy that might make you cringe as much as it makes you smile. The show is a pseudo documentary about a clueless boss who, here , describes his proudest moment :"It's a young Greek guy, first job in the country, hardly spoke 4 a word of English, but he came to me and he went,‘Mr. Brand, will you be the godfather to my child? Didn’t happen in the end. We had let him go. It was rubbish. He was rubbish.'" And now comes the American version, which mimics 5 the British original, very closely. “ It was a young Guatemalan guy, first job in the country, barely spoke English, came to me and said,‘ Mr. Scott, would you be the godfather of my child?’Didn't work out in the end. We'd let him go. He sucked.”

Bringing British comedies to American television is hardly a new idea. The seminal 6 70s' hit "All in the Family" was based on a British series called "Till Death Do Us Part". And "Sanford And Son" was based on the series "Steptoe And Son". But lately most sitcoms 7 have failed in this country. And the U.S. versions of British shows have hardly managed to buck 8 that trend. The American version of the English hit "Absolutely Fabulous 9", wasn’t. And the most notorious attempt was the much hyped racy comedy -"Coupling", Which was kind of a Friends’ knock-off in its own right."The last time I dumped her, we had amazing fantastic borderline illegal sex, now she thinks we’re back together""Ha-ha…""The woman is insane! I know!”

Ted 2 Harbor, now the head of the e-Entertainment Network, was president of NBC Studios when it brought Coupling to the U.S. airwaves."I was not…umm… sounds convenient now, but I was not a fan of bringing Coupling over, only because I just didn’t think, and don't think that we translate British humor very well." Harbor says it was a lot easier to sell a remake like "All in the Family", in the days before the explosion of cable, then people in this country had not heard of, much less seen the British originals. But that's changed. It's not that many Americans had seen the British version of Coupling, Harbor concedes, but among those who did watch it, were critics."The critics love the British show, and so this was just right for the killing 10. They were going to come and get this ’cause it…it wasn’t as good, it wasn't the same as the British show'. So it was easy for them to kill:‘Look at these stupid Americans who have taken a good British show and ruined it, on both sides of the pun', that was the comment. And so, I think it had a couple of strikes against it.” Harbor says NBC has been more cautious about The Office, ordering only 6 episodes and launching it in midseason. But as a rule, he still doesn't think British comedies translate that well. "There is a real appreciation 11 for frankly 12 the smaller and smarter joke, in England, whereas American comedy is bigger and more obvious."

American television tends to do much better with make-overs of so-called reality shows and contests like "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". Tom Gotarage runs Freemantle, which produces the hugely successful "American Idol 13", based on the British show "Pop Idol". He says when it comes to sitcoms, the American approach is to work with a group of writers, while British shows tend to be written by one person."The result is that our comedies and our scripted shows, are very idiosyncratic. They're very personal to the writer. That's why they don't translate. Because the British psychology 14 of the individual writer is not an American one. And I think that's probably the problem that they are having."

At a recent gathering 15, critics asked NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly why he thought The Office might overcome that problem."It's the kind of show you're gonna the office the next day, and someone says:‘My God! I just saw the best thing I’ve ever seen!’And a guy said...and the next guy says…I…‘That? I don’t even get it! That was awful!’ And that debate is what fuels it. And it's exactly what happened in Britain. I mean the show was not enough to get a hit. People were very confused at first. So, NBC, it does have a history. If I can dare to dream, this would go the Seinfield route.”

NBC is struggling to regain 16 its footing without Friends and Frasier, if American audiences embrace The Office, it would indeed, be a dream come true for the network.

Kim Masters, NPR News, Los Angeles.Kim Masters, NPR News, Los Angeles.