JULY 15, 2008

No Taxation Without… Giving Us Permission to Copy Your Ideas

In honor of this month’s Independence Day, I thought I’d take a look at how our current television landscape has been shaped by foreign ideas, especially from our British counterparts, and conversely, how much of an influence we have on foreign television programming. 

Many of our current TV programs are based on ideas derived or adapted from other cultures around the world.  I realize that I’m not the first person to be writing on this topic, nor will I be the last.  Here is a list of British shows that have been, or attempted to have been, remade for the American audience.  The list includes 85 British programs.  While there are some highlights on this list, including “The Office” and “Three’s Company”, there are also some of the lowlights like “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” and “Viva Laughlin”.

Not that I’m bad-mouthing British television.  Not in the slightest.  The British have created some of the best and most creative programming of all time (a couple of personal favorites are “Extras” and “Doctor Who”).  Yet it seems like nowadays there is an over-dependence on ideas from abroad (many of which come in the form of bad reality shows) to fill out the television landscape.  Currently, there are seven new series slated for the 2008-2009 television season that have been adapted from foreign programs (4 British, 1 Australian, 1 Canadian, and 1 Israeli).

I can understand why—especially now—there is such a heavy reliance on trying to adapt foreign ideas for the U.S. market.  There are no longer three dominant networks that control the television landscape.  Television revenues are being fueled by the diversity of programming along the television dial and by the streaming of video on the internet.  Viewers now have hundreds of choices to watch, which results in fewer eyes watching the main networks.  As a result, networks designate less money for development of original scripted sitcoms and dramas, and are more likely to borrow from foreign lineups.

However, lest it appear that we are only importing programs, we also ship our proven franchises overseas for adaptation as well.  This is the case with the highly popular “Law & Order” brands , as well as programs like MTV’s TRL . (Note: I would highly recommend creating international editions of my favorite L&O editions: “Law & Order: Elevator Inspectors Unit” and “Law and Order: Special Letters Unit”).  It is definitely a two-way street, even if at times it appears only as a one lane road.

Looking at a list of the top 20 programs from the 2007-2008 television season, original programs can stand on their own feet pretty well.  Of the top 20, eight of those are based off of British series, while more than half are based on original productions.  Note that this was the case in the strike-shortened season when for a protracted period of time, reality programming was heavily relied upon in the absence of scripted shows. 

If networks are looking for more reality content (I shudder at the thought of another “My Dad is Better than Your Dad”-esque show), I think they should look in-house for ideas first.  There are plenty of ordinary people here in the States who have great ideas.  For example, I’ve been sitting on an idea where college students go on a scavenger hunt around a campus to win $1 million.  Brilliant, I think.

Mark Burnett, call me.