After failing in its effort to do justice to the British television hit, "Skins," MTV is trying to redeem itself with a remake of another British sitcom, "The Inbetweeners."
"The Inbetweeners" is about nerdy teenager, Will, and his three friends Simon, Jay and Neil, who continuously come up with strategies typically unsuccessful to impress girls.
MTV has a knack for conjuring up brilliant original hit series like "Awkward," so why go out on a limb for another UK remake? The answer may be in the success of the UK version, which aired its last episode 2010.
When dealing with remakes, the bar is usually high. For those who have seen the original version of "The Inbetweeners," the MTV remake is a mere watered-down version of the comedy. Possibly something that was done on purpose to avoid the same backlash stemmed from "Skins" being too raunchy. The excessive cursing and humorous sexual references were cut down.
The raw bawdy humor comes off perfectly in the UK's version, while its remnants come across a bit obnoxious in the MTV version.
The UK's actors are aesthetically perfect for the roles and resonate instantly with audiences, while the MTV actors fail to do the same. The writing seems lazy especially in terms of how the characters are written and portrayed. For example, the writing highlights the fact that main character Will played by Simon Bird in the UK is able to connect with audiences in a way MTV's Joey Pollari doesn't. In episodes that have aired so far, the scenes are generally the same that have aired in the UK with only a few changes. Perhaps MTV may want to stray away from this to avoid further comparisons.
While its version doesn't match the quality of the UK show, the MTV series is not terrible. It may actually be something an Inbetweeners novice may enjoy. Whether or not the series will stick with viewers like the remake of the UK's The Office is still to be determined.
Shaniel Champagnie can be reached at shaniel.champagnie@ student.shu.edu.
