Only Fools & Horses US remake

Widnes

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Sorry if this has already been done had quick look but couldn't see it, Got to say this would be one show I could never accept been remade. I could never actually bring myself to watch it as it is quite simply the greatest sitcom ever made and nothing could top memories like The Jolly boy outing.


Classic TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses is to be remade for a US audience.

The ABC network is to make a pilot US version of the British show, which starred David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst and ran from 1981-2003.

The script will be penned by Scrubs writers Steven Cragg and Brian Bradley.

ABC said it would follow the same formula of two brothers who "concoct outrageous, morally questionable get-rich-quick schemes in their quest to become millionaires".

If the pilot is picked up for a full series, it will be broadcast in the US later this year.

The original show came top of a poll to find the UK's greatest ever sitcom in 2004. Its 1996 Christmas special was seen by more than 24 million people, making it one of the most-watched programmes in the history of British TV.

It also spawned two spin-offs - The Green Green Grass, and Rock & Chips - before the show's writer and creator, John Sullivan, died last April aged 64.

Over the years, the programme has been sold and re-dubbed in dozens of countries. There have also been international remakes, including Wat Schuift't? in The Netherlands and Brat Bratu in Slovenia, where Del Boy's three-wheel Reliant Robin car became a camper van.

A US version has been mooted before, without results.

UK sitcoms have a chequered history in the States. One success story is the US version of Ricky Gervais' The Office, which has run for eight series, with Steve Carell and James Spader in the lead role.

But others, including American versions of Absolutely Fabulous, Fawlty Towers, Men Behaving Badly and Coupling, failed to take off.

Another UK comedy currently receiving a US makeover is political satire The Thick Of It, which will be appearing as Veep on the HBO channel from April.

BBC News - Only Fools and Horses gets US remake
 
The whole reason for the success of OFAH was the setting, characters and excellent writing. Without it I can't see the show being transferable. I will watch it for curiosity sake but I doubt it will be up to much
 
Awful idea. Fools and Horses is so quintessentially British, the setting plays a huge role, as does the style of humour, it just wouldn't translate to another country, especially without the original actors.
 
Is it really any good? I don't think Downtown Abbey looks any good on paper either but it get's great reviews from all around. Not just the "I love King Speech" sort of people.
 
That is such a BAD idea that I would be tempted to watch it.....like stopping to watch the aftermath of a car crash.
 
Can't see this working, the social and cultural idiosyncrasies that made OF&H work will be lost IMO. Even the description in the OP is wrong, it wasn't at all about "get rich schemes" - they were merely a vehicle to explore the depth and richness of a working class family wanting to raise their lot, but lacking the tools to do so

I'm fairly certain dissertations have been written about OF&H, its a show that grew and evolved over time, my point is, the appeal of the show was way more than laughs and gags, it was about seeing ourselves in the characters. I'm not sure that the writers of the US version will get this and therefor will fail. I can see it becoming a cheap laughs for the sake of it kind of thing, completely missing the subtly and complexity of the original
 
If this happens we should reclaim America and place them under home rule, they obviously can not be trusted to be left alone.
 
Christopher Lloyd has joined the cast of the Only Fools and Horses US remake.

The Back to the Future star will play the grandfather of Del (John Leguizamo) and Rodney (Dustin Ybarra), according to Deadline.

Like the original UK comedy, the potential ABC series will follow the trio as they concoct get-rick-quick schemes in their attempts to become millionaires.

Happy Endings actor BJ Bales has also been cast as Trigger, who has been reinvented as a 'ghetto-talking con man' and Del and Rodney's 'perpetual enemy'.

In the BBC's Only Fools and Horses - which ran from 1981 to 2003 - the dim-witted Trigger was played by Roger Lloyd-Pack, while Del and Rodney's granddad was portrayed by Lennard Pearce, until the actor's death in 1984.

David Jason, who played Del in the original, recently suggested that the remake will struggle, arguing that the show's concept won't "travel across the pond".

Happy Endings writers Steven Cragg and Brian Bradley have adapted Only Fools and Horses for US television and will executive produce alongside Jeff Golenberg.

Christopher Lloyd to star in 'Only Fools and Horses' US remake - US TV News - Digital Spy

The bit about Trigger doesn't sound good. Christopher Lloyd could be great casting though.