New American remake of Father Ted

Yes you read the title correctly, the wheels are in motion for a remake of Ted in America!

There's a lot of information and titbits floating arround the internet about this, and of course the only people who know that facts are those who are involved. It's really a case of wait and see, but for now, here are some things we've unearthed that are apparently true...

The latest unconfirmed news is that Steve Martin will take the lead role.

Hat Trick, makers of the origionl, have teamed up with former Seinfeld writer Spike Feresten to create the US version. Details are very sketch at best but it seems the show will use the original scripts although probably adapted slightly. It also seems that is the show becomes Popular and out runs the 25 episodes worth of scripts, then new episodes might be written by a team of American writers.

This isn't the first remake of a TV show though, UK game shows such as The Weakest Link and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire have crossed the pond and have been succesfull, just as American shows such as Supermarket Sweep and Family Feud (renamed Family Fortunes for the UK) have also made the move and have proved very popular.

There is however a trail of sitcoms that made the move and sank without trace again in both directions. The UK remade shows such as The Golden Girls, Mad About You and Married... With Children and they all stank. The Americans remade shows such as Fawlty Towers, and they also stank too. The biggest success stories are The Upper Hand which was a UK remake of Who's The Boss, Sanford and Son which was a US remake of Steptoe and Son, and The Office, an American Workplace (which is really good).

So is there anything going for the idea?

Well maybe. On the plus side Hat Trick has been very successful in remaking it's shows abroad. Whose Line Is It Anyway was very popular when remade in American, and the excellent kumars at No 42 is also currently enjoying success in America but this time with a Hispanic famliy under the name The Ortegas. Also if the show is great, it might be good to see new episodes to see what happend to the characters after the original left off.

On the minus side, a lot of American viewers are already familiar with the original version and will therefore be able to compare the two. If the US version is good, but not quite as good, they're more likely not to watch.

You may have noticed that since they anounced the American version, there has been very little news on the subject, but apparently they are still working on it.

So will it work? Maybe, but can it really be as good? After reading my rants, why not post your views on the message board?