International TV Co-Editor

Insiders, it's me again. Jesse Whittock is here to guide you through the most important international film and TV news. Here we go, and don't forget to sign up for the newsletter here.

Where Everyone Knows Your Script: Navigating the entertainment business these days can cost everything you've got, so it's natural to think that remaking an existing show might make things a little easier. That feels like part of the thinking behind Big Talk Studios' plan to bring the Boston bar that made Cheers famous to the UK. On Monday, Jake revealed that Big Talk, known for BBC/Prime Video comedy The Outlaws and more, has approached CBS Studios for the rights to remake the iconic sitcom Cheers, 30 years after Ted Danson rang the final bell for America's last orders. Simon Nye, writer of Men Behaving Badly and The Durrells, is editing the scripts, which will air if the project goes to series. With 11 seasons and 275 episodes to judge, Big Talk boss Kenton Allen wasn't wrong when he said it was a "huge honour" but also a "huge challenge". He added that he would be “crazy” to take on the project. It’s hard enough to translate comedy from one country to another, but it’s almost impossible to translate American comedy for the UK. Indeed, it’s only been done a handful of times and the results have been – and I’ll be charitable here – disappointing. Remember Days Like These, the ITV remake of That ‘70s Show? No, me neither. Still, as someone who knows the international formats business well, it’s exciting to see what someone does with classic material and I’m interested to see if it comes to fruition. There’s not much more to the Cheers plot than that (pun intended) it’s set in a pub.

'Back' Again: Cheers isn't the only comedy taking Big Talk on a transatlantic voyage. Jake's interview with Allen also revealed that HBO is developing a remake of Back , the Channel 4 comedy starring Peep Show duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb, with original writer Simon Blackwell on board. He created Breeders , the FX and Sky comedy helmed by Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard. Back follows a man (played by Mitchell in the original) who takes over his recently deceased father's pub before his plans are thwarted by the return of his estranged foster brother (Webb), who may or may not be who he claims to be.