By Sierra Williams
Staff Writer
America has made many attempts to remake British television shows. Some more successful than others. “The Inbetweeners” meets the stereotypical requirements of a typical American remake.
However, about a month ago, MTV released the show “The Inbetweeners” with high expectations. Sadly, this is not the case. Developed by Brad Copeland, involved with My Name Is Earl and Arrested Development, this show contains cheesy, teenage humor with an indecent amount of censor beeps.
This show is set in what could be called, “modern day high school”, around a group of four friends, Will McKenzie, Simon Cooper, Jay Cartwright, and Neil Sutherland, attempting to get through high school socially successful. Along their path to social success, they are often found in conflict.
Will (Joey Pollari) is responsible and intelligent. He is new to the school and is getting used to his new friends and their crazy lives. Simon (Bubba Lewis) is a hopeless romantic in hopes of claiming the heart of his childhood friend Carly. Neil (Mark L. Young) comes off as the ditz who, like every ditz, has their moments of clarity. Lastly, there’s Jay (Zack Pearlman) who is full of false stories with women and useless advice. They are the average male high school group who find themselves in some sort of trouble everyday.
There really is no difference in concept between the British and American version of the show, with the exception of accents. The same plots apply and the scripts are similar .
The acting isn’t the best but, it is decent. The actors play their roles well but it comes off as if they do not really relate to their character. It seems a bit awkward and unnatural.
Viewers of the British version were quick to compare the two to see if the Americans could pull off such a raunchy hit as the British did. The Americans do need a little work if they are planning to meet the UK’s standards, but so far have gained the attention of curious audiences. The question is whether or not they will remained interested.
MTV’s version is a somewhat accurate representation of what occurs in most high schools. It includes morals about love, family, friendship, and all that other stuff that is usually in shows that are meant for adolescents.
Although it may not receive as much admiration as the creators would have hoped for, it is doing fairly well as far as the views go. The Inbetweeners airs on MTV, Mondays at 10:30/9:30c.
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