Hollywood and television classics such as Casa Blanca, Funny Face, Friends, and Beverly Hills 90210 signify something of the past. These were all great hits and once in a lifetime ideas that made lots of audiances happy and studios rich. Now it seems that there is more pressure than ever in the expanding film industry and tv audiance to get people watching, entertained and hooked. And when simply hiring young snarky college grads to write jokes on 30 rock and Scrubs is not enough to get the ratings they want, these studios have found a new, more aggressive buissness model.

When a TV show or movie abroad generates phenomenal levels of viewers and fans, people seem to think that the sucess can be duplicated.  "Adapting" today has gotton more and more common and visibly obvious. Some works are simply and subtly changed to reflect the countries social customs and culture, creating a whole new movie or show with different sets and actors(think Ugly Betty, My Sassy Girl, The Ring,The Lake House). Others are not so subtle and result in catostrophic tackiness(think "I survived a Japanese Game Show" "Hari Putter"and "WipeOut"). And even within the same country ideas are recycled(HBO's true Blood, CBS MoonLight, and Twilight are all about abstaining vampires who fall in love)   

And if youre like me and are bilingual , sometimes you see both versions of things, American version and the original. It's really an odd sensation when this happens. Its horrible too because you know what happens and then start prefering on e over the other because of stupid differences. 

Now it seems whenever I turn on the TV looking for something fun to fill the hour I get to watch the spawn of Sex in the city in Lipstick Jungle or more crime shows. Does creativity still exist? Or is there really a neccesity for three kinds of CSI: miami, newyork and regular , or three of Law and order? people really don't take risks anymore when it comes to the screen, and when they do its to generate more controversy (racially divided contestants anyone?).  I need to stop watching all this, but I can't.    

Share

Delicious Digg it Stumble it Reddit Share on Facebook Subscribe to comments

Direct URL