American Improvement?

Funny how I always come back to blogging when I've got nothing better to do... Perhaps if I did it when I DID have something better to be doing I'd have a more interesting blog. Sorry about that. So I figured... I'd look for some inspiration somewhere light and easy - television. Now as much fun as pondering the pros and cons of The Glee Project or anticipating the next season of How I Met Your Mother... I'm just not generally one for talking about the light and the petty.

What is more my speed? Wilfred. For those of you to whom that is a foreign concept this is Wilfred.

And I have to say if you're not Australian then Wilfred SHOULD be a foreign concept. It is, in its original form, an Australian show which played on SBS about a dog, Wilfred, and the guy who lives next door (the only other character who see Wilfred as we the viewer sees him - a human dressed as a dog). It is rather black, and I think distinctly Australian flavoured humour.

Apparently not good enough for American audiences though. They have recreated the series. They always recreate the series. The Office, Life On Mars, they even tried it with Kath & Kim. Why are international shows simply not good enough for the american viewership? I've been watching 80-90% American television since I was 9-10 years old and they can't manage a single Australian show?

I don't know - the television ads tell me its been a roaring success ( but then ads always tell you things are a roaring succes) - but I just can't help but compare it to the original. Don't get me wrong - I wasn't the original Wilfred's biggest fan. However I did feel it worked as a harsh Australian bloke's bloke comedy.

There is some kind of disconnect that occurs in the American version between the Australian dog (the same one as above) and the replaced and Americanised actors. I feel rather like they feel too 'posh' for the shoe - and its got nothing to do with accents as I contemplated having the show with British actors instead. The very nature of being American doesn't naturally correlate to the Australian humour and there is a disconnect between the characters (more than there is supposed to be).

Maybe after a few episodes it gets better. For me however the injustice is done and there isn't much they can do to make it up to me. At least the dog is still the same Australian bloke.