Back in January, news broke that Fox was attempting to remake the BBC show Torchwooda spin-off of the very popular Doctor Whofor American audiences. Unsurprisingly, fans of the original went ballistic.
But one of you must have sacrificed a goat or sold your soul to a demon, because for some reason, Fox has backed away from the deal.
"BBC Worldwide Productions and the Fox Broadcasting Company have mutually agreed not to progress together with a 13-episode serialized Torchwood format," BBC Worldwide told The Hollywood Reporter.
So if you're one of the many who didn't want to see the show get made, you can go ahead and celebrate. But you'd better make it quick, because: "We are currently in discussion with several interested networks," BBC Worldwide continued.
This is where things get interesting. Assuming the original Torchwood team is still in the picture, where would you like to see an American Torchwood end up, assuming it has to land somewhere? SyFy? ABC? Showtime? As "original" programming on BBC America? And if you think an American version is a good idea, tell us why in the comments section, below.
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Personally an American Version of Torchwood is not on. When I first heard that they were doing a US version, I thought the show would go to the dogs. The original one made in Wales was a top show and it should remain so with an British cast. They should not "reinvent the wheel".
Some things should never be messed with and bbc america needs to make more torchwood shows because it was a great show
I Think everyone else has said what i would say,i'm not against these "projects",i just think they should "honor" the original material,that's all.....!
Torchwood is/was perfect. Why do we need an American version? FOX would just try to Americanize it and it would lose all of its charm. American fans watch it because it's a good show as is, you can't improve upon perfection. This is what would happen: FOX would jazz up the special effects, tone down(way down) any alternative sexual conduct, and up the blood & guts aspect...they would also try make it too serious. All of this adds up to...CANCELED! Remember, FOX canceled SG-1, so you know Torchwood(USA) would never make it past 6 episodes. Rather than create an American version, just start making the original again! I loved the show, it had captured my imagination and interest in much the same way as Doctor Who. Most of the US fans of each show are quite capable of watching the originals without sub-titles, so...don't ever let the US networks screw up a UK show by Americanizing it. If it's funny in the UK, I'll bet it would be funnier here in its original form, I just wish a network executive would have the testicular fortitude to give it a try.moreless
American Version? LOL. That's a fine way to ruin a good show. I really hope BBC continues with the original one. LOL, who'll play Jack in the American version? Don't they know that every remake American makes are pathetic?
An American Torchwood wouldn't make any sense as Queen Victoria created the institute to protect Great Britain from aliens and whatnot. Unless they tied in something about an extention to America or whatever like a joint task force similar to UNIT of course.
If they do make an American version, they should go with their own stories and own cast rather than doing something similar to their poor "Life on Mars" series they had going a while back. They dont even have to call it Torchwood, and could probably integrate it with the current Torchwood in the UK. Also, hows about a Paul McGann Doctor Who tv series while they're at it? :)
ok im glad that we ( US ) isnt doing torchwood ,,, lets face it ,,, there not gonna keep it like it is .. jack being bi - sexual .. me and my wife laughed at him jumping from person to person .,,,, even before he was with torchwood .. how u gonna keep him pure .. with the censors . and the language will be cut ( ok i got a good satalite box i get to watch it and others on the BBC networks ... not bbc america ) sorry .. even when aired on bbc america it might be cut back some but not much ,,, if it would be on regular tv .. it would be chopped up like cow in a slaughter house ... im still waiting to the US version of top gear ... hopefully tanner foust will be on it .. i heard he was .. but i never heard of the other 2 ... we will see whats gonna happened with that sorry if i upset people but deal with the truth ,,,moreless
keep good television british! americants dont know good programing! p.s. im american.
To be honest, I think they should just go ahead and continue with the BBC version Torchwood and show it on BBC America.
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"Torchwood" is a bit like an "The X-Files" clone. So FOX clones a show that cloned one of its shows.
At least it got Russel T Davies off Dr Who ...
Dear BBC Worldwide:If I may offer a suggestion...Rather than continuing to expend your time, energy and capital in an attempt to shop around the offer for a US network to do an Americanized, serialized "Torchwood" (which, if given the green light, might follow the path of an earlier and similar endeavor - the ABC-TV network's "Life On Mars". ABC's show tried to reinterpret the phenomenal, inimitable BBC original. It had a huge marketing build-up and even had some potential. But, apparently, it didn't get high enough ratings fast enough. So, it was axed. And, though I appreciate the show's attempt to tie up loose ends, the end result was a final episode that... well, I haven't words to describe it.I strongly encourage the BBC to, instead, put all of that energy/effort/resources into what is an already-proven success.Bring the Original "Torchwood" back. It was an all-around amazing show which , IMHO, ended much too soon. Besides, Torchwood, Jack and Gwen had an endless number of possibilities left as far as potential story-lines and directions in which to take the show.Simply put: "If it ain't broke... don't fix it."And, the original "Torchwood" wasn't even dented.moreless
As others have said, if it was an American branch with crossovers to the UK branch and all of that, I would be intrigued. Of course my initial reaction was, "Why can't AMERICANS just think of good show ideas and stop copying the Brits?" I mean, British shows are in English, so Americans can just watch them. We don't need remakes! I'm mostly relieved that this is not happening, especially on Fox!
Torchwood America branch? How? Why? It's a British organization in the show started by Queen Victoria, not like UNIT which is international by proxy. This is a fantastically stupid idea, it isn't like the show is in some other language like Ugly Betty and needs to be translated, it's in English, no out of sync lips from dubbing different languages or anything.I love the original and the only reason one would do a remake of a show that is still running but is already compatible enough with the American audience would be:1. to dumb it down or censor the sex out of it because they don't think the audience out here would get it or could stomach it...2. to tout it as the next "Office" and make more money off of something that is already good and isn't going to get better...3. To remove any vestiges of Doctor Who there is in it since the doctor isn't as popular as Star Trek in the States and isn't well known to viewers here...Look at it this way, if you take out the doctor, then it isn't going to make much sense when Jack dies and comes back to life repeatedly. If you take out the sex then it isn't Jack, if it is a spin off then why produce it out here? You just aren't going to get the support and freedom you would by BBC.moreless
From what I understood, the US show would be a spin off than a remake of Torchwood, and that Russell T. Davies was going to be the man in charge. He hasn't disappointed me yet, and I was willing to give it a shot.
Good. Some things should never be messed with.
YES! Kudos to Fox, they came to their senses! Hopefully the other networks won't jump at their chance now though. I think the only network desperate enough could be the uber-cool new name syfy channel. Also why Torchwood, why not U.N.I.T.? It hasn't been done and it fits better with the US
There's no Torchwood without Captain Jack Harkness... seriously, what would be the point? So, unless John Barrowman doesn't mind doing double duty, it's just plainly idiotic.
If it was the American branch of Torchwood it would of been interesting.
The American version can't be worse the British one. I'm actually intrigued.
If they are to make a US version, it shouldn't be a remake, rather base it on a US branch of the institute. With guest appearances from the UK cast and Dr Who, who knows it might actually do well.
I am also thinking of HBO. This way the show can be just as sexual or sexually oriented as the original.
If they were to make an american one then i think BBC america would be good or syfy (as they always know what they are doing)ith a different series i really dont like the fact that a new buffy movie is going to be done without joss whendon, but im still going to go see the movie.With Tourchwood we could see 2 shows that go down 2 complete different paths and we could end up finding it fantastic. If you hate it don't watch it.
If they have to make an American version it should be on HBO. But for now I'm just glad they postponed the adaptation - the original is a good show.
Originally I was skeptical about an American version of this show but then I did some research and realized 1) the original team seems to be involved and 2) they want to pick up where Children of Earth left off (or so I read somewhere that seemed credible). The only scary part that remained was Fox being the network, but that is also no longer a factor now. At first I was thinking ABC would be a good choice but now I would love to see BBC America pick it up. I think that would be the best fit for all involved.
I wouldn't mind an american adaptions for two simple reasons. 1: If its awful, well, then I wouldn't watch it and continue to watch the original. 2: If it's awesome we would have another good SciFiShow to enjoy (and that's a rare thing nowadays).DanFixx Idea sounds nice, so that is one example how it could work just fine. And for the other comments, there is no rule that says "Torchwood would be awful without gay guys", I personally couldn't care less about the sexual orientation of the teams...
Thank God. Everyone should just rent the real Torchwood and watch that. Great show. There is no need to "Americanize" it
it's so nice to see the uninformed comment, talk of UK television being sub-standard to US television amazes me. some of the budgets of UK programs, especially Torchwood and Doctor Who is higher than most US programs, with the exception of over paid actor salaries (who should get $2 million an episode?). My complaint over a US Torchwood is two-fold: the series is about a UK organization (plain & simple) and the sex (especially homosexuality) is not something US audiences would embrace. Two men kissing on US TV and it not being a joke or done for shock value, I don't see our (US) sensitive sensibilities accepting it.
I wouldn't mind an American Torchwood 'Virginian' substation. A Pre-George Washington leftover from the Old British Empire with a dash of Mohican mysticism. On the other hand a UK remake of Heroes would be really something. Mary poppins versus an evil Mad Hatter...
I'm good with American Torchwood; it's like CSI: Miami. A spin-off where it's logical to have one is just fine. Furthermore, there were some shortcomings in the British version that the USA version could fix (the "amateurish cheapness" of the whole institution). I would also suggest the Brits keep to the 6-parters because "Children..." were AWESOME. However, 13-part seasons were watered-down.
There cannot be a American Torchwood. The whole point of this team is they're basically under the Queen of England! America got the Men In Black and Britain got Torchwood! Man, this is so stupid...
Shame on you Alcalde.
A golden rule : If you don't like it, don't watch it.
But always respect others who do enjoy it!
What's with Americans 'remaking' UK shows? Are Americans too slow to understand British English? How about we remake Lost? That should be fun.
Wait, so why would you not want the show to get made? I can get people not wanting something they like to end, but in this day and age, where nobody has to be exposed to anything they don't like because there is always something else to do or watch, why be happy that something is actually not happening? It sounds really petty and stupid to me... Of course, I've had this same argument with other TV.com staff about their attempts at sounding edgy and funny by being callous and offensive and nothing ever came of it, so I don't expect any other result now.
I would love to see it on HBO or Showtime so that the tone of the show doesn't have to change/clean up. Barring that, Syfy.
The only thing worse than American remakes are UK originals. We don't get them, they don't get us, and their budgets are lower than the CW's. Let's stick to American programming written by Americans.
FFS!!!! What is wrong with just leaving it as it is????? There's a reason it, and Doctor Who, are as good as they are. it's because they're NOT done in the US. Now don't get me wrong I love many US shows, but transplanting a UK show to the US has worked how many times? I honestly can't think of one US version of a show that I've even liked, let alone preferred over the UK version. Just get Jack back to Cardiff so he can rebuild the Torchwood hub and let him get on with it!
How about just airing the original show. Since it is, you know, good.
American versions of stuff almost always suck. They go try and do something original instead. At least Fox said no.
The Americanized Doctor Who movie was not that bad because it was still the same Doctor that is on right now and was on before. It had its flaws but it was also pretty well done and I think a series would have been good with Mcgann as the Doctor. People were more worried with Torchwood US because they fealt that it would simply be its own series remaking the original with watered down versions of Jack and Gwen. I think that the series still has the potential if it was connected to the original. Have it be a US branch of Torchwood with its own original stories. I would have a 2 episode arc in the next Torchwood Season serve as a backdoor pilot, introducing the characters and dynamic and how they interact with the British team. See how it plays on BBC and BBC America and if it does well then see if one of the networks pick it up. I think that if it is a spin off rather than a remake then the fans in the states will follow and it will open things up for cross overs.moreless
How about Firefly instead?
I always for new sci-fi. You never know, it might be good. I just hope it doesn't go the route that Stargate Universe has, Yuk!
I'm glad FOX changed their minds...Torchwood is a great show my personal ave so I would for FOX ruin it the way they did with Firefly anf Dollhouse......It's possible, though not probable, that HBO or Showtime could do a good job
if you're unfortunate enough to remember the horrendous americanized dr who back in 94 then you can see why it would most likely be a miserable mistake to remake torchwood. they also tried to do an americanized red dwarf which only made it into 2 pilots and an americanized cracker which I didn't think was bad as most but certainly not as good as the original my point is there has never been a successful americanized british tv concept having said that American TV has grown up A LOT in the past decade. I remember when the American Cracker came out the cheers and jeers guy at tv guide said he liked it but he didnt think it would work on American TV because Americans where not used to the "anti hero" but throughout the past decade we've seen our heroes become mafia bosses to crooked cops to serial killers that's quite a breakthrough and I would Love to see a remake of Cracker but not on fox and certainly not on tnt but a serious network like fx or showtime or hbo and a 13 ep serial it must be. As for Torchwood...Why is the BBC brokering it out? Are they not going to make anymore? I have a had time wrapping my brain after the enormous success. In conclusion I will say that by all means remake torchwood in America BUT!!! only if you are going to do a serious intellectual job and not give us this csi crapmoreless
Anything is a good idea if you geat good writers, nice budget & good stars. Can USA torchwood come up w/good stories with a nice budget and cast? They've done it b4!