Plans to revive US sitcom, but set in a British pub

It’s been more than 30 years since Sam Malone called time on Cheers.

But now the bar-based sitcom could be set for a British remake, it has been revealed.

Simon Nye, the writer known for Men Behaving Badly and The Durrells, has been signed up to adapt the series for a UK audience and would act as the showrunner if it is given the green light.

The idea is in development at Big Talk Studios, the production company behind Ludwig, The Outlaws and The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin – and is currently pitching it to broadcasters.

The company’s chief executive Kenton Allen broke the news in an interview with industry website Deadline.

Although he declined to be drawn on too many details he said it was a ‘huge honour’ to be entrusted with the comedy and it would be a ‘huge challenge’ to get it right.

He added: "I might be insane… The British pub is an endangered species, so there’s an answer for the ‘Why now?’ about it.

‘The attitudes of Cheers in the 1980s are very different to the attitudes of today, so there’s a massive amount of work to be done around taking inspiration from the original characters but creating something fresh.’

The original  ran for 11 seasons and 275 episodes on NBC from 1993 to 2003.

Ted Danson played Boston bar owner Sam Malone with staff including Rebecca Howe (Kirstie Alley), Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman) and Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson) and regulars including Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) and Norm Peterson (George Wendt). Its finale was watched by an estimated 93 million viewers, almost 40 per cent of the US population at the time.

Deadline points out that British remakes of US sitcoms are often ill-fated, citing short-lived UK versions of The Golden Girls (The Brighton Belles), That ’70s Show (Days Like These), and Married… with Children (Married for Life).

In the same interview, Allen revealed that his company is also looking at making a transfer in the opposite direction, with a US revamp of the Channel 4 sitcom Back, which originally starred David Mitchell and Robert Webb, and a new hospital-based animated comedy from Ghosts co-writers Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond

Published: 1 Oct 2024