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America to remake Skins

MTV will create a US version of the British teen drama Skins, to be set in Baltimore, Maryland.

skinsOh no. America is getting its greedy mitts onto Skins.

MTV will create a US version of the show to be set in Baltimore, Maryland (same setting for The Wire).

Co-creator Brian Elsley will be writing and executive producing the U.S. version and plans to continue the model of using teen writers on the show.

Guess that’s the positive bit.

There’s just something about the British storytelling that doesn’t feel the same as American sensibility. The kids weren’t glammed up and it’s even shot in a way that captures Bristol’s working class.

Most importantly, when it aired on BBC America, it censored the raciest parts (and even had some captions so the audience could understand dialects.).

“Skins is one of those rare shows that cuts through to its core audience with unusually authentic stories due to the unique writing and casting process that Bryan pioneered,” said MTV’s Liz Gateley.

“Having personally pursued the U.K. project for almost two years, I am beyond thrilled to bring it to MTV in the U.S. We intend to preserve the authenticity of the British version and are excited to collaborate with the original team to develop stories that will speak to American youth.”

The Hollywood Reporter notes that fans of the U.K. version might have preferred if a ‘less content restrictive U.S. network’ than MTV had gained the rights.

The third series finally screens in Australia on SBS next Monday at 10:30pm.

25 Responses

  1. Great just what MTV needs another non music program.

    Why don’t they just change the name of the network to something else like Channel Crap. They don’t show music hardly anymore.

  2. Brekkie i just this minute saw on Wiki re:HBO remake of Shameless.Yiiiiiiikes!!
    David mentioned QAF & that to me was superior to the uk version,which appeared very dated already.Great cast,great storylines,great sex & the wonderful Sharon Gless,hey sunshine?

  3. Skins and Shameless work so well because they’re shows about British culture (a certain socio-economic group.) Not because the shows are filmed in England.

    An American version of Skins will probably end up looking like a modern take on ‘The Breakfast Club’.

  4. John – they were (and perhaps still are) giving Shameless a go, with Woody Harrelson as the Frank Gallagher character! Think though that was destined for HBO, so perhaps some hope there it won’t be screwed up completely, but Shameless is a very British show, just as Skins is.

  5. There’s nothing like the announcement of the US re-working a UK/Aus show to bring the anti-Americans out of the woodwork. After watching the US versions of The Office, Coupling & Queer as Folk, this version might be good…

    In saying that, the likelihood of Skins US being s**t is quite high. Haha!

  6. An American version of Skins set in Baltimore?

    It will be pretty much the same as season 4 of The Wire, That is of course if they take a look at the darker side of teenage life like Skins did.

    Its not going to be as good because America has a completely different teenage culture to Britain, I assume it will be similar to the American teen dramas and focus on frat style life and will be boring.

  7. With the ultra-conservative/christian extremists dominating America, there is no way that a show like Skins could ever really get aired in it’s true format (nudity, language, full frontal sex) unless they cut out all the above really. There was an uproar when Gossip Girl was first on air and that is pittons compared to Skins.

  8. Ugh. Next to the CW, MTV is the last place I’d want to see an American version of Skins. Besides, I can’t see how the show’s outsider asthetic would fare on a channel aimed entirely at the popular kids, or at least, kids who see themselves that way! At least Elsely is involved, so I guess that’s something…

  9. What do American t.v. networks insist on remaking their own versions of foreign shows when they almost always fail? Why can’t they just air the original?

  10. I don’t care what anyone thinks, there is no way the US version of Skins will be better than the UK one, even if it has it’s ceator,Brian Elsley on board for it.
    I am not a fan of US remakes of other countries shows, and this is one show I won’t be bothering with.

  11. Just can’t keep their mits off them can they?How about giving Shameless a go,translate that for the U.S market,that should be a real laugh.Family of 6 slumming it in a 6 bed,3 bath california bungalow with the wife’s ex living in an RV in the drive.But suprise theirs no pub or “bar” just a Gloria Jeans where the locals all “hang out”.

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