American Remakes Of British Television

American Remakes of British Television: Transformations and Mistranslations, edited by Carlen Lavigne and Heather Marcovitch, is an international, multidisciplinary collection exploring a specific set of television remakes (including The Office, Life on Mars, Sanford and Son, What Not to Wear, and others) through the lenses of communications studies, English, history, psychology and cultural studies. What does it mean to remake a television program? What does the process of 'Americanization' entail? What might the success or failure of a remade series tell us about the differences between American and British producers and audiences? The analysis in this volume results in a rich and multifaceted overview of approaches to global television studies.

A discussion of a truly international range of television programs, this title covers alternative modes of television such as digital and satellite.

Contemporary British Television Crime Drama examines one of the medium’s most popular genres and places it within its historical and industrial context. The television crime drama has proved itself capable of numerous generic reinventions and continues to enjoy some of the highest viewing figures. Crime drama offers audiences stories of right and wrong, moral authority asserted and resisted, and professionals and criminals, doing so in ways that are often highly entertaining, innovative, and thought provoking. In examining the appeal of this highly dynamic genre, this volume explores how it responds not only to changing social debates on crime and policing, but also to processes of hybridization within the television industry itself. Contributors, many of whom are leading figures in UK television studies, analyse popular series such as Broadchurch, Between the Lines, Foyle’s War, Poirot, Prime Suspect, Sherlock and Wallander. Essays examine the main characteristics of television crime drama production, including the nature of trans-Atlantic franchises and literary and transnational adaptations. Adopting a range of feminist, historical, aesthetic and industrial approaches, they offer incisive interrogations that provide readers with a rich understanding of the allure of crime drama to both viewers and commissioners.

This interdisciplinary study examines how state surveillance has preoccupied British and American television series in the twenty years since 9/11. Surveillance and Terror in Post-9/11 British and American Television illuminates how the U.S. and U.K., bound by an historical, cultural, and television partnership, have broadcast numerous programs centred on three state surveillance apparatuses tasked with protecting us from terrorism and criminal activity: the prison, the police, and the national intelligence agency. Drawing from a range of case studies, such as Sherlock, Orange is the New Black and The Night Manager, this book discusses how television allows viewers, writers, and producers to articulate fears about an increased erosion of privacy and civil liberties following 9/11, while simultaneously expressing a desire for a preventative mechanism that can stop such events occurring in the future. However, these concerns and desires are not new; encompassing surveillance narratives both past and present, this book demonstrates how television today builds on earlier narratives about panoptic power to construct our present understanding of government surveillance.

Between Emma Peel and tire Ministry of Silly Walks British television had a significant impact on American popular culture in the 1960s and 1970s. In Something Completely Different, Jeffrey Miller offers the first comprehensive study of British programming on American television, discussing why the American networks imported such series as The Avengers and Monty Python's Flying Circus; how American audiences received these uniquely British shows; and how the shows' success reshaped American television. Miller's lively analysis covers three genres: spy shows, costume dramas, and sketch comedies. In addition to his close readings of the series themselves, Miller considers the networks' packaging of the programs for American viewers and the influences that led to their acceptance, including the American television industry's search for new advertising revenue and the creation of PBS.

What is it like to make television comedy? How do writers get their ideas made, and how do commissioners and producers decide what to make? How do members of the comedy industry work with large broadcasters and production companies, and what does it mean to be creative – and stay creative? Drawing on interviews with many key writers such as Sam Bain, Paul Doolan, Graham Linehan, David Mitchell, Simon Nye and Sue Teddern, producers including Ash Atalla, Lisa Clark, Michelle Farr, Ali McPhail, Jon Plowman and Adam Tandy, and commissioners, the BBC’s Shane Allen, Channel 4’s Nerys Evans and Sky’s Lucy Lumsden, Creativity in the British Television Comedy Industry explores the creative processes that lead to successful programme-making. With detailed discussion of the processes by which series such as People Just Do Nothing and After Hours came to our screens, this book examines how members of the comedy industry maintain careers, manage failure, develop their craft, and stay creative. Creativity in the British Television Comedy Industry is essential reading for students and researchers with an interest in comedy studies, television production, and the creative/media industries.

Remakes are pervasive in today’s popular culture, whether they take the form of reboots, “re-imaginings,” or overly familiar sequels. Television remakes have proven popular with producers and networks interested in building on the nostalgic capital of past successes (or giving a second chance to underused properties). Some TV remakes have been critical and commercial hits, and others haven’t made it past the pilot stage; all have provided valuable material ripe for academic analysis. In Remake Television: Reboot, Re-use, Recycle, edited by Carlen Lavigne, contributors from a variety of backgrounds offer multicultural, multidisciplinary perspectives on remake themes in popular television series, from classic cult favorites such as The Avengers (1961–69) and The X-Files (1993–2002) to current hits like Doctor Who (2005–present) and The Walking Dead (2010–present). Chapters examine what constitutes a remake, and what series changes might tell us about changing historical and cultural contexts—or about the medium of television itself.

"This collection explores the current wave of US/UK television dramas, focusing on industry strategies, performance styles, issues of 'quality,' and audience receptions. It covers key programs including Black Mirror, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones and Sherlock. Issues of national identity, streaming services, and transnational fan cultures are all explored"