Maybe it’s because another show from the same original channel has received such an opportunity, maybe it’s because one of the stars of the original format is currently attempting something similar, or perhaps just that they wanted this particular format to have another chance, but The IT Crowd, an office-based sitcom that aired on the UK’s Channel 4, has been tapped for a remake pilot order by American network NBC.

The news comes with the fact that NBC have previously attempted to do the exact same thing, back in 2006 (with the original’s Richard Ayoade (centre) reprising his role as “Moss” alongside Joel McHale and Jessica St. Clair), but did not make it to air.

Learning from past mistakes, NBC are now taking the angle of bringing some of the people who know the format the best, namely the series creator, Irishman Graham Linehan, who will be ‘working closely’ with adapted pilot writer Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Cougar Town) and executive producers Garrett Donovan and Neil Goldman (both Community and Scrubs). Lawrence will combine this role with his current efforts to make another TV adaptation, for movie franchise Rush Hour.

Linehan had noted on Twitter, when asked about his knowledge of the remake: “Yep. I’m closely involved and we’re going to get it right this time.”

The original critically-acclaimed version of The IT Crowd had starred Ayoade alongside Chris O’Dowd and Katherine Parkinson as the IT/tech support department at the ambiguous company ‘Reynholm Industries’ in London, running for 4 seasons between 2006-2010, followed by a one-off special in 2013 (“The Internet Is Coming”) for a total of 25 episodes. The first 4 seasons of the show are available in full to watch on Netflix, but it is a series length that would be almost matched within one season on a typical American schedule, so if the show is commissioned, would NBC be able to retain quality in a stretched-out format? If anything breaks the network during this process, they now know who to call:

One is known for acclaimed comedic roles in films such as Splash, Armed & Dangerous, and Cool Runnings. The other is a director who has titles such as Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in his resume.

Together, they could be seen on the same credits roll for movies including Planes Trains & Automobiles, Home Alone, and Uncle Buck. Together, they are known as two of their era’s finest in the movie industry that died too soon. Together, they have… the same first name. And the most recent addition to this list of similarities is that they apparently would have both taken issue with the Uncle Buck TV series remake being produced, according to their families.

The Candy and Hughes families have joined forces to make a plea to ABC to not go ahead with their plans to develop a sitcom on the Uncle Buck name and premise (in which a well-meaning but poorly-performing uncle is left to look after his nieces and nephew), claiming that it is not what its star and director would have wanted to see happen.

The series has so far reached the script order stage with ABC, but the families wish it to go no further, stating their preference that the original is held up as an example of the two John’s collaborative skills.

In a joint statement to Deadline, they noted: “Disappointment has been expressed by both the John Hughes and John Candy families over the conduct and decision by the ABC Network and Universal Television to develop a comedy series based on the feature film Uncle Buck. Rather than either entity providing advance information to the estates, the families learned of the project’s potential via the media. The families feel a strong attachment to the original film, which symbolised the great and unique collaboration between Hughes and Candy. Recalling that the director was displeased with first Uncle Buck TV show effort which failed on CBS in 1990, it is well expected that he would not be supportive of this current attempt.”

While it would be incredibly difficult to match the quality of the original, even in something other than ‘TV sitcom’ form, do writers Steven Cragg and Brian Bradley with producer Will Packer (and whichever lead actor they hire) deserve to be given a chance to try, or are the families of John Hughes and John Candy right in their judgement that a remake at any level of quality would tarnish the Uncle Buck legacy?

Hit crime drama Breaking Bad has been lined up for a Spanish-language remake in the Latin America region, with Sony Pictures Television teaming up with Univision to create ‘Metastasis‘.

The original AMC show’s leading character ‘Walter White’ will be directly replaced and not-too subtly named ‘Walter Blanco’ (Diego Trujillo), alongside the supporting character of ‘Jesse’ (Aaron Paul) becoming ‘Jose’ (Robert Urbina). Continuing the slight name-change trend, the character of Walter’s brother-in-law ‘Hank Schrader’ (Dean Norris) will become Colombian narcotics agent ‘Henry Navarro’ (Julian Arango), while away from keeping the names the same, Walter’s original wife ‘Marie Schrader’ (Betsy Brandt) will now be ‘Cielo’, portrayed by Sandra Reyes.

Sony Pictures Television representative Angelica Guerra summarised of their new production: “Critics and audiences love Breaking Bad and its original take on the drug-dealing business. It is a very relevant story for all audiences, produced with the highest standards, in spectacular locations with the best talent in the region.”

SPT’s Latin American ‘senior vice-president of distribution’ Alex Marin summarised: “Metastasis is masterfully complex and irresistibly compelling. We are sure the show can bring the audiences and acclaim garnered by the US series to broadcasters in Latin America.”

Having enjoyed 5 seasons and 54 episodes on the American cable network since 2008 (and arguably the second-most famous show on the station in that time, only below The Walking Dead), 7-time Emmy winners Breaking Bad will be concluding its story after a final 8-episode run starting in August, but can the remake in Spanish enjoy similar acclaim?

Classic British sci-fi show Thunderbirds, a show which took on a rarely-seen offshoot of puppetry (a patented technique called ‘supermarionation’), is set to take on a more technology-assisted revamp, with ITV taking on the show for a local revival.

For the project, which is being given a 26-episode run on ITV (and children’s channel CITV) to air in 2015 (celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original show, which ran for 64 half-hour episodes between 1965-66), will be in very strong hands for its planned CGI sequences, as ITV announced that they will be working alongside New Zealand-based company Weta Workshop.

Weta are a special effects company who have worked on movies including Lord of the Rings and Avatar, and will over the next few years add the working title of Thunderbirds are Go! to their credits slate, even if they are technically working on a children’s show for the channel.

The original series followed the adventures of an ‘international rescue organization’ in the year 2065, who battle evil with their ‘technically advanced equipment and machinery’ sent from their secret island base.

Denise O’Donoghue, the ‘UK managing director’ of ITV Studios, said of their upcoming content: “Thunderbirds is a highly respected brand that continues to hold recognition around the world. This cult series is often credited as changing the history of animation and action-adventure, and we look forward to taking the show to another level while retaining the much-loved heritage that has endured over the past 50 years.”

Richard Taylor, the chief executive of Weta Workshop (and of Pukeko Pictures, who have been signed as co-producers with ITV Studios), claimed that he was most looking forward to enabling a ‘new generation’ of viewers experience the format, stating: “Thunderbirds was a hugely influential television series in my childhood. Having watched it originally in black and white, it was only years later that I discovered full and rich world that Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and their team created.”

Despite the name Thunderbirds and the images it instantly provides, the revitalised series is set to use no puppetry whatsoever, instead applying a combination of live action and CGI (computer generated imagery), with the show meant more as a ‘tribute’ to the original puppet format.

However, the last time that Thunderbirds attempted live-action (in the form of a 2004 movie that was ironically released at a similar time to unofficial marionette-based comedy tribute Team America: World Police, clips of both can be seen below), original series creator Gerry Anderson (who last month passed away aged 83) described the poorly-recieved movie as: “the biggest load of crap I have ever seen in my life”. Will he be spinning in his grave at the latest incarnation of his franchise?

1994 Disney film The Lion King is renowned as one of the best films of its decade despite being a cartoon, and as well as being one of the most notable musicals of all-time, is seen as one of the most dramatic movies of its genre as well.

This drama generally reaches its peak for many viewers in the classic ‘wildebeest’ scene, in which the lion king Mufasa, after rescuing his son Simba from a stampede, attempts to jump to safety and when clinging on for his life asks for help from his brother Scar, who turns on him and throws the king to his death as part of his evil plot to take the throne.

It appears as though the emotions of this scene, though, stem mainly from the imagery used by the film’s producers, as a YouTube video recreated the scene in an alternative form of animation.

While the 30 seconds is a lot shorter than the full-length live-action remake of Disney Pixar film Toy Story, it packs just as much humour on the basis of ‘not being what you are used to’, with the cheaply-produced CGI footage below definitely not something that was made by the renowned 3D animation studio.

If anything can make you laugh at one of the most emotion-filled character deaths in the history of cinema, it will be this clip below:

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