Trans-Atlantic Equivalent

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Two works on opposite sides of the Atlantic can be compared with each other.

Typically, the older work is remade on the other side of The Pond. Most often, a UK show is remade in the US. In the case of foreign reality or game shows, this is because they are not usually aired by US commercial networks, and this allows American audiences to directly participate by becoming eligible contestants.

Shows that spread to even more countries become Multi National Shows.

Examples of Trans-Atlantic Equivalent include:

Film

  • Alien (US) / Marco Polo (Norway): A space ship crew comes across an alien planet, and pick up an alien stowaway who begins killing them. The main difference is that, in the Norwegian miniseries, the alien turned out to be sympathetic. The series was actually aired before Alien

Live-Action TV

  • Kenny vs. Spenny (Canada)/Ed vs. Spencer (UK)/Elton vs. Simon (Germany)/Frank Vs. Girard (Quebec): Two friends compete in bizarre competitions; the loser suffers a humiliation.
  • Man About the House (UK)/ Three's Company (US): Buffoon fakes homosexuality to room with two women.
    • Robin's Nest (UK)/ Three's A Crowd (US): The buffoon and his girlfriend run a bistro.
    • George & Mildred (UK)/ The Ropers (US): The buffoon's former landlord and landlady try to get ahead in society.
  • One Foot in the Grave (UK)/ Cosby (US): Curmudgeonly older man deals with retirement.
  • Changing Rooms (UK) / Trading Spaces (US)/ Tapetenwechsel (Germany): Neighbors remodel each others' homes.
  • The Office (UK) / The Office (US) / Stromberg (Germany)/ Le Bureau (France) / La Job (Quebec) / La Ofis (Chile): Mockumentary style Work Com.
    • And apparently, Russian and Israeli versions are on the way. Ricky Gervais will never have to work again.
  • Cracker (UK) / Cracker (US): Defective Detective / Profiler crime drama (The US version is known as Fitz in the UK)
  • Fawlty Towers (UK) / Amanda's (US) / Payne (US): Quirky staff runs hotel.
  • Max Headroom: Twenty Minutes Into The Future (UK)/ Max Headroom (US): Reporter uncovers scandal aided by his computer counterpart.
  • Scrapheap Challenge (UK) / Junkyard Wars (US): Engineers compete to build machines out of found objects.
    • To confuse things further, the US distributor of Scrapheap Challenge retitled it Junkyard Wars.
  • Till Death Us Do Part (UK) / All in The Family (US) / Ein Herz und eine Seele (Germany): Bigoted misogynist lives with socialist son-in-law and long-suffering wife.
  • Steptoe and Son (UK)/Sanford and Son (US): The adventures of father and son junkyard merchants.
  • Aktenzeichen XY... Ungelöst ("File XY... Unsolved", Germany)/ Crimewatch UK (UK)/ America's Most Wanted (US): Enlisting millions of viewers to help find fugitives the police can't.
  • Family Feud (US) / Family Fortunes (UK) / Familienduell (Germany): Game Show where two families try to guess the most popular answers to survey questions.
  • Britain's Got Talent / America's Got Talent/ Das Supertalent (Germany): Talent competition involving three judges who can buzz people off.
  • Golden Girls (US) / Brighton Belles (UK): Four older women share a house.
  • Mad About You (US) / Loved By You (UK): Newlywed couple in the big city.
  • Hollywood Squares (US) / Celebrity Squares (UK): Quiz show with celebrities in a giant tic-tac-toe/noughts-and-crosses board.
  • Keep It In The Family (UK) / Too Close for Comfort (US)
  • Mind Your Language (UK) / What A Country (US)
  • Whose Line Is It Anyway?: improvisational comedy (same format and similar games on both sides of The Pond)
    • Later series of the UK version were filmed in the US- if anything, it was probably just a change of host rather than a remake
  • Life On Mars (UK) / Life On Mars (US) / Present-day police detective is transported to 1973.
  • Saturday Night Live (US) / Saturday Live and Friday Night Live (UK) / RTL Samstag Nacht (Germany): Subversive sketch show with young comedians.
  • Who's The Boss? (US) / The Upper Hand (UK): Male sportsman becomes housekeeper to successful businesswoman.
  • Eleventh Hour (UK) / Eleventh Hour (US): A scientist and a government agent solve cases of scientific advancements in the wrong hands.
  • Coupling (UK) / Coupling (US): Six friends are involved in ever-shifting (apart from the two leads) sexual relationships.
    • There was also a Greek Coupling. According to Steven Moffat "It lasted longer than the American version, so shut up."
  • Everybody Loves Raymond (US) / Everybody Loves Kostya (Russia) : Creator Phil Rosenthal mas a comedic documentary, Exporting Raymond about the process.
  • Law and Order (US) / Law and Order UK (UK): Cops and lawyers.
    • Law and Order Special Victims Unit / Закон и порядок: отдел оперативных расследований (Russia): Similar format dealing with sex crimes.
    • Law and Order: Criminal Intent (US) / Paris Enquêtes Criminelles (France) / Закон и порядок: Преступный Умысел (Russia): Similar format dealing with high profile cases, and also showing the persepective of the criminals.
  • Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?? (US)/ Are You Smarter Than A Ten Year Old? (UK)/ Sei Più Bravo Di Un Ragazzino Di Quinta? (ITA) / Das weiß doch jedes Kind! (GER): Contestants answer questions against a panel of kids.
  • I've Got a Secret (US) /I've Got a Secret (UK)/ Please Guess My Secret (Japan): Unlike the UK versions of American Game Shows running at the time in the 50s/60s, the Japanese just created their own version with no assist from (or royalties to) Goodson Todman Productions.
  • Being Human (UK) (UK) / Being Human (USA) (US): A ghost, a werewolf, and a vampire try to live together as normal people.
  • Het Huis Anubis (Netherlands) / Das Haus Anubis (Germany) / House of Anubis (US): A children's show about a group of friends trying to figure out a mystery their boarding school holds.
  • Skins (U.K.) / Skins (U.S.): Darker and Edgier teen drama.
  • Men Behaving Badly (U.K.) / It's A Man's World (U.S.): A sitcom about 'typical lads'.
  • Edge of Darkness (U.K.) / Edge Of Darkness (U.S.): A conspiracy thriller about nuclear cover-ups. Incidentally, made by the same director, Martin Campbell.
  • This is Your Life (U.S.)/This is Your Life (U.K.)/This is Your Life (Australia): The host surprises its celebrity guest with a "book" taking them through their life and a host of people who have played important roles in the celebrity's life. Even though it originated as a concept in the U.S., it lasted for a much longer period of time in the U.K.
  • The Thick of It (UK) / Veep (US, forthcoming): The raw, seedy, spin-dominated, and Cluster F-Bomb-dominated side of politics, as seen from a Government Agency of Fiction (UK) or the Vice President's office (US).
  • Top Gear (UK) / Top Gear (US): Three hosts chat about cars and driving them. Hilarity Ensues.
  • Expedition: Robinson (SWE) / Survivor (US)
  • Hustle (UK) / Leverage (US) : A team of anti-heroes steals from evil rich people who deserve to be stolen from.
  • Episodes is a series centered around the very concept.
  • WΔZ (UK)/Scar 3D (US)
  • Transcontinental variant: Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (US)/ Mr. Dressup (Canada): Justified in that both stars worked together in a Canadian precursor of the former show before Rogers returned to the US and his understudy Ernie "Mr. Dressup" Coombs decided to stay and create his own show.
  • Heroes (US) / Misfits (UK): Sci Fi series about ordinary people who discover they have superpowers
  • Jersey Shore (US) / Geordie Shore (UK) / The GC (NZ/AU)
  • The BBC (UK) / PBS (US)
  • Dear John (UK) / Dear John, (US)

Radio

Music

Artists

Genres

Politics

Technology

Education

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