Not feeling too hopeful about the US remake of Broadchurch

I'm very hopeful for it. If it's a massive success he can stay in America and stop ruining British telly. So, fingers crossed!








Give me a hedgehog and I'll show you.

Not liking the American-made 'Broadchurch' scheme at all. I can't see the point of it. It's wholly unnecessary. Frankly, these kinds of remakes always make me think that, if were I an American, I'd be ropeable with rage that producers clearly assumed I was too thick to 'get' any project unless it's been rejigged to suit the expectations of the local market. I don't buy the notion that great actors have to be 'known' in the US and work there. Heaven help David if the State-side Hardy is to be saddled with an American accent: parochial Americans will be crawling out of the woodwork to complain, ridicule and dismiss. No. By the time the American producers have added the inevitable and ubiquitous quota of skinny blonde femme fatales, a few feisty characters there to play the Fool or the Antagonist, a cute kid and the requisite, Equity-agreed number of actors from various ethnic groups, I don't have much hope for this project. Not liking this morning's news at all.

David Tennant's done an American accent before, not that the show he did got picked up or anything. Check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4cqRsvu9t0

"Nice try, that would mean we're at war with the machines" - Shawn Spencer

Maybe it's because I know him but I hear a burr in that accent. Or maybe I'm hoping for it.

I'm not loving the idea of a Fox remake either. I really enjoyed Broadchurch and can't imagine they'll make something with the kind of subtlety the topic requires and will go to nasty places with it. Also, why not let Hardy be an expat and not make him pretend to be American? (I'm American btw)

You're right. We hated that Hugh Laurie fellow for doing an American accent. Made him the highest paid actor in the country. But hated him. Fox is where House MD was made, btw. Not subtle enough in the drama department? Don't you like the pedigree of the producers for this Broadchurch? Or have you made up your minds already? Give it a chance. Let the man work in the US for however long it takes. I hear they're filming in North Carolina- its beautiful down there (although I still think RU would have been better)

Ladies and Gentlemen take my advice
Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.

I could not entirely follow the direction of your snark, but I'll try to answer since you replied to me.

There are plenty of British actors who can easily do seamless American accents. As much as I adore David Tennant, the little I've seen doesn't encourage me that he is one of them--not that it reduces my opinion of him or even of his acting ability. I'm saying that if they are casting him as an American in this, and his accent turns out not to be quite up to snuff with practice, I am hoping they will consider re-naturalizing his character. Besides that, I love hearing his UK voices and see no reason why he can't use one of them in a Fox remake of Broadchurch. Why Americanize it 100%? (I'd say why Americanize it at all, but then not everyone has BBC-America)

House MD was good but it's absurd to say that just because it was, a Fox reboot of Broadchurch will be good. I worry about the managing talent and good intentions making it through the gamut of American network TV boardroom nonsense. If they let the people who understood why the original was great make all the creative decisions and not Barton-Finkify it, then it has a chance to be high quality.

I'll watch it anyway because DT is in it.

Well said, CharWoman. That about sums it up.

I think dramatically Tennant can pull off anything and I personally would watch him read a phone book but when I heard his character in the remake will be American (don't know if that's true or just a rumor) my first thought was " I hope he gets a dialect coach!" At the time he filmed Rex is Not Your Lawyer the American accent just wasn't there yet. I believe that with enough time and the right coach though he could probably knock it out of the park. I just don't understand why it's even necessary. I get that some people don't have BBC America but couldn't they just commission it to one or the American stations? Network, PBS or cable?

Ah well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised.

All right, there are a few things I'd like to point out. Until I saw Gracepoint advertised, I thought Murder in the First was going to be America's take on a murder trying to be solved throughout the whole season. Then I saw the ad and I thought 'wow... fail.' Then I saw DT reprising his role and I just groaned in annoyance.

I LOVE DT on DW but I hate him whenever he plays a serious role, he just loses that spark that makes me like him.

Now that said, I think British people can speak in a American accent but most of the time they're speaking 'southern'. I haven't seen too many British people attempt or even try a Midwestern accent. Seeing that Gracepoint is going to be in the Carolinas, I don't see that trend changing any time soon.

On a side note I actually liked the Americanized "The Bridge" but I think it would have been interesting to see the British-France version too but the American version had a lot of grit to it.

I didn't care for Broadchurch too much even though I sat through it all hoping it would get better/good. There were small things that made it ok but I'm pretty sure it was mostly DT's fault (the rest of the cast were great) and how slow the pace was. I don't need it to be super fast like most Americans, I have an attention span but I think every three episodes should have been a new murder while having that one in the background or at the very least two cases in one season. I say 3 episodes because that's about the length of a movie. And I'm not alone, I was one the Broadchurch boards when that show first came out and everyone on there was complaining about how slow it was and most of them were British. I was surprised about how forgiving I was compared to them.

Point is: DT should have stayed away from both projects and they should have never remade it. But maybe that's why they're doing so, a second chance for both show and DT, a faster pace maybe? A different accent and he might not be so boring. Although I saw his new clip and that's not very believable at all. He still sounds somewhat Scottish.

Oh and there are British shows that don't get revamped here or at least not yet. Most of them get played on BBC America or PBS like Doctor Who and Downton Abbey and a few cross shows ie Torchwood- got extended and Orphan Black. There's also several Canadian shows that are left alone, perhaps a bit of editing but not always like Continuum and Lost Girl.