I’ll go first…The Office.
Now I know the two shows are fundamentally quite different, but they adapted what was already a very successful show, and turned It into an event more successfully one that lasted for significantly longer than the original did. I say that’s a win for them.
Anything else? Life on Mars, Being Human, The Inbetweeners…?
I think this is due to the actual societal character of the British compared to us Americans. We just can’t seem to genuinely pull it off because it’s somewhat counterintuitive to the way we’re raised socially. Try as we might, we may come close, but we seem to always miss the mark, even if the differences are hard to put a finger on. That’s just my opinion.
I think some of the difference has to do with the show’s format. You don’t see anyone arguing or backstabbing. On the contrary, even though they are competing against each other they often help each other out. In the USA we have shows like Jersey Shore, car repo, bounty hunter, everything we watch is some form of confrontation pitting someone against someone else and then filming and broadcasting the fireworks. Can you tell that I’m tired of American TV?