List of American television series based on British television series

Many successful British television shows (particularly sitcoms and reality shows) have been remade for the American market. The amount of reworking varies with some shows (such as All in the Family) keeping the basic situation and then adding many original features while others have taken complete scripts verbatim (such as Amanda's).

There are relatively few examples of American shows remade for the British market (the majority of these being game shows), and the British television audience are very accepting of the American originals while being much less accepting of British remakes (see, for instance, the failure of Brighton Belles, the British remake of The Golden Girls). The U.S. remakes have sometimes been imported back into the UK. By contrast, original British programmes are rarely seen on the major U.S. networks in modern times (in the 1960s the airing of UK-produced programs such as The Avengers and Fireball XL5 on U.S. network TV occurred frequently) and are usually broadcast only on the Public Broadcasting Service and on cable television, especially BBC America, with only a few purely British shows having gained mainstream popularity in the United States. This list includes a number of pilots not subsequently made into series.

UK original	U.S. remake	Notes
Absolutely Fabulous	AbFab	Two pilots attempts, one by Roseanne Barr, another by Jennifer Saunders (who created the UK version). Both were passed over.
Agony	The Lucie Arnaz Show
Airline	Airline	British version renamed Airline UK in the US.
Da Ali G Show	Da Ali G Show	The second (two series) series by Channel 4 in the UK and HBO in the US.
Antiques Roadshow	Antiques Roadshow	Reality.
Are You Being Served?	Beanes of Boston	Comedy. Un-aired pilot.
As If	As If	US remake canceled after two episodes on UPN.
Bad Education	An American Education	Unaired pilot for ABC.
Balls of Steel	Balls of Steel
Ballykissangel	Hope Island
Being Human	Being Human	SciFi drama on SyFy.
Birds of a Feather	Stand by Your Man
Blackpool	Viva Laughlin!	US remake canceled after two episodes (CBS).
Brat Camp	Brat Camp (U.S.)
Broadchurch	Gracepoint	Crime drama. Cancelled by FOX after one season.
Cash Cab	Cash Cab	Game show. Aired on Discovery Channel.
Cash in the Attic	Cash in the Attic	Reality.
CD:UK	CD USA
Celebrity Fit Club	Celebrity Fit Club	Reality competition. Both versions featured Former US Marine Harvey Walden IV as a judge, but the other judges are changed often.
Changing Rooms	Trading Spaces	Reality.
The Chase	The Chase	Game show. The US version only uses one Chaser, Mark Labbett (a.k.a. "The Beast"), who was brought over from the UK to participate.
Cold Feet	Cold Feet
Cracker	Cracker	US remake is known as Fitz in the UK.
Coupling	Coupling	Comedy. US remake was canceled after four episodes.
Cuckoo	Cuckoo	Sitcom. NBC ordered a pilot in 2013.
Dad's Army	The Rear Guard	Pilot episode only.
Dancing on Ice	Skating with Celebrities	Reality.
Dear John	Dear John	Known as Dear John USA in the UK.
Distraction	Distraction	Game show. Same host (Jimmy Carr).
Dog Eat Dog	Dog Eat Dog	Game show. US version hosted by Brooke Burns.
Don't Forget Your Toothbrush	Don't Forget Your Toothbrush	Game show. US edition aired on Comedy Central and was hosted by actor Mark Curry.
Eleventh Hour	Eleventh Hour	Drama. (CBS).
Faking It	Faking It	Reality game show.
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin	Reggie
Farmer Wants a Wife	Farmer Wants a Wife
Fawlty Towers	Chateau Snavely	Comedy. Pilot episode only with Harvey Korman & Betty White.
	Amanda's	Starring Beatrice Arthur.
	Payne	Starring John Larroquette.
Footballers' Wives	Football Wives	Drama. Confirmed pilot.
Four Weddings	Four Weddings	Reality, British original is known as Four Weddings UK.
Free Agents	Free Agents	Comedy starring Hank Azaria. US remake cancelled after four episodes.
Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon	Gameshow Marathon	Game show.
Gavin & Stacey	Us & Them	Comedy. Unaired seven episode order for Fox
George and Mildred	The Ropers	Comedy.
Gogglebox	The People's Couch	Observational documentary picked up by Bravo. First aired in 2013.
Getting On	Getting On	Sitcom. After a successful pilot episode HBO ordered a 6 episode run in 2013, with a second season to air in 2014.
The Grimleys	The Grubbs
Hell's Kitchen	Hell's Kitchen	Reality competition. American version broadcast in the UK as Hell's Kitchen USA on ITV2. Gordon Ramsay appears in both series.
Hit Me Baby One More Time	Hit Me Baby One More Time	Same host (Vernon Kay), both ITV productions.
Holding the Baby	Holding the Baby
Home to Roost	You Again?
Honey, We're Killing the Kids	Honey We're Killing the Kids
House of Cards	House of Cards	Same premise, though British version was a short series, as Netflix's version will continue.
How Clean Is Your House?	Kim and Aggie Clean Up America
I'd Do Anything	I'd Do Anything	George Gray hosted US version on ESPN—hosted his third US version of a British show.
It's Me or the Dog	It's Me or the Dog
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!	I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!	Reality.
The Inbetweeners	The Inbetweeners	Comedy — Cancelled after one series
The IT Crowd	The IT Crowd	Pilot canceled in 2008.
The Jeremy Kyle Show	The Jeremy Kyle Show	Chat show. US version ended in 2013 after two seasons.
Just for Laughs (UK TV series)	Just for Laughs	U.S. version was a repackaged version of the Canadian version.
Keep it in the Family	Too Close for Comfort	Final season of US version initially aired as The Ted Knight Show.
The Krypton Factor	The Krypton Factor
Life on Mars	Life on Mars	SciFi Drama.
Little Britain	Little Britain USA	Comedy. A full series was made and gained popularity after various repeats. HBO ordered more, but makers and stars David Walliams and Matt Lucas declined.
Love Thy Neighbour	Love Thy Neighbor
Man About The House	Three's Company	Comedy.
MasterChef	MasterChef	Reality.
Max Headroom	Max Headroom	SciFi.
Men Behaving Badly	Men Behaving Badly	Comedy series. Aired for two seasons on NBC.
"The Million Pound Drop Live"	"Million Dollar Money Drop"	Game show. The American remake was cancelled in 2011.
"The Million Pound Hoax"	"$25 Million Dollar Hoax"
Mind Your Language	What a Country
Mistresses	Mistresses	Drama series.
Mr. Men and Little Miss	Mr. Men Show
Never Mind The Buzzcocks	Never Mind The Buzzcocks
The 1900 House	Frontier House	Reality. Frontier House broadcast in the UK on Channel 4.
Not the Nine O'Clock News	Not Necessarily the News	The Daily Show, especially in its earlier incarnation under Craig Kilborn, also owes a great deal to this show.
The Office	The Office	Comedy. The US version is broadcast in the UK as The Office: An American Workplace, The Office USA, or The US Office.
On the Buses	Lotsa Luck
One Foot in the Grave	Cosby	Many differences.
Outnumbered	Outnumbered	Picked up by Fox.
Pyjama Party	Pajama Party	Same presenter (Katie Puckrik).
Pop Idol	American Idol	Reality competition. UK judge Simon Cowell was also a judge on American Idol.
Porridge	On the Rocks
Pulling	Pulling	Pilot with creative input from Sharon Horgan
Prime Suspect	Prime Suspect	Started on NBC on September 22, 2011.
Queer As Folk	Queer as Folk	Drama.
Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares	Kitchen Nightmares	Reality. Both versions feature Gordon Ramsay as host. US version broadcast in the UK on Channel 4 as Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA.
Red Dwarf	Red Dwarf USA	Two un-aired pilots. The 2nd pilot is titled Red Dwarf USA.
Robin's Nest	Three's a Crowd	Comedy.
Robot Wars	Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors Nickelodeon Robot Wars	Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors was filmed alongside the UK show in 2001 and 2002.
Scrapheap Challenge	Junkyard Wars	Scrapheap and Junkyard have gone head-to-head in transatlantic challenges in the UK.[1]
Secret Millionaire	Secret Millionaire
Shameless	Shameless	US version starring William H. Macy.
Sirens	Sirens	Comedy Drama. Cancelled after two seasons by The USA Network.
The Sketch Show	The Sketch Show	US version featured Kelsey Grammer.
Skins	Skins	Ran for one season only in 2011. UK version shown on BBC America.
Spaced	Spaced	Only a pilot episode was made.
Spitting Image	D.C. Follies	Loose adaptation.
Spy	Spy	Situation comedy. ABC ordered a remake in 2013.
Steptoe and Son	Sanford and Son	Comedy. Relied on race as well as class.
Strictly Come Dancing	Dancing with the Stars	Reality competition. UK judges Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli are also judges on Dancing with the Stars.
Supernanny	Supernanny	Reality. British episodes shown along with US episodes. Same host (Jo Frost).
Take Me Out	Take Me Out	Dating game show.
Teachers	Teachers	Canceled after six episodes.
That Was The Week That Was	That Was The Week That Was	Satire. Both versions hosted by David Frost.
The Thick of It	The Thick of It	Unaired pilot made for ABC.
	Veep	HBO series produced by Armando Iannucci and the same team of writers as the British version.
This Life	First Years
Till Death Us Do Part	All in the Family	Comedy. Coincidentally, the All in the Family spinoff Maude was remade in the UK as Nobody's Perfect, and the Maude spinoff Good Times was remade as The Fosters. None of the UK series were connected to each other or to Till Death Us Do Part.
Touching Evil	Touching Evil	Drama.
Top Gear	Top Gear	Reality. Similar format to the 2002 version, was cancelled in 2008 without a single episode being broadcast. Both are BBC productions. A second pilot was made in 2010 with two of the three hosts replaced and was picked up for ten episode run on the History Channel.
Top of the Pops	Top of the Pops	Sometimes aired performances recorded by its BBC counterpart. Aired as part of CBS Late Night.
Trigger Happy TV	Trigger Happy TV	Dom Joly appears in both versions of the show, despite the US version having a mostly new cast — Joly was the only on screen star in the UK Version. The American version is known as Trigger Happy USA when aired in the UK.
Trisha Goddard	Trisha Goddard	Chat show. US version ended in 2014 after two seasons.
Two's Company	The Two of Us	Comedy.
Upstairs, Downstairs	Beacon Hill	Drama.
The X Factor	The X Factor	Reality competition. Same executive producer/judge (Simon Cowell) and production company (Syco TV). Cheryl Cole was also a judge on the US version but was dropped following the audition stage. US edition cancelled after three seasons.
The Vicar of Dibley	The Minister Of Divine	Comedy. Pilot episode only.
The Weakest Link	Weakest Link	Game show. Anne Robinson hosted both the UK version and the original US primetime series. Subsequent US syndicated series hosted by George Gray.
Undercover Boss	Undercover Boss	Reality.
Utopia	Utopia
What Not to Wear	What Not to Wear	Reality.
Who Do You Think You Are?	Who Do You Think You Are?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire	Game show. US edition adopted new format in 2010.
White Van Man	Family Tools	Comedy Sitcom. Picked up by ABC for a full series in 2012.
Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Improvisational sketch comedy. Both used panelists Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie, among others. Last episodes of UK version were produced in the US.
Wife Swap	Wife Swap (ABC) Trading Spouses (Fox)	Reality.
Wild at Heart	Life Is Wild	US version cancelled after thirteen episodes.
The World's Strictest Parents	The World's Strictest Parents
The Worst Week of My Life	Worst Week	Comedy.
The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star	My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star
The Young Ones	Oh No Not THEM!	unsuccessful pilot, Nigel Planer only cast member from the original

Footnotes

1. The original show for Channel 4 was called Scrapheap, but renamed Scrapheap Challenge starting from series two. When shown in the US this reverted to Scrapheap. When the program started to use US teams and a US presenter it was re-titled Junkyard Wars for both US and UK audiences. In the UK episodes involving UK teams remain under the title Scrapheap Challenge

See also

• List of British television series based on American television series