Regardless, this week the new episode of Ghosts was titled "I Know What You Did Thirty-Seven Summers Ago" and the new episode of Elsbeth is titled "I Know What You Did Thirty-Three Summers Ago" and apparently, according to every online source I can think to look at, it's just a complete coincidence.
What are the odds that two episodes with those two titles would coincidentally air back to back on the same night on the same network?
Are we in the Matrix now??
An Honest Fangirl: I know that movies will come out with the same topic at the same time (See Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down), but this is the first time I heard it happening with episode titles!
Billie Doux: It happened once a long time ago with two shows I was reviewing, but I'm blanking out on which ones. Maybe it'll come to me.
Mikey Heinrich: There's a whole swathe of Reddit that's convinced that there was a planned Ghosts/Elsbeth crossover that was going to happen but fell through. I can't even imagine what that would have looked like.
An Honest Fangirl: I have only watched a few episodes of Ghosts (it's my mom's favorite show so I'll watch when I'm visiting at home) but from what I know of the Elsbeth commercials, I can totally see it. The vibes work.
Mikey Heinrich: If it did, I would totally watch it. I can tell you that.
Billie Doux: I'm not a sitcom person but I enjoy Ghosts, and I'm talking about the US version. The UK version was okay, but it felt – I don't know. Meaner? Darker? More negative? The US version makes me laugh and gives me a lift. Can't ask for more than that.
Haven't watched Elsbeth yet but I should.
An Honest Fangirl: Billie, my mom also reported the same experience. She tried the UK version and didn't like it nearly as much!
Victoria Grossack: I've also enjoyed Ghosts (US). My only problem is my inconsistent access due to changing continents.
Billie Doux: The show is just well written and acted and different. The characters are distinct and well realized and fun. Except it feels like they almost never make good use of their lead, Rose McIver, who was amazing at playing so many different characters in iZombie.
Juliette: Ghosts must be super popular because my YouTube videos about it get way more views than anything else! XD My favourite is actually the German version, but I like all of them. The German one balances the spookiness of the British one with the warmth of the American one really well.
Mikey Heinrich: It's pretty impressive how successful they've been with franchising. Has any show ever had versions in so many countries?
Particularly when all of the commercials for the US version kind of go out of their way to hide the fact that the show is funny as much as possible.
Also, I agree. The humor in the UK version is much more mean spirited. It's an interesting comparison.
An Honest Fangirl: It feels like comedy shows do the best when it comes to making a bunch of different, international versions. Comedy and reality shows. I know The Traitors has like three different versions, and I'm pretty sure that Taskmaster has like four. Speaking of, Taskmaster is hilarious. All of them are, although I am partial to the UK one.
Mikey Heinrich: Haven't heard of Taskmaster, but I have wanted to check out The Traitors for Alan Cumming.
Fun fact, the entire concept of selling the basic concept and format of TV shows to other countries for them to do their own version was pioneered by Beryl Vertue. She's the reason that the British show Steptoe and Son was remade in America as Sanford and Son. Likewise the British show Till Death Us Do Part was remade as All in the Family.
She was also Steven Moffat's mother-in-law, because there's literally nothing that I can't tie back to Doctor Who.
And speaking of, as a British TV producer and a woman, she owes some debt for her career to Verity Lambert.
An Honest Fangirl: Oh, Taskmaster is great. It's basically a bunch of comedians doing absolutely ridiculous tasks, like fitting a cat-sized horse statue through the smallest gap possible. Players then get points, and are usually mocked by the Taskmaster himself, Greg Davies. I regularly cried laughing.
Billie Doux: I don't always prefer the American version. Much preferred the British version of Being Human.
Mikey Heinrich: Russell Tovey IS terribly dreamy :)
Russell Toney? Are you insane? I watched Being Human for Aidan Turner!
ReplyDeleteHey, I get it. Aiden Turner is very attractive. And fun fact, there was a crew member on Poldark whose entire job was trimming his chest hair into the most visually pleasing shape she could. Honestly, that was her entire day.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm a Russell Tovey man at the end of the day. Did you see him on American horror story NYC?
Aiden Turner all the way. While I totally believe that everyone's mileage varies. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those 'there is no wrong answer' situations :)
ReplyDeleteAnd no mention of Russell Tovey's previous role on Doctor Who? Or his upcoming one in The War Between the Land and the Sea (Doctor Who spinoff)? :)
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely correct. I should have mentioned those. I got caught up in objectifying him sexually. :)
DeleteI remembered! While I was reviewing Lost and Alias, they each aired an episode with the same title a week apart. It couldn't have been a coincidence because they had J.J. Abrams in common. I think.
ReplyDeleteAlias 5.10 "S.O.S." Apr 19, 2006
https://www.douxreviews.com/2002/08/alias-sos.html
Lost 2.19 "S.O.S." Apr 12, 2006
https://www.douxreviews.com/2002/05/lost-sos.html
I know little of Poldark beyond my mom being a fan.
ReplyDeleteBeen playing a lot of V Rising now that it has a big update. While I wish we could build down for proper dungeons and crypts, being able to play a vampire that builds her own castle is great fun. Lots of reading too, almost done with Guards! Guards! now.
"The UK version ... felt – I don't know. Meaner? Darker? More negative?"
ReplyDeleteI think that's true of British vs. American sitcoms in general. I had a long conversation about the difference between comedy in our respective nations with an American a few years ago, and it comes down to likeability.
A lot of the time in British Comedy, you're meant to be laughing at the characters, at their downfall. Take Basil Fawlty, or Arnold Rimmer, or Edmund Blackadder. These aren't likeable people, they're mostly fairly horrible, so when horrible things happen to them, you don't feel bad.
US comedy on the other hand, has a problem with making the main character unlikable. You want to root for them, so they have to be OK at the end.
The American I was talking to felt that British sitcoms often felt like they were missing the end of the episode. In US sitcoms, a problem occurs, things get worse, then a resolution occurs and things get better. In UK comedy, things get worse, and then get worse, and then the episode ends.
It's one of the reasons Ghosts has translated quite well to the US I think. The original Ghosts, is, for the UK, quite a cosy sitcom. The characters are all mostly likeable. They learn and grow, despite being dead. They annoy the crap out of each other but still love each other in the end. The US version is even cosier, to the extent that it's a bit too saccharine for me.
The other great US sitcom remake is The Office, and again its because it mostly had likeable characters. While Ricky Gervais's character was your standard irredeemable muppet, most of the people around him were quite likeable. It's noticeable that they made Steve Carrell much more likeable in the remake.
I do so love Red Dwarf, Fawlty Towers, and all the Blackadders, although especially the Third and Goes Forth. I am in the US, but have always loved British humor more than the homegrown stuff. I just appreciate the sarcasm and dry wit of shows like these and others more than those other types of comedy.
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