Some of the most beloved shows in American television history were remakes of British shows. ‘Three’s Company’, ‘The Office’, ‘House of Cards’, ’Sanford and Son’, and ‘All In The Family’ are just a few of the successful imports from across the pond. However, not everything that comes to Hollywood by way of the U.K. ends up being great. Some great examples are MTV’s version of ‘Skins’, NBC’s attempt at ‘Coupling’, and the recent ‘Broadchurch’ remake on Fox titled ‘Gracepoint’. Don’t even get me started on the mercifully terminated ‘The IT Crowd’ at NBC. But whether we like it or not, this trend will continue and the latest network to draw some inspiration from a popular series from Britain.
Following the announcement that they would be creating their own corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with ‘Cloak and Dagger’, Freeform revealed that they’re developing a remake of the BAFTA Award-winning sci-fi series ‘Misfits’. Originally airing on E4 from 2009 to 2013 (but later finding a new audience on Hulu), the show created by Howard Overman followed a group of young offenders sentenced to work community service that obtain superpowers from an electrical storm. The show spawned a number of stars including ‘Game of Thrones’ star Iwan Rheon, Robert Sheehan from ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’, and Joseph Gilgun of the upcoming adaptation of ‘Preacher’ on AMC.
The U.S. version will be helmed by ‘Chuck’, ‘The OC’, and ‘Gossip Girl’ creator Josh Schwartz and will feature two major changes. First, the characters will be older this time around and fall somewhere in the 20-something range rather than being teenagers. Second, the parameters of how they got their powers will be different. Instead of a storm, the group will be exposed to a mysterious chemical that results in the manifestation of superpowers.
Finally, it’s unclear whether Overman will be involved in the project. Back in 2011, it was said that he and Schwartz collaborated to write a pilot that they intended to shop around to American networks the following year, but we haven’t heard much in the four years since then. Now that it’s landed at Freeform, hopefully the network still plans to keep him in the loop.
Since ‘Misfits’ was intended as the UK’s answer to the American superhero movie craze, it will be interesting to see if it will translate well for the audiences here, especially with these new changes to the already beloved show. But as we wait for more details to emerge, what do you think about Freeform remaking ‘Misfits’? Do you think that it will be well-received by the American audience? And what do you think of the changes being made to the show? Let us know in the comment section.
Source: Comic Book Resources
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences and puns far too much. Also, he would probably be a terrible superhero. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
