Steven Moffat talking to the BBC said that US remakes of his shows would not work. I would have to agree as I would not want to see my countrymen make Doctor Who. It would be insane to have two Doctor Who's going on at the same time and I believe it would not work. He also went on a spiel about Sherlock also even though the US Elementary is an entirely different show all together. Even though I agree on him about Doctor Who here is what the pompous one had to say about both shows.
"You couldn't have more than one Doctor Who in the world. It would just be dreadful. We don't own Sherlock Holmes, we don't even own the idea of updating Sherlock Holmes.That's been done before - several times actually. So there's no action to be taken. There are no shows from America that are big hits in Britain. They're all minor hits. Your mates may talk about them but no-one's watching them. They're getting squashed by the locally-made shows. Always."
First off - there are no shows from the UK that are big hits in America. Sure, Sherlock and Doctor Who are huge here and in relation to the UK, they are big hits but in the grand scheme of things, they are barely known in America. DW is more known now than it has every been but it is still a fringe show. America is not an environment where they can show a UK show on primetime unless it is a specialty channel. This prevents any UK show from being a contender ratings wise. So DW and Sherlock are 'minor hits' in America. Meanwhile American shows that are huge hits here are not as big in the UK, I don't think that has always been the case but if it is now, then great. US TV has shrunk the gap of quality between the US and UK for their shows. Years ago the UK won hands down but US has gotten their act together and have much better TV overall. Sherlock and Elementary exist without issue - they are compared but IMHO are both fine shows. I am opposed to an American DW, always have been when the show was actually on TV but the UK DW is not the best show out there right now and an American remake, while ridiculous, would either be better or perhaps it would be so bad it would make the UK one seem better than it really is.
ReplyDeleteI understand the snobishness of the UK TV crowd. I have been a huge fan of UK TV for years but like I said in the previous post, the gap is no where near as large. Moffatt can certainly use his Sherlock as evidence - it is a superior show but Doctor Who is lacking in so many areas that he is blind to the fact of this and thinks he is writing the best shows in the world right now and he is not. If there was an American remake I would oppose the idea but would watch it. It would probably bomb as badly as the original would on primetime.
ReplyDeleteHe does come across as very arrogant and pompous. Dallas was a huge hit in the UK and still has a huge following. Lots of US shows have done well over there its to bad that Steven Moffat is only looking at the TV world through tinted glasses.
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