Syfy Buys Remake of Being Human
This past summer, we here in the US were treated to a run of the BBC series Being Human which follows the “lives” of a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost who are roommates.
Though it sounds like the plot of a bad sitcom, Being Human is actually a startlingly real and emotional TV series that shows the very best and the very worst of our species.
Now, the company that produced the series is preparing a 13 episode American reboot to premiere on Syfy in Summer 2010.
“Being Human is a smart, contemporary, young and imaginative series that reflects Syfy’s new brand positioning. We are very excited to adapt this for an American audience and bring it into Syfy’s family of programming,” said Syfy president Dave Howe.
Mark Stern, Executive Vice President, Original Content for Syfy and Co-Head, Original Content for Universal Cable Productions added, “We’ve loved this project and been tracking it for a while. Being Human definitely distinguishes itself as something new and different in a landscape filled with familiar supernatural fare. In adapting it, we intend to work closely with RDF to keep the wit, insight, and humor of the original, while opening up the series for a new audience.”
“We’re incredibly proud of our British series and had a tremendous amount of interest in adapting the project for the States. With Syfy’s unwavering passion and dedication for the show, we’re confident it can be as successful here as it is in the UK,” said Chris Coelen, CEO of RDF Media USA.
Personally, I’m very curious about this idea of remaking a series for American audiences. We tried it with The Office and it worked, but Kath & Kim was a huge failure, and what happened to the US version of AbFab?
Being Human has a pretty basic plot that isn’t influenced by the country of origin, so adapting it should be pretty simple — as long as they manage to keep the balance between the dark sense of humor and the “human” drama.
Photo: Being Human from BBC America
If you bring this show to the State, then I am very positive that it will be a huge hit. I stumbled on Episode 2 (on-line) in February 2010 thinking that it would be a corny and boring show. Little did I know that I’d be ended-up laughing, crying, and jumping me off my chair once a while. I saw the entire episode and up to today, I remained happy and feeling lucky to have found ‘Being Human. Keep the characters genuinely focus on their love for humanity and for each other, their sense of humor, their quest and their hope to somehow be human again. All the best!