Classic Battles - Chips vs. Crisps

When it all boils down to the basic elements it will always be Brits vs. Yanks, won't it?? British and American culture do a lot of sharing, at least for America it is the culture that we steal the most from. Recently, there has been a lot of adaptation on both sides of hit shows from the other country. Let's try to find out who is doing a better job.

The Donald Trump/Mark Burnett collab. reality hit has recently found it's way to the UK with Sir Alan Sugar as the fancy business man who is looking for a new "employee." I have enjoyed enjoyed the American version, as a reality addict, but found some aspects of the show lacking, like the overwhelming amount of poorly matched voice overs by The Donald and the overall tackiness of Mr. Trump. Sir Alan Sugar is more of a no nonsense hard ass type of guy, and is much less of the show off type, which is a pleasant change, but I have found Sugar to make a similar amount of iffy and somewhat hypocritical calls in his firing of people. The main difference in the 2 shows lies in the editing and direction. The UK version allows for longer shots, has much classier music and has a much more documentarian vibe than the US version. The UK show utilizes a narrator really well and the 60 minutes show, instead of the 42 minute US version, really allows the show to feel less Fear Factor and more BBC or PBS. I highly recommend track down (I download it from here) some Apprentice UK for some high quality reality TV.

WINNER: THE APPRENTICE UK

The Office (UK) is easily one of the greatest television shows of all time. It is as close to flawless as TV can get from the writing, casting, direction, art direction, to humor, and the classy move to end the show after only 2 short seasons and 2 specials. So, when I heard that that NBC intended to create an American version of this genius show I was filled with excitement but also great terror. There is no way to duplicate such a thing, and it only seemed like it could be a disaster, but it was still relieving to know that American television companies would even be interested in something as daring and new as The Office. Well, after three episodes of The Office (US) I can say that it completely pales in comparison to the British version, but yet it is not a complete failure. I really enjoyed Steve Carrell in the 1st episode, but after two more eps it is becoming apparent to me that his Michael Scott boss character is pretty one note and much more of a caricature than Ricky Gervais' brilliant, despicable but so realistic and somehow likable David Brent. Carrell is funny, but doesn't play the role near as interesting as Gervais. The other main problem with The Office (US) is that complete lack of chemistry between the Pam and Jim characters and they are pushing their forbidden love storyline much more than the brilliantly subtle and aching Tim and Dawn characters in the British version. The American version is watchable, and it was exciting to see my mom enjoying the brutal awkward and awesome humor when we watched the premier together, but it is nowhere near the original.

WINNER: THE OFFICE (UK VERSION)

Jackass was a sensation that I thought would be pretty well contained to America. I didn't the dumb as rocks but try not laughing humor would translate well anywhere else, but apparently it has because 4 dudes from Wales are making a show that is a direct ripoff of Jackass. Team Sanchez, called Dirty Sanchez everywhere else but cleaned up for our FCC police state, has just debuted on MTV2 here in the states but has been going for a year or so over in the UK. It's pretty much the same old thing at Team Sanchez...dude's getting hit with oversized rubberbands and dude's getting electrocuted and dudes getting naked or whatever, which all feels a little dumber and a little less inspired after already season Johnny Knoxville and his crew do it all a few years ago. The big problem is that there are none of the smarter messing with the public pranks like Ehren McGhehey and his crew from Portland would pull like the Bikeseat Baby, Blind Driver (where they made it appear like a blind dude was driving a car and smashing into other cars at 26th and Clinton), Meter Fairy (dressing up in a fairy costume and putting money in meters that needed it), Fountain Kayaking, and Johnny Knoxville's escaped convict bits. Also in Team Sanchez when they get naked and prance around it is just them laughing at each other, on Jackass it would be Chris Pontius running onto a high school football field during practice and stripping off his clothes and becoming Party Boy in a department store. Team Sanchez is just sorta boring at this point.

WINNER: JACKASS

SCORECARD:
BRITISH VERSIONS - 2 US VERSIONS - 1
ORIGINAL SHOWS - 2 ADAPTED SHOWS - 1