AITF and other sitcoms based on British Shows: A question

[Dr. Thong]

AITF, Three's Company and Sanford & Son are all based on British TV shows, right?? The producers of the American versions purchased the U.S. rights and went about making their own versions of the shows.

My question is: Why did they bother purchasing the rights?? I mean, I think they could have done a version of the show without having to go to the trouble of licensing. Many shows & movies are ripoffs/homages or are inspired by other movies & shows, so why not just do that??

The British versions have never been screened on American TV (to my knowledge) and I can't see anyone getting worked up over it. The only thing I can imagine is that they did it to stave off lawsuits.

I guess if the British producers of Til Death Do Us Part caught wind of AITF being a big hit and realized the premise, they might sue. Maybe I answered my own question...

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...there WAS one "unauthorized" American version of a British situation comedy, 'Dr. Thong'.....and that was in 1983, when Bea Arthur starred in "AMANDA'S", a short-lived "rip-off" of John Cleese's "FAWLTY TOWERS", with her as the Amercian counterpart of "Basil Fawlty", and Tony Rosato as a "clumsy foreign waiter" much like...ah, you get the idea. NOWHERE in the credits did I see Cleese and Connie Booth's names, or the acknowlegement that this WAS adapted form "FAWLTY TOWERS". It lasted about six episodes on ABC. Nice theme, though, by Peter Matz.

As for "ALL IN THE FAMILY", it was officially adapted from Johnny Speight's "TILL DEATH US DO PART"...and was brought to this country by a CBS executive named Marc Towers in early 1968. The network thought it might be a perfect vehicle for for Jackie Gleason...but then Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin got the rights to produce an American adaptation...and the rest is history.

Oh, yes...because "THE JACK PAAR PROGRAM" presented a condensed version of a "STEPTOE & SON" episode on April 24, 1964, Paar's network, NBC, was interested in a American adaptation. But their effort, through Joseph E. Levine's Embassy Pictures, got no farther than an unaired pilot film starring Aldo Ray and Lee Tracy in 1965. Finally, in 1971, with the success of "ALL IN THE FAMILY", Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear got the idea of reviving the "STEPTOE & SON" format for American audiences...and, of course, it became "SANFORD & SON", and it wound up on NBC!

[mrbig]

Originally Posted by Dr. Thong

AITF, Three's Company and Sanford & Son are all based on British TV shows, right?? The producers of the American versions purchased the U.S. rights and went about making their own versions of the shows.

My question is: Why did they bother purchasing the rights?? I mean, I think they could have done a version of the show without having to go to the trouble of licensing. Many shows & movies are ripoffs/homages or are inspired by other movies & shows, so why not just do that??

The British versions have never been screened on American TV (to my knowledge) and I can't see anyone getting worked up over it. The only thing I can imagine is that they did it to stave off lawsuits.

I guess if the British producers of Til Death Do Us Part caught wind of AITF being a big hit and realized the premise, they might sue. Maybe I answered my own question...

Three's Company was from the british show Man about the house.