New Year, New Shows? No.

The British are coming, the British are coming. (fnar)

America’s previous attempts at remaking British shows for the most part end in horror and devastation. Watching scenes from the pilot of Spaced often results in mass suicide, and Red Dwarf, which they wanted so desperately they had two pilots made (warning, ingestion of extreme amounts of canned laughter can cause projectile rage), was a steaming pile of smeg. Dax or no Dax.
Yes, I can see you there with "But… The Office," written all over your eager shiny face and I say to you, dear reader; accidents happen. For every success (Man About The House became Three’s Company, one of America’s most popular sitcoms) there are multiple abject failures (one of 3 Fawlty Towers remakes was titled "Payne"; the hoteliers named Royal and Constance Payne. I wish I were joking).

Men Behaving Badly, The Thick of It, Coupling, Game On, Teachers, Blackadder, Are You Being Served, Blackpool… the list of failed or cancelled remakes is surprising and long. Really, America, Ballykissangel?
Anyway, I haven’t come along just to bash America’s inability to properly harness the British sense of humour or adapt our dramas. Well, not solely to do that.
You see, January 2011 is British Invasion month in the USA with remakes of three very popular and, if you ask me, quintessentially British programmes premièring. Handily, all the original shows have a new series coming this month too. It’s like Christmas all over again.

Shameless
Channel 4, Mondays, 10pm

Cast your mind way way back to 2004 when Shameless exploded onto Channel 4. Its painfully realistic depiction of a non-working working class family caused some controversy amongst Middle England, and seas of nodding heads from those who recognised that this sort of thing goes on in the British underclass and makes for excellent drama. Nominated for various awards and critically lauded, Shameless was not-to-be-missed TV. Then it went on for 6 years. I didn’t even know a new series was on the cards, to be honest. But lo, series 8 comes to Channel 4 on 10th January. Frank’s getting married – or is he – and the Powell’s are the new family on the block surely getting into scrapes of some kind. There’s apparently a drug-fuelled sci-fi odyssey and a gay chatline, so something for all the family. If you have been watching all this time, I’m sure you’ll be tuning in. However, I highly recommend renting the first 2 series on DVD instead.

Moved from Manchester to Chicago, the Yank Gallaghers remain pretty much the same. 6 children – reduced from 7, for no specified reason – running amok with eldest sister Fiona (Emmy Rossum) forced to be a parent to all of them since Mum ran away from hopeless alcoholic Frank (William H. Macy). The trailers and press information implies that most of the focus will be on Fiona’s struggle to balance her home life and her relationship with middle class boyfriend Steve, with Frank lying prostrate and drunk in the background. Fair enough, as in the original it was definitely Fiona’s story that kept us coming back after the initial shock value of a tramp Dad wore off.
Of course the big draw is the stellar ensemble cast and the fact that John Wells (The West Wing) is head writer. Let’s face it; Macy will surely be television gold in this role but one of the main reasons I’ll be tuning into the remake, is the casting of Frank’s agoraphobic love interest Sheila. Originally set to be played by the fantastic Allison Janney, scheduling conflicts only led to Showtime recasting Joan Bloody Cusack!
Out of the three featured here, this is the show I think could easily have legs, even if they are unsteady drunken legs, and with Paul Abbott retaining an executive producer credit, it’s sure to be a cracking watch. There are dysfunctional families all across the world; chaviness is not confined to the M32 region.