“Imitation is the highest form of flattery” … is an awesome way to justify a television series remake. U.S. networks have been doing it with impunity for decades and they aren’t alone. But American remakes are the gold standard for adapted shows that overshadow the international original series, sometimes through sheer publicity and star power.
From the early days of television, Americans have looked to the colonial motherland they revolted against for ideas. Wikipedia lists over 150 American remakes of British programs and it isn’t even exhaustive. However, more recently, some of the biggest hits on U.S. screens have been based on more globally inclusive sources. Here, we’ve collected five American hit series borne of international lineage.
Three’s Company (UK’s Man About the House)
A massive throwback but still the high-water mark for some when it comes to discussing American remakes. Obviously a product of its time, the idea of a man pretending to be gay in order to share a flat/an apartment with two women was novel enough in the 70s to sustain a six-season run for the UK’s Man About the House, consisting of 39 episodes. It spawned two successful spin-offs, George and Mildred and Robin’s Nest, which ran for five and six seasons, respectively.
Man About the House concluded in April 1976. By that time, an Americanized version had already been in the works long enough for two separate pitches and a pilot to be shot. After several casting tweaks, ABC ordered five episodes in addition to the (third) pilot and debuted the series in March 1977. The pilot is a scene-for-scene, nearly word-for-word, recreation of the Man About the House pilot. Seriously, you should check it out. It’s almost creepy. (You can stream Man About the House on Prime.)
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Three’s Company went on to be an ABC hit for its eight seasons and 172 episodes. Despite some behind-the-scenes drama, it made Suzanne Somers, Joyce DeWitt, and John Ritter household names. Unfortunately, its spin-offs, The Ropers and Three’s a Crowd, couldn’t capture the same magic or audience. The Ropers lasted two seasons while Three’s a Crowd was cancelled after one.
The Killing (Denmark’s Forbrydelsen)
Forbrydelsen was an international success, airing all over the world under various translated names. There were three series produced, airing in Denmark in 2007, 2009, and 2012. Somehow, it wasn’t available in the U.S. until 2021. By then, the American remake The Killing had already produced four seasons with two networks and cut its own swath out of the slow-simmer crime drama genre.
Jane the Virgin (Venezuela’s Juana la Virgen)
Juana la Virgen was a telenovela with global appeal. The story of a woman artificially inseminated by accident during a routine checkup and the hijinks that ensue has been remade into series in nine different countries since it aired first in 2002 (including in its original country in 2014).
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While The CW wasn’t first in line with their Jane the Virgin, they ran with it the longest, producing 100 episodes over five seasons. The series lit the fuse on the career of its titular lead, Gina Rodriguez and introduced a ten-year-old Jenna Ortega regularly as Young Jane in flashbacks. It was also Jaime Camil’s American television breakthrough.
The Good Doctor (Korea’s Good Doctor/Gut Dakteo)
Again, multiple countries tucked the idea of a genius-level surgeon on the autism spectrum under their cultural wing and adapted Korea’s 2013 twenty-episode single-season medical drama into adaptations translated to their context. Japan’s production ran for ten episodes in 2019 while Hong Kong’s 2020 Cantonese language version consisted of 25 episodes. Turkey made two seasons that aired from September 2019 to May 2021.
However, the U.S. jumped in first in 2017 and rode it the longest. Debuting in September 2017, starring Freddie Highmore as Dr. Shaun Murphy and featuring Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman, Dr. Murphy’s close friend and mentor. Over seven seasons and 126 episodes, Dr. Murphy grew from outsider resident savant surgeon to a husband and father… who was still the resident savant surgeon but maybe a bit less of an outsider.
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The Good Doctor spent six seasons in the Monday night 10pm slot, debuting as ABC most-watched Monday night drama in 21 years. It’s been broadcast in over a dozen countries and all seven seasons stream on Hulu in the States.
As We See It (Israel’s On the Spectrum)
As we learn more about individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, we realize that seeing one person with autism represented in media is really only seeing one person with autism. It’s a condition with such a wide variety of symptoms and behaviors that it is truly impossible to generalize it on one show.
That doesn’t mean there needs to be fewer shows about ASD individuals. In fact, it means we need to see more. As the assessments for ASD become more sensitive, it is believed that more than a third of people have brains wired with some level of autism. At that level of natural occurrence, we really should be seeing it as a feature, not a glitch.
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Writer and producer Jason Katims realized that when he decided to remake the Israeli series On the Spectrum. Pitched as “Friends, but with autism,” both series follow three twenty-somethings on the autism spectrum. They live together as roommates with a support aide who visits daily and sets life-skill goals for them.
Katims’s As We See It, debuted on Prime Video in January 2022 for a single season. Running eight episodes versus On the Spectrum‘s ten, its three stars — Rick Glassman, Albert Rutecki, and Sue Ann Pien — all identify in real life as being ASD. Sosie Bacon features as their assistive living aide.
Only the Tip of the International Iceberg
These are only five of hundreds of shows that have been remade with an American reframing. Off the top of my head, we could’ve included The Office, Hustle, Being Human, Shameless, House of Cards, Homeland, and Ugly Betty.
What are your favorites? Which have surprised you?
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