Here’s how Wikipedia describes “Steptoe and Son”: “Where other comedies revolved around interfering mothers-in-law and the sudden failure of the hero’s braces the moment his boss appeared, Steptoe’s focus was on the inter-generational conflict that marked out the 1960s. While father Albert Steptoe was—as his son often reminded him—a ‘dirty old man’, set in his grimy and grasping ways, 40-year-old son Harold was filled with social aspirations, not to say pretensions.” That’s, like, the most British description of anything ever—just replace “Steptoe” with “Chuzzlewit,” and you’ve got yourself a Dickens novel. I like the Red Foxx American remake, but Sanford and Sons’ Wikipedia description lost me at “junk dealer.”

Winner: ‘Steptoe and Son’ (UK)

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http://warmingglow.uproxx.com/2011/04/who-did-it-better-original-or-remake/3