TV Producers Find Hits Abroad

Who doesn’t remember All in the Family? It struck a nerve as a quntessentially American story back in the 1970s: working-class bigot Archie Bunker calls his wife a “dingbat” and blows raspberries when confounded by his liberal son-in-law’s counter-cultural ideas. Yet All in the Family was based on the British television series Till Death Do Us Part.

Much of what we see on TV has been borrowed from other countries - hit shows like The Office, Ugly Betty, and Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? All got their starts overseas - no news there, but this fall’s new lineup borrows liberally from shows abroad, and like America’s growing population, comes from all over the world.

One coming out this fall is Kath & Kim, starring Selma Blair and Molly Shannon, based on a top Australian sitcom. A cop show with a twist, Life on Mars, ABC’s take on the hit BBC series, also had to go through some serious changes to make its way to American screens.

Thomas Rogers, deputy editor of the Open Salon blog at Salon.com, says that 2008 is shaping up to be “The Year of the Adapted Foreign TV Show.” He joins Word of Mouth with more.

Read Thomas Rogers' article "Television's foreign affair" here