Ghosts Coming from Across the Pond
As readers of these pages know, I love the series Ghosts. And as much as I like the U.S. version, I think I like the British original even more.
A few months back, I wrote about how the TV networks were all struggling to find programming to put on the air as a result of the Writers Strike, and then the SAG-AFTRA strike for actors, and the results have been dismal and laughable. With one exception – CBS had the admittedly brilliant idea to get the rights to the British original of Ghosts and run two episodes each week after the American adaptation.
And that begins tomorrow night, Thursday.
As I noted above, I like the U.S. version a great deal, but probably like the British original the most. They each have things about them that I prefer, but overall there are three things about the original that I think works best – with England’s long history, it lends itself particularly well to ghosts from many different eras. Also, England has a long tradition of claiming haunted house. And most of all, I like the drier wit of the British version, treating the comedy a bit more understated than as a “sitcom.” Still, they’re both wonderful.
And what I admire the most is what a superb job the U.S. writers did adapting the U.K. Ghosts. It’s one of the most faithful TV adaptations I’ve seen – all the while making the show its own. And if it wasn’t just a good adaptation, I don’t think CBS would have thought to air the British original, the contrast would have been too jarring. This, though, will be almost seemless.
Almost. I think it will take a few episodes to appreciate the British original to its fullest. I have friends who dearly love the American version. And after I got them to try the British version – which runs on HBO Max – they liked it, but still preferred the U.S. show. Then, a month later, I got another email. It turns out they kept watching and, as much as they love the U.S version, they now adored the British original, and ever-so-slightly preferred it, as well.
I should mention, as well, that the U.S. two-part pilot was such a faithful adaptation of its British source, that they even use a lot of the same jokes. (To their credit, they recognized that the jokes were too wonderful not to use.)
Viewers might recognize Thomas Baynton, as well. He’s the only actor from the British show who (thus far) has appeared on the CBS series. In England, he plays the affected poet Thomas Thorne, a self-described enemy of Lord Byron who he claims stole much of his work. Baynton turned up on the U.S. program playing an actor who would be portraying scout leader Pete in a documentary.
Also of note is that along with Baynton, five others of the main "ghost" actors on the British original created the series as a team. (They'd previously made the British series, Horrible Histories, together.)
I don’t know how many episodes of the British Ghosts CBS plans to run. Perhaps all, it ran very successfully for several years, but only it’s had 33 episodes and just finished its run. (Seasons for England are much shorter than for U.S. network TV.) However, I suspect they might stop when new episodes of the U.S. series go back into production and are available. Though if the ratings are strong, and it’s a hit, they might just keep running them all. I hope that's the case since, unfortunately, HBO Max -- where it originally ran in the U.S. -- has taken it off their listings. Which is additionally unfortunate because they hadn't yet shown the final season. I would think (or hope...) that it will show up there again or elsewhere -- perhaps on CBS.
For now, though, it starts tomorrow on CBS for all here to see.
Here's a five-minute piece the BBC put out with highlights from the pilot episode.
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