Wow! What I think this is going to be is a mellower version of the series. I thought Meaney was brilliant casting as Hunt, but based on the preview, he doesn't look as aggressive.

Yeah, that got me too. They seem to've made up for it by making Sam Tyler less of a weed, which rather ruins the whole shooting match.

Yeah.

From that glimpse, it's just inexplicable.

TOTALLY THERE.

Ahahahahaha. Oh, this looks like it's either going to be awesome or awesomely bad.

I had to turn it off half way through ))): No, it doesn't look terrible, but to hear them talking about someone else as Sam Tyler? I cannot handle it. And I hate that Colm Meaney, an actor I actually quite like, is playing Gene D:

An immense beefy Sam Tyler with a mailbox head BUT THE SAME HAIRCUT

And shot-for-shot copying of the original! It's gonna be worth watching if only for the sheer parody value. I hope voiceover guy narrates the series.

Oh dear! Um, hilarious in its contrast to the original.

I would never have watched that if I didn't know what the show could be like. But this continues to intrigue me...

Keep in mind, Mainstream USA won't be comparing it to the original, so it may do quite well here.

I've never seen the original myself.

I'm not a fan of cop shows, but I do like Colm Meaney. So I may check it out.

Is it really fair to judge the show based on one preview clip?

The preview clip suggests that either the show will be funny and clever in its own way, or like a bizarre Hollywood parody of the original. Either way, I'm there.

I know David E. Kelley is involved in this remake. And Boston Legal (another of his shows) is genius. Incredibly sharp, and funnily written. And it won Shatner an Emmy.

It's Chief O'Brien!

Erm.. I don't know if I can stand watching the show without John Sim. I might implode.

Just found out a TV network in Spain is also producing a remake.

With the bonus that Spain in the '70s was still a dictatorship under Franco.

Now *that's* gonna be fun...

I want an Australian version, dammit.

And one where they're elves.

I want an Australian version, dammit

Oh, gods. That would just scream for a crossover with "Prisoner, Cell Block H" (American title of that soap opera set in a women's prison)

Gene Hunt would be a dwarf.

IAWTC

Huh. Colm Meany's not bad casting, but that other guy???? Nope. Interesting that they have two Irish actors playing the leads. Guess they couldn't find any American actors who could actually act. (As an American I'm allowed to say that...)

Edited at 2008-05-14 04:59 am (UTC)

According to Glenister, they actually offered him and Simm the parts! But they turned them down on grounds of not wanting to give up the next six years of their lives...

... six?

Are they going to make SIX SEASONS out of it?

God knows, but most contracts for TV shows specify something like 5-7 years, just in case the show takes off!

Aw, man. Yet another reason to be totally embarrassed by my country. D:

when i clicked on the link and tried to watch the video, it crashed my browser.

a message from the gods, i feel.

Argh! I'm not sure if I should find that terribly funny or terribly bad, or both.

One question to non-British or European watchers of the original: did you find it difficult to understand the accents and where you able to relate to what's been shown?

German native here:
I loved the accents and understood 99% of what was said. Being a child of the 1970s, I could relate to what was happening even with a few bits and bobs here and there missing from the frame of cultural reference. Um.
In three words: I love it.

Edited at 2008-05-14 09:57 pm (UTC)

No problem with the accents, and yes, was able to relate to things just fine. Same for my roommate.

In fact, the sense of a particular time *and place* was so powerful, I can't help but wonder how they'll get that to translate to a story set in an entirely different location -- they'd better take that aspect of things into account, or it's really gonna make a hash of this.

Cool! Me, I didn't have any problem with the accent either. Sure there were words I never heard of but that's always the case with any programme in English. In a way I could not even relate to it as I'm just a bit too young. I remember wearing weired Sara Jane Smith clothes in kindergarten and that's about it. But you are right with it being so powerful, it just worked for me. I wonder how the US version will in the end work out.

We're in the States, and loved..loved...LOVED watching the British version. No problems with the accents at all. Every once in awhile, there were words we didn't know and crimes or events or old TV shows we didn't know, so we kept wikipedia handy. We had the feeling we'd get a lot more out of it if we were British, but there was plenty for us to get. And the craft, how it was made...period costumes, tight camera work, period music woven in...ooooh....so great. They made all of the characters real to me. Watch!

This is a travesty, an undeniable offence against nature that must not be tolerated.

Well, it might not be that bad. But yeah, part of the charm of the original series is that Sam is so vulnerable, and that's hard to pull off when you're six and a half feet tall and the same across the shoulders.

I don't know... I just don't know.

Sam is so vulnerable

You've articulated something I couldn't put my finger on.

Silence from the peanut gallery, pls

HOLY CHRIST ON A BIKE
I would like to apply for refugee status in the Commonwealth. This is just too much.

_{I have the Anti-Sam's coat...and I'm a girl}