Over on Dollymix, we're reeling from the news that Dharma & Greg is going to be remade for the UK. Yes, ITV is taking one fairly innocuous American comedy and turning it into what will inevitably be yet another dreadful British ITV sitcom... or maybe I'm just embittered and cynical and it will actually be adorable and we'll all be hugging ourselves with fuzzy glee throughout.

To celebrate the re-birth of Dharma & Greg (Sky & Kevin? Sunblaze & Simon? What will the British name be? It's too, too exciting!), we've done a round up of the Top 5 American sitcoms that were re-made in Britainland. Most of the things we pinch off the Americans are TV quizzes (Blankety Blank, University Challenge, Blockbusters, Supermarket Sweep? All thanks to America) and the odd reality TV show (The Apprentice, obviously). Usually, we just ship the show over here wholesale - after all, what's the point in remaking it in the same language only with half the budget? Remaking American shows reverses the natural order of things, but one thing seems to be true whichever way you make the conversion? The new show is nearly always rubbish.

Keep reading for a run down of the best (or worst) British remakes of American sit-coms.

5. Loved By You (UK) - Mad About You (US)
For: ITV

I never saw this show, which featured great comedy actor, John Gordon Sinclair. Apparently, it wasn't all that bad, but since it simply used the original US scripts with a few British words slung in for good measure, it never really made a name for itself, and appears to have sunk without trace. Only two episodes are listed on IMDB, though it seems as though 13 episodes were made - which is two series-worth in the UK.

4. Married for Life (UK) - Married with Children (US)
For: ITV

The IMDB review summary just says "painful" when it comes to describing this remake of a very popular US sitcom. The UK version featured Russ Abbot...

Actually, that pretty much covers everything you need to know about this show. It featured Russ Abbot. This is the man that I thought was funny when I was six and, as we all know, six-year-olds have a terrible sense of humour. That's how knock knock jokes were invented.

3. Days Like These (UK) - That '70s Show (US)
For: ITV

This remake seemed to simply take the original scripts from That '70s Show, plop in a few Brit words and remove the American ones, and start filming (only with a budget that was 1/25th of the size. Dropped after 10 episodes, it was a painful thing to witness. Directed by Bob "Absolutely Fabulous, Press Gang, Bit of Fry and Laurie, should have known bloody better" Spiers.

2. The Brighton Belles (UK) - The Golden Girls (US)
For: ITV

Take one classic US sitcom about a group of unusually (for television) witty, interesting and well-rounded (for a sit-com) older ladies and destroy all happy memories by turning it into a truly terrible British sit-com featuring such doyennes of comedy as Wendy "Butterflies" Craig, Sheila "surely it should be Dame?" Hancock and Jean "Bread" Boht. How it could have gone so wrong is a mystery since Susan Harris, the creator of The Golden Girls wrote the remake. Dropped after 6 of the 10 filmed episodes. Just thinking about it makes me feel a little unwell.

1. The Upper Hand (UK) - Who's the Boss? (US)
For: ITV

The winner has got to be the Upper Hand, which aired from 1990-1996. Starring Paul McGann's older and less visually pleasing brother, Joe, Bond Girl Honor "Pussy Galore" Blackman, and Diana Weston, the show was a popular hit (in my household at least - and I was too young to know any better). The show revolved around Charlie (McGann) and Caroline (Weston), a rich single mother who employs Charlie as her housekeeper. Back in the 90s the idea of a man running the household wasn't actually beyond human comprehension, but since the original show "Who's the Boss" started in 1984, the show can be forgiven for being a bit backwards.

My conclusion?

ITV has a *lot* of explaining to do.

Related:
Top 10 Cancelled shows we miss
Top 10 Brits on US TV
Top 10 TV dogs