Upstaged by a Dog

I asked you: what British sitcoms do you absolutely love or totally despise? Out of hundreds of replies, one show kept popping up: ‘Allo ‘Allo!

This classic British sitcom, that aired on BBC One back in 1982 and ran for nine hilarious (and sometimes controversial) seasons, transported us to Nazi-occupied France during World War 2. Created by the brilliant minds of David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd, it’s famous for its unforgettable characters and incredible cast. But let’s be real, it also gets a lot of flak for its over-the-top stereotypes and making light of a pretty serious time in history.

In this video, we’re going unpack all of it – what made you laugh, what made you cringe, and why this show still sparks so much debate!

We’ve already looked at the top British sitcoms that had terrible American re-makes, but because that list was voted for by a contemporary audience, many of them might have forgotten – or never seen – some of the really good classic British sitcoms from the 1970s and 1980s.

To make up for that, in this video we’re going to have a look at some popular sitcoms from that period that were re-made for American audiences. We’re going in chronological order that the original British shows were first broadcast.

So far, we have seen how American re-makes of 19 of the best all-time British sitcoms have been terrible flops. Now it’s time to see what happened to the sitcom voted number one by visitors to the Ranker.com website, when America tried to re-make it.

Your number one sitcom is ‘Fawlty Towers’.

Fawlty Towers might just be a perfect example of British humour, and the original series has enjoyed enormous success outside the UK and has been shown in more than 60 countries.

So why did anyone need to make an American version?

But this isn’t the end of the series; don’t miss the bonus episode next week!

So, across the pond in the good ol’ U-S of A, they’ve certainly taken a shine to some of our brilliant British telly over the years, haven’t they?

But while some adaptations have become absolute smash hits, like ‘The Office’, there are others that… well, let’s just say they didn’t quite capture the same magic. Today, we’re diving into the story of three more British sitcoms that made the leap to American screens with big expectations, only to sadly, spectacularly, flop!

This video covers the sitcoms in 9th, 7th, and 2nd places of the best-ever British sitcoms, according to the Ranker.com website.

Don’t miss the next episode, with the many re-makes of the British number 1 sitcom, and a bonus video a week later!

Have you ever sat there chuckling away at a classic British sitcom and thought, “You know what this needs? An American makeover!” No?

Well, some American studios think they do! But sometimes, those transatlantic translations don’t quite land. In this video, we’re looking into the history of four iconic British comedies that were re-made across the pond. So, grab a cuppa, settle in, and let’s have a good laugh at these well-intentioned but ultimately unsuccessful remakes.

This video starts at the number 16 best all-time British sitcom, according to the Ranker.com website.

Have you ever wondered why some of our absolute favourite UK sitcoms just didn’t quite land when they were remade in America?

In this video we’re going to take a look at some of the top British comedies that just didn’t translate in the U.S. We’ll be exploring why that might be. Get ready to compare the beloved originals with their American cousins and see how they went down!

This video starts with the 27th best-ever British sitcom according to the Ranker.com website.

Numerous cherished UK television sitcoms have been adapted for American audiences, often with disappointing results.

This video will examine some of the top-rated UK sitcoms that experienced unsuccessful American re-makes, including a long-running favourite that delighted audiences in the late 1960s and early 1970s. We will explore the original successes and their American versions, considering the various elements that may have contributed to their divergent receptions.

This video starts at the UK’s 44th best sitcom according to visitors to the Ranker.com website.

Have you ever wondered why re-makes of some excellent British sitcoms flopped in America?

In this series of videos, we’ll explore top-rated British shows whose re-makes didn’t quite hit the mark across the pond. Although all the re-makes in this video eventually failed, one was a catalyst for a film and an alternate re-make version, one messed with the material too much, one didn’t alter it enough, and one had four tries at getting it right! So, grab a cuppa, sit back, and discover these transatlantic misses!

The first episode starts at the 60th best ever British sitcom as voted for on the Ranker.com website in April 2025.

In these videos, I’ve been diving deep into the world of terrible sitcoms, looking at the ones that consistently rank at the very bottom of different ‘worst of’ lists. I’ve spent a lot of time searching through old newspaper articles and online reviews to find the absolute worst offenders. Well, get ready for the grand finale!

In this video, we’re counting down the final three sitcoms – the absolute worst of the worst. And one of these shows features an actor who also made a previous appearance on my list of terrible sitcoms! Buckle up, because it’s about to get really bad.