The hit British comedy, The Royles, is to be cleaned up when it is re-made for US TV later this year. The new American version of the show will be a toned-down version of the uncouth comedy that features a northern family sitting around the television, eating junk food, smoking and swearing.
In fact The Kennedys, as it will be called, will feature no swearing and only minimum smoking.
The head writer of the pilot show for the CBS network, Maya Forbes, stated that the network would like the family to be very much like the British one, but that they have a few restrictions.
"You can't even say 'Jesus Christ!' on American network TV," she added. "There's smoking only if one of the characters makes a responsible comment about how bad it is, so we'll have to rely on junk food."
Ms Forbes has also not yet thought of a replacement for the lead character Jim's "my arse" catchphrase. "It's difficult to find something with bite that you can actually say".
It's An Outrage!!
How can US TV justify sanitising a programme like The Royles and purging all the stuff that makes it so funny, yet at the same time can produce and broadcast such brilliance as The Sopranos?
This Mob-family drama has bucketloads of sex, violence and bad language all in glorious, explicit detail. Yet a layabout slob can't say "my arse"??!
And who are they trying to protect by expunging the swearing and smoking? The gun-toting, crack-smoking, gang-running youth of their country? The same ones that run around shooting up their own schools?
Perhaps US TV should take a wider look at it's responsibilities and the positive part it could play in educating America's young minds.
A good start would be to try broadcasting something worth watching, instead of ripping the heart, soul and guts out of every sitcom they touch. The Royles without cussing and tabs?? I think I'd rather be out popping a cap in someone's ass...probably a Fox Network Executive's!!
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