British remake for US sitcom

The BBC is working on a mainstream sitcom losely based on the American comedy Grounded For Life.

The series revolves around a couple who became parents when they were still young, so even though their children are now teenagers, they are still in their ‘wild’ years themselves.

Writers George Jeffrie and Bert Tyler-Moore, the duo behind Channel 4’s Star Stories, are working on new scripts with Danny Peak, which they say will have only a slight resemblance to the original.

Speaking at the launch of their new C4 show, Pete Versus Life, Jeffrie said of the characters: ‘You might think they’re trapped, but they absolutely love the situation. It’s about how can they be parents when they’re still kids themselves./P>

‘I read about a pilot that Dylan Moran was in called Too Much Too Young, it sounds very similar to that. Maybe I shouldn’t mention that…’

Tyler-Moore added: ‘It ran in the States for five series. It’s one of those shows that didn’t make it to like the Frasier level over here, but I think it was pretty successful over there.

‘A lot of it’s all done in flashback, it’s a bit of a gimmick They have this thing, for example, where a character will come in covered in coal dust or something and you ve to go into flashback.’

Jeffries said the new show would have a different title and a substantially different feel from the original

The show ran on Fox for two series from 2001, but was axed just two episodes into its third season. However, the WB Network picked up the rest of that run, then commissioned two more series, taking it to 2005. It was broadcast on teen network Trouble in the US and was made by Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions; whose boss Caryn Manderbach signed a deal with the BBC to develop sitcom scripts back in 2005.

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