The Inbetweeners failed in the US because they did not cast “weirdos”, according to Joe Thomas, one of the stars of the British original.
The Stateside adaption of the Channel 4 sixth form sitcom was cancelled after one season in 2012 when it attracted poor ratings and reviews for broadcaster MTV.
Thomas, who plays Simon in the show, was speaking at Comic Con North East in Newcastle alongside former co-stars Simon Bird and Blake Harrison when he made the remarks.
“I think we can say it didn’t work,” Thomas said when asked by a fan during a panel about why it had missed the mark.
“I think the reason it didn’t work is because … I think it’s a very British show. It’s ironic because actually in a way we were bouncing off that American genre of teen comedy. They did it first and we were riding on their shirt tails or whatever. There’s a sense of loserdom and failure in British comedy that kind of is represented in The Inbetweeners.”
The US version failed despite some big-name credentials with Taika Waititi directing the pilot and Brad Copeland, who also wrote for Arrested Development and My Name is Earl.
“It was just too sort of glossy wasn’t it?” Bird said. “The cast was just too handsome. I mean look at us!”
“You’ve got to cast weirdos,” Thomas replied in agreement. “Find some weird looking people. The time they thought the show first might work was when they saw the four of us standing next to each other and they were like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s actually quite funny. That one’s quite tall, he’s got a weird haircut.”
The Inbetweeners failed but it was not the first British sitcom to fail to cross the pond. Here are some other examples.
British sitcoms that failed Stateside
Gavin and Stacey
It’s hard to think of a more British sitcom than a couple trying to make a relationship work between Barry and Billericay. But try the US producers did and the result was a single series of Us and Them that Fox commissioned and did not release. It was eventually released on streaming service Crackle, four years after it had been finished. There was not a second series.
Peep Show
The pilot episode of Peep Show is on YouTube in all of its shame for fans of the British show to ogle at. Thankfully it did not go any further.
The Thick of It
Another to not get beyond the pilot stage was the British political satire. Its creator Armando Iannucci said: “The pilot was so boring. There was no swearing, no improv … everything The Thick of It had, it didn’t have. I played it for the cast and people just started wandering off. It couldn’t even hold our attention.”
Skins
The teen drama did at least get a series made but the sexual nature proved controversial for US audiences and it did not go any further.
Teachers
The school comedy ran for four series on Channel 4 from 2001 to 2004 but for only one in the US. Critics found it to be cliched and it was quickly cancelled by NBC.
Upcoming US remakes of British sitcoms
Rather than reflect on the steady stream of British adaptation failures, it seems US producers would prefer to keep in mind the crossover success of The Office and keep trying to remake shows despite their poor record.
Motherland is set to get the US treatment, with Ellie Kemper starring, while Friday Night Dinner will go into production starring YouTube star Daniel Thrasher.
And we might not have seen the last of a US version of Peep Show. A fifth attempt at recreating the series has been greenlit by FX with Minnie Driver and Amandla Jahava cast.
