Broadchurch v. Gracepoint; Americanizing Shows

[Dr. Orange]

To those who may be a fan of David Tennant, British Television, and the BBC network, one show that may come to mind was the eight episode long show called "Broadchurch." A British crime drama by Chris Chibnal that premiered on the 4th of March, 2013. 

 

I don't want to go too deep into the story of the show since it is a really fucking great show and I would hate to accidentally spoil it for those who are interested in watching it. 

 

The second part of this topic is the new upcoming show "Gracepoint," a predicted ten episode long season about the exact same thing however it is going to be intended for american audiences that will be aired on the Fox network, October 2nd, of this year.

 

What's odd is that the American version is going to be completely recasted (excluding David Tennant who's character will just be renamed), rewritten and edited to better fit american audiences.

 

So I figure that my question is: Has "Americanization" gone too far? I've heard of movie directors and writers on foreign soil who, when given the option to have their movies played on the big screens in U.S. have turned down that option when the condition is that they would have to edit their films to be less complicated*. And I guess that's my internal fear right now in the case of "Broadchurch"  or now "Gracepoint" since the rights were bought out. I loved this show. I liked the complexity and unique "hard to understand" feel the writer and director gave to a whodoneit mystery. And I feel personally, that this new American take that's watched over by Big Brother Fox will tarnish the already great show that it is/was. 

 

*I would post a link to this movie source but I saddly cant remember the film maker, I do know he's Asian in decent and the movie was like "Frost" or "concentrate" someting.

[Krock]

Has it gone too far? Perhaps, but this is nothing new. British television has been getting Americanized for years. The difference is that in 2014, we actually have access to British television through outlets like BBC America and the Internet, so we actually know what's happening. Hardly anyone in the states complained about One Foot in the Grave turning into Cosby because we didn't even know OFitG existed.

I have know idea why the One Foot in the Grave/Cosby fiasco was the first example I thought of.