Why?

[Gob]

Electus’ Ben Silverman has teamed with Grace And Frankie creator Marta Kauffman to adapt the popular ITV medical dramedy series Doc Martin for the U.S. market.



Produced in the U.K. by Buffalo Pictures in association with HomeRun Productions, Doc Martin centers on successful surgeon Dr. Martin Ellingham, who abruptly leaves his London practice to become general practitioner in the sleepy fishing village of Portwenn, where he spent the holidays during his youth with his loving aunt. But, in the vein of Dr. House, his unique and uncomfortable style immediately rub the locals the wrong way, and once they get a load of his abrasive attitude and lack of bedside manner, he quickly alienates most of the townsfolk.

The series premiered on ITV in the U.K. in 2004 and is in production on its seventh season for broadcast in the fall. The British version and scripted format is distributed internationally by DRG, airing in more than 200 territories worldwide and has been adapted and produced in seven countries including Germany, France and Spain. The series won the British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Drama.

“We are thrilled to be adapting this hilarious smart show for America,” said Electus chairman Silverman. “Doc Martin has charmed viewers worldwide with its excellent concept and unique style of comedy, and we’re proud to be working with Marta Kauffman on this exciting show.”

Medical dramas were among the most popular genre this past development season, with a number of new series picked up — CBS’ Code Black, NBC’s Chicago Med and Heartbreaker and, to some extent, Fox’s Rosewood.

Friends co-creator Kauffman will executive produce Doc Martin with Robbie Tollin of Okay Goodnight, and Hannah KS will serve as co-producer. Silverman and Sean Canino will executive produce for Electus, for whom John Pollak – Electus’ President of International – initiated and negotiated the U.S. format rights deal with DRG’s Commercial Director Wayne Davison.

“We are delighted to be working with Ben and his team on Doc Martin. It’s rare to connect with other producers who share the same sensibility and vision the way we do,” Kauffman said.

Electus and Silverman have had success with the adaptation of another scripted format, a Venezuelan telenovela, which became the CW’s Jane The Virgin. The company’s scripted portfolio also include Amazon’s pilot Casanova starring Diego Luna as well as Netflix series Marco Polo and the upcoming Flaked series starring Will Arnett.

What's the point?

[MajGenl.Meade]

American TV - Britain's entertainment bitches

[BoSoxGal]

Because? As Aristotle said there are only a few stories in the world (that was Aristotle, right?) so ya gotta keep recycling them. We'd like a version to watch that we don't need to use the English subtitles to understand what the characters are saying.

[Lord Jim]

Why ?

"Who cares?"

would probably be a better question...

[Gob]

We'd like a version to watch that we don't need to use the English subtitles to understand what the characters are saying.

Oh the irony!!

[MajGenl.Meade]

Casanova starring Diego Luna as well as Netflix series Marco Polo and the upcoming Flaked series starring Will Arnett

With that resume, you can be sure I'll not bother with any US "Doc Martin" knock off. It's already proven: the best way to downgrade British comedy is to make it in the USA. All in the Family (insipid rubbish); Sanford and Son (wimpish); The Office (dull as ditchwater); Top Gear (fake); Fawlty Towers (did they really?).

The US shines with its own comedy: Cheers, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Big Bang Theory, Seinfeld, Frasier... and the world doesn't copy one of 'em. Good job too, because they couldn't improve good comedy which those shows are.

For some reason, the US seems to think it must imitate the UK - perhaps it's the servile, anxious to please Daddy for the former colonists.

[wesw]

doc martin has been on PBS for years..... no subtitles.....

[Sue U]

Why?

I was going to say, "Because of the language barrier," but BSG beat me to it.

Because? As Aristotle said there are only a few stories in the world (that was Aristotle, right?) so ya gotta keep recycling them.

I thought that was Shakespeare. Or Judd Apatow.

[Big RR]

The US shines with its own comedy: Cheers, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Big Bang Theory, Seinfeld, Frasier... and the world doesn't copy one of 'em. Good job too, because they couldn't improve good comedy which those shows are.

I seem to recall reading the Seinfeld was based on a British sitcom called "Just a minute Dear, I'll Buzz You In" and Cheers was based on a British comedy about life in the pub "If it's not custard, it's mustard". I never saw either British show,, so I can't say for certain, but those names stuck with me.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Doesn't that just go to show ya, huh? Actually I am quite sure this website is a spoof. Shows that ran for 23 seconds; Season two consisting of no shows at all! Santa Claus figuring in all of them....

http://www.clickhole.com/article/6-amer ... gland-1559

Before bringing the acclaimed sitcom to American audiences, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David were famously inspired by the British sitcom Just A Moment Dear, I’ll Buzz You In, a show about a British accountant named Jerry Christianson who would get into a series of comical adventures with his best friend, George Church, his ex-girlfriend, Elaine McCarthy, and his zany neighbor, Sergeant Cosmo Kramer, a veteran of World War II. The show aired from 1977 to 1983 on the BBC

.

The popular American sitcom was an adaptation of the British show If It’s Not Custard, It’s Mustard, which takes place entirely in a run-down London pub and is set during World War I and World War II at the same time. The name of the show is a popular British proverb that essentially means, “If it’s not one thing, then it’s a different thing that rhymes with the first thing.”

If It’s Not Custard, It’s Mustard ran for three seasons. The first season consisted of one 15-minute episode, the second season consisted of no episodes at all, and the third season consisted of two five-minute episodes that aired 15 years apart. Fans of the show also got to enjoy an hour-long Christmas special in which Santa Claus sits silently in the pub and gets drunk alone.

[BoSoxGal]

We'd like a version to watch that we don't need to use the English subtitles to understand what the characters are saying.

Oh the irony!!

Hey it's not our fault you rural/coastal UK folks still talk like you've got a mouth full of rocks.

[Big RR]

Not sure about the website you linked to meade; I recall reading that in the NY Times a number of years ago. I honestly don't recall what the article was based on, and if it was based on erroneous (or satirical) information, I withdraw my comment. But I couldn't forget a title like "If It's Not Custard, It's Mustard", nor did the assertion that both were based in part on British shows surprise me at all; a lot of US shows were derived from British counterparts, and IMHO some worked fairly well here (All in the Family (which our opinions differ on, Three's Company to name only two). Was there really a US Fawlty Towers?

And it goes both ways; e.g., Hammer Films coopted a lot of our classic monster films and made it's own productions.

I'll look at that website when I get a chance. 23 second shows? Episodes airing 15 years apart? You're only "quite" sure it's a spoof?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Lovely language isn't it? No wonder foreigners and ESL folks (USians) get confused:

quite

/kwīt/
adverb: quite

1. to the utmost or most absolute extent or degree; absolutely; completely.
"it's quite out of the question". synonyms: completely, entirely, totally, wholly, absolutely, utterly, thoroughly, altogether "two quite different types"

•US very; really (used as an intensifier).
"“You've no intention of coming back?” “I'm quite sorry, but no, I have not.”"

2. to a certain or fairly significant extent or degree; fairly. "it's quite warm outside"
synonyms: fairly, rather, somewhat, slightly, relatively, comparatively

[Big RR]

Quite a lovely language indeed.