SyFy Orders American Version of “Being Human”
SyFy has given the green light for an American version of Britian’s “Being Human.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, SyFy has agreed to produce a 13-epiosde season of the series as a reboot of the popular British show.
For those of you keeping track at home, SyFy’s episode order is seven longer than the first sesaon was in the UK.
“Human” revolves around three twentysomething roommates — who happen to be a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf — as they help one another navigate the complexities of living double lives.
The original version of “Being Human” has already aired in the United States on BBC America.
“Human” appeared on Syfy’s radar about two years ago when the network was given the pilot script by the BBC, which was seeking to bring in the U.S. cable network in as co-producer. It was too late in the process, so Syfy brass passed but became instant fans of the material.
“It turned out great as we can now do an American version,” Syfy president Dave Howe said. “We’ve always been keen on vampires and werewolves, and we loved the originality of ‘Being Human,’ the fact that the fantastical creatures in it are very young, accessible and charming.”
Howe stressed that Syfy is not going to “slavishly replicate the British version.” Some of network’s core audience already might be familiar with the original series, which runs in the U.S. on BBC America.
The search is on for a writer to adapt “Human,” with Syfy targeting a launch in summer or fall 2010 and eyeing it as a potential companion piece to breakout hit “Sanctuary,” which shares similar subject matter.
An “American” version???
Oh for frack’s sake!!!
Reboot RAGE!
Do they have no shame??
Hopefully it won’t suck as much as the U.S. version of “Life on Mars” did.
Why not just help fund the BBC version of the show and grab airing rights here in the states? Do they have to start over from scratch for the American audience?
Back in The Day, ABC showed “The Avengers” with Patrick McNee and Diana Rigg. They showed the Black & White episodes, and then when it went to color, they showed those.
CBS showed both “Secret Agent” and “The Prisoner”.
As far as I know, other than commercial breaks, they didn’t “tone them down”. They didn’t mess with them.
And for frack’s sake, they didn’t try to “Americanize” them.
What happened between then and now?
What happened to US? Did we become THAT xenophobic? Did we become THAT close-minded and…well…DUMB to the point where we can’t abide to see a British TV show here, with British actors and accents?
WTF.
(BTW, I thought ABC actually did a respectable job with “Life On Mars”. I liked it…but I LOVED the British version.)
BBC America peeps. like dad would say, “If it ain’t broke don’t mess with it.” Can you imagine a american version of the black adder??? shutter.
Darcy
BBC America is cool. Except for the editing to fit into a time slot for commercials.
And editing for the delecate American puritanical mindset.
But, hey, at least it’s pretty much the real thing and not some funky “Americanized” (aka Dumbed-down) version of something that’s fine just the way it is shown in the UK.
Saw the UK version, got bored. This could be better. Give it a chance.
@Rick Astley
This could be better
Ha ha ha ha. Give it up Rick, give it up.
I guess some people get bored unless there’s shite blowing up.
I can understand someone getting bored with all of that TALKING going on.
Rick, I guess there’s always the Disney Channel.
Not feeling optimistic about this.
Hey, Syfy, how about, I don’t know, an original idea?
what’s wrong with the british version, why do we have to have an american version?
I have a very, very bad feeling about this.
Over the decades there have been a few American shows which were based on Brit show which have succeeded. Sanford and Son and The Office are two that come to mind. However, most of these conversions have been dismal failures. Didn’t the Syphilis channel see what happened with Life on Mars? I guess not. It would be far more cost effective to just bring over the original show.
This kind of moves, to adapt UK shows to the American audience often sucks! What is whong with TV people industry?? Don’t they have no imagination?
What possible reason could they have for redoing the series? Its already in English! All they have to pay for is marketing. Idiots!
There are two reasons, Melissa.
One is that Hollywood thinks Americans are stupid, xenophobic mouth breathers who won’t get anything produced by them furreners. I’ll leave it as an exercise for the class to decide if they’re right.
The second is, if they just aired the British produced episodes, then the executives at Syfy couldn’t claim that it was their brilliance that produced the success of the show. in other words, if they don’t mess with it, they can’t take credit for it.
Ugh. I tried to like the original, but it just didn’t grab me. I can’t imagine an Americanized version being any better. Especially after what NBC did to my beloved Coupling.