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Casting an Americanized Torchwood
Among the various post-strike coverage, I found an AP article that looks at US networks adapting UK series. While I was familiar with most of what the article had to say, it certainly got my attention when it asked, "So can an Americanized version of Torchwood be far behind?" Of course, that got me thinking -- who would I cast in an Americanized Torchwood? I guess I should add a disclaimer that I'm playing this exercise from a fantasy world where a network that adapts Torchwood for US audiences would be run by it-getters who realize their audience is a queer and queer-friendly one and will, hopefully, cast for that audience. Captain Jack Harkness Captain Jack is the toughest character to re-cast. That's partly because it's hard to imagine anyone but John Barrowman in the role, but also because it's a particularly demanding one. Jack is smart, dashing, charming ... oh, yeah, and irresistibly hot to boot. Jack can wear his arrogance on his sleeve and make it seem cute, but he also bears the burden of trying to guide humanity through the key period that is the 21st century. Cheyenne Jackson comes to mind as one performer who can handle all those qualities. Judging from what I've seen of him from clips of Xanadu: On Broadway and on The [title of show] Show he can certainly play Jack's humorous side and I've been thinking Jackson is due to be cast in an action hero role. Besides, considering how breakthrough the character is, I like the idea of having another openly gay actor in the role. Another out actor that comes to mind for the role is Robert Gant who also can deliver a mix of looks, charm and humor. I haven't seen Gant in any action-oriented roles, so his upcoming spy movie Kiss Me Deadly will give us a clue. However, as much as I like the idea of having an openly gay actor in the role, I can also see Nathan Fillion playing Captain Jack with a lot of the same qualities he brought to Firefly as Captain Mal Reynolds. Of course, the biggest problem with adapting Torchwood -- its connection to the Doctor Who franchise -- is condensed in the character of Jack Harkness. In this Torchwood is Jack still a reformed time-traveling con artist? Is there another Doctor out there in the universe of the Americanized Torchwood?
Gwen is supposed to be an everywoman character who the audience can identify with -- fallible and not an expert like the rest of the Torchwood team. She's supposed to bring a perspective that doesn't come easy to the rest of the crew, a quality not as tangible as Tosh's computer expertise or Owen's medical training. Who can make Gwen's failings a relatable quality rather than a reason for irritation? Dipping once again into the pool of actors from Joss Whedon shows, I can imagine Amber Benson adding a touch of vulnerability that'd get us wanting to see her learn from her mistakes and from being around Captain Jack. On the other hand, instead of tempering Gwen's tendency to screw up with vulnerability, I could see Katie Finneran playing to Gwen's willful side. We saw her play an FBI agent on The Inside and on Wonderfalls she made her character's failings as part of her complexity. Similarly, I can see Clea DuVall bring a dynamic where Gwen's mistakes make her seem less incompetent and more like someone still in training. (Work with me, here, I'm trying to like Gwen.) Owen Harper Owen has a lot of rough edges but a charm underneath it all that lets him get by in a lot of cases. He can be more than a little pigheaded and more than a little slutty. Now, from what I remember, that also describes Eddie Cibrian's Third Watch character who, thanks to Cibrian, was kinda likable even if his faults were hard to miss. However, Leonard Roberts, who we last saw as DL on Heroes and as one of Riley's associates on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, can certainly play strong-willed characters. Roberts can also exude a certain magnetism that would explain why Owen gets by when he can be quite irritating a lot of times. On a different side of things (though, once again, I'm dipping from that Whedon well -- I blame the strong casting and great scripts), Seth Green could bring a different side to Owen's failings and the charm he can have despite those problems. Toshiko Sato Tosh is the most introverted member of the Torchwood team, someone who'd rather think things through in their head before speaking out (save for when she's telling a room full of WWII military that she's Japanese, oy) and I think I can imagine the incredibly charismatic Keiko Agena in the role. Agena is usually great at playing characters with a lot of energy, I think it'd be interesting to see her play someone who has a lot of energy that stays within her skull. It'd be nice to see her in a role that gets more screen time than her Gilmore Girls character did, as well. However, someone who would help an Americanized Torchwood quickly appeal to a gay audience, Margaret Cho and her loyal fanbase come to mind. She could bring a number of fans to Torchwood, much like how she got me to check out The Lost Room. Tosh is quite different from many roles Cho has taken on -- shy, reserved and not quick to speak out, but I think she's up for that challenge. However, I remember the complaints about how her All-American Girl family wasn't played by actors of Korean descent. Considering that there is no shortage of talented actresses of Japanese descent, like Tosh, maybe I should take another look at Japanese-American performers. I mostly remember Devon Aoki as part of the team on the lesbian-themed spy movie D.E.B.S.. I recall her displaying a quiet strength, there, one that I could easily see translating to Tosh's cerebral nature. Ianto Jones Ianto is an efficient administrator who frequently swallows his emotions until they've built up and it all gets released on one giant emo torrent. That quickly brings Battlestar Galactica's Alessandro Juliani who plays the reserved Lt. Felix Gaeta. Gaeta is usually quiet and reserved, focusing on work over his emotional state until it's a little too much and he stabs a guy with a pen. Geata's devotion to Gaius Baltar has set off a lot of Battlestar Galactica fans' gaydar, suggesting Juliani could nicely capture Ianto's dynamic with Jack. The challenge with Ianto is playing his sensitivity without letting it define him, which brings Ryan Carnes to mind. Gay TV viewers probably remember him best as Andrew's first boyfriend, Justin, on Desperate Housewives. When Justin was being used by Andrew, Carnes made Justin's weakness a sweet trusting nature instead of just being too stupid to realize what Andrew was up to. However, Carnes has a connection to the Doctor Who franchise, as well, having played a major role in an emotional two-parter. However, thinking about Ianto's emotional side has me thinking of out actor Adamo Ruggiero whose expressive eyes remind me of Gareth David-Lloyd. Playing gay teen Marco on Degrassi Ruggiero showed his ability to play teen angst without turning it into self-involvement or whininess. What do you think? Who would you like to see in the roles of the Torchwood team if they were adapted for an American network? Submitted by on Thu, 2008-02-14 12:27. |
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OK here's the deal
First things first: I would LOVE to see any combination of suggested actors for Jack and Ianto make-out.
However, as interesting as it may seem on paper, I can not help but cringe at the thought of American television mangling yet another adaption of a series from the UK.
Yes, there are exceptions: The Office and Queer as Folk come to mind. But then again there was Coupling.
Now back to my mental image of Nathan Fillion and Ryan Carnes.
Don't trouble yourself Doctor -- I'm a celebrity, I'll write my own prescription.
Fantasy Casting is Fun!
I think Firefly was our American Torchwood, in spirit anyway.
I have a hard time re-casting Capt Jack just because they wrote the part around Barrowman, and it is so Barrowman. With all love to The Thigh (Gant) I just don't think he has the joie de vive to play the character. Now, Fillion...Capt Mal was pretty close to that character already, and if I watched him in Drive, I'm prepared to watch him in anything. What about Hugh Jackman? He's smiley and has got a bit of that flair (if you know what I mean). Or Josh Holloway, he certainly has a Barrowman level smile?
The rest of the characters don't seem to be as much of a challenge to cast, except for my beloved Ianto. I might consent to Alan Cumming.
I love fantasy casting! Though it is more fun with books (for years we did Lord of the Rings imaginary movie casting, though they did pretty good without me) where you have more room to imagine.
HOPEFULLY IT STAYS FANTASY
NPH can play Ianto's role
Too terrifiying to even contemplate
Then again, I also fail to understand the allure of fantasy football.
I'm not a great believer in tarnishing original be re-making, re-casting them. It's like the orginal Star Wars movies. I can't even speculate about alternate castings because I just can't imagine anyone else in those roles.
Besides, an American Torchwood would inevitably end up with a mostly-heterosexual Jack (American producers being biologically incapable of imagining non-straight men as action heroes), a Gwen that he f*cks daily, a Tosh and Owen that are sleeping together and Ianto with a cyber-girlfriend who had less metal and more skin to her Def Leppard "Women" ensemble.
John Barrowman + Capt.Jack = very original
I don't think that Someone gay or straight would take a role of John Barrowman for US verison of Torchwood. Reason? Captain Jack had an history with Doctor Who, Rose Tyler and Dr. Martha. If US verison cast "Capt. Jack" role but question without Doctor Who's existance and how Jack get his powers? That's why it troubles me. I strongly favored original Captian Jack in his place.
I just have good suggestion: Captain John Hart, Jack's ex. John would revisit Torchwood again to try to win Jack's trust back after he betrayed Jack's team on John's nasty mission. John's life was saved again by Jack's heroic actions. John's heart changed by reforming his old self. Jack told him that they are not lovers anymore ( Jack have a love for Ianto) but they argee to be remained as friends. He send John to America to work with his "new team" under Torchwood USA.
But It's just my opinion but it sounds good idea.
Seeing as how
Seeing as how Torchwood was set up by Queen Victoria after she met the Doctor and Rose I have a hard time visioning how Torchwood America could be established then. Major editing would have to take place, I believe, and perhaps a total disconnect from the Doctor Who series ?? That would then lead to problems with how does Captain Jack get to live forever?
What might work to bring Torchwood to North America would be a show about another Torchwood office and team, but make it Torchwood Canada. This would work as Canada is a part of the common wealth, strong connection to Queen Victoria (still have a holiday on her Birthday!) and the series has already established other offices such as Torchwood London, #2 in Scotland, and I believe Jack said that #4 was missing (?)
Aside from the canon
Aside from the canon problems, what with Torchwood and Doctor Who being about the most British TV shows ever and the whole point of Torchwood in the first place is the promotion and protection of the BRITISH EMPIRE, I wish people would stop with this obsession with remaking stuff. Remakes are just, "damn I wish we'd been creative/brave enough to try that", it's jealous and its lazy. I'm sure American audiences ARE actually capable of understanding something not set in the USA, and maybe they would have less British stereotyping and lousy accents if you got shows like Shameless and skins- both of which contain a gay teenager with a character and place in the plot other than "the gay one" btw.
As I read all of this I am chuckling
and wondering how it could be different. Do you wonder what an american Torchwood could look like? Just wait for an upcoming episode and youll get a glimpse (rolling eyes).
I must say I don't see the
Some would say Coupling was the British version of Friends
Of course, as with almost any British series compared with American TV, there is a great deal more risqué humour.
The reason U.S. networks usually give for wanting to make their own versions of British tv shows is that Americans cannot understand British accents or relate to events, situations and places that don't have an American angle or sensibility.
Of course, Leno's Jay-walking segments aside, I don't think the networks are giving the American public enough credit.
Some would say that
But they'd be wrong. Coupling was frankly a lot more "mature" in terms of it's humor than Friends, which was why they did try to import it and remake it in the U.S., but failed miserably because some things just don't translate well when remade in the U.S.
That said, I think that the reason boils down to economics. Simply importing programming would leave a lot of North American entertainment people without jobs so they prefer to make product rather than simply import it. A rare state of affairs given the general mindset of business in America today.
However, I do agree that they also generally prefer to "dumb down" a lot of our shows, focusing on one-liners over context humor in comedies for example.
Also, it is true that a lot of Americans don't like "foreign" things or the "big words" foreigners are prone to use. The all-time best example was the renaming of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potty and the Philosopher's Stone. It was changed to Sorceror's Stone in the U.S. because it was assumed that pig-ignorant Americans wouldn't buy a book with "philosopher" in title (and wouldn't know what a Philosopher's Stone was due to a lack of mythological lore background). Whether this assessment of American intelligence was true or not was unclear, but obviously someone at Scholastic Books thought so.
Wrong? Not necessarily...
I have no idea if Friends was the inspiration for the creators of Coupling but if they were so influenced, this example would be the way to "do their own version". Not a blatant copy but simply taking the general concept of 6 single twenty-something friends (3 women and 3 men), making it a lot more mature, as you said, and writing totally original scripts from day 1.
Actually, I rather liked the American version of Coupling, especially once it started to go its own way, rather than rehash the plotlines of the original series, but the networks wanted another Friends right away in terms of ratings and didn't give it a chance. Just think if they had given it at least as many episodes as they did for Joey (ugh!). Oh well.
The U.S. remake of The Office was given a chance and it's become a hit with both critics and viewers. Importing is not just about economics. A typical season of Coupling or The Office in the U.K. was what, 6-8 episode? In the U.S., a tv season is 22+ episodes. Just simply importing the original series would not be enough for the purposes of the major network. Then there's the fact that the general American viewing public really has a problem with strong British accents and terminology. I think for all of these reasons, U.S. producers opted to remake Coupling, The Office, and Queer As Folk, rather than simply import, with varying degrees of success. Also, humour often doesn't translate well from one side of the Atlantic to the other, unlike dramas.
There's one other issue with importing tv shows that were developed for the domestic British audience. Don't most shows on the BBC air with little or no commercials? When a series like Spooks was imported into the U.S., chunks of it got excised in order for commercials to be added. And this was on the freakin' A&E channel, which presumably should have been less advertising dollar conscious than the big networks! Such "creative editing" ruined the show for all serious viewers.
RE: Harry Potter, I'm aware of the issue with the title of book one. Heh, apparently in Canada, we can handle "philosopher" while our southern neighbours cannot. You say there's a lack of mythological lore background for "philosopher's stone" (or did you just mean Americans were not aware of the mythology behind it). Actually, there is a great deal of lore for it but none for "sorcerer's stone", which is just a term made up by some self-styled genius at Scholastic. Unfortunately, for many Americans, if they're even aware of the original title, they now believe "sorcerer's stone" is an acceptable legitimate alternative term for "philosopher's stone".
Philosophical magic
What I meant is that Americans generally lack the awareness of mythic history to know that a Philospher's Stone was considered the ultimate attainment of alchemy and said to be able to magically transmute matter. They'd likewise be unaware that science was once known as "natural philosophy". Apparently focus groups indicated that Americans would simply hear the word "philospher" and assume that it was something boring and intellectual. The word "sorceror" was thus substituted because it clearly implied something magical, and thus fun.
The number of episodes in a TV series was part of the economic factor. Shorter seasons make it hard to retain audiences in the U.S., which in turn reduces revenue potential attached to a given show. Especially in recent years the networks have seen the dramatic hit in ratings a show can take during long gaps between seasons. Americans have very short attention spans and an enormous amount of entertainment product to consume. They could import more series in total, but again this would be less effective economically.
However, they do like to avoid the context-heavy humor employed overseas. Coupling was a great example. Generally speaking the characters were not of the same slackerish nature as most of the Friends characters even very early on. They came across as being more mature, and consequently so was the humor. Admittedly, a lot of the sexual references were also a lot more explicit than would be tolerated on U.S. primetime, especially Patrick's sexual exploits (and the oft-mentioned size of his penis).
The British do seem to get a good return on their television tax, as the BBC does produce a considerable amount of programming that is the envy of the rest of the world. But as it's long been joked that nobody does humor like the Brits, truthfully a lot of their shows cannot be duplicated. I still shudder over the hideous American attempt a Doctor Who TV movie back in the 90's.
reasons
I don't think you understand the reasons that American versions are made. A HUGE one is that a single British "series" (season, to us) usually consists of a puny 13 or fewer episodes. I understand that some of your popular series might have a run of only just six episodes in an entire year, which is frankly pathetic to us. Sorry, that isn't going to fly over here on the major networks. We get 22-24 (sometimes a few more) episodes of our top nighttime series every year. If UK shows don't produce enough episodes, they're not likely to come over here, and it has nothing to do with their quality. It's that they very much do not suit the format of our TV seasons.
Then there's the issue of budgets. One reason very few American shows are Anglicized quite possibly because British studios simply don't have the budgets to match what we do over here. Some of our shows have budgets of $1 million or more per episode. That's about 500,000 pounds, I think. Even if you pare it down, you probably couldn't go TOO far and still get the production quality of our programming. So if you can't afford to remake, you import. Besides, if you guys tried to remake our series, I think there would be budget problems based on our sheer number of episodes per season as well as our higher budgets per episode. I bet if our shows cost a lot less and had fewer episodes per year, Anglicized versions would be much more likely.
Also, when shows are Americanized it creates more jobs in our TV industy. If we just imported a ton of shows, look at all the people who would be put out of work. Organized labor wouldn't like that much. The writers over here just threw a hissy fit of a strike. I bet they'd gear up for another if we imported any significant number of foreign shows whole. And I do understand their point. You keep your jobs there, we keep ours here, and everyone works.
Yes major US TV shows have
Yes major US TV shows have longer runs than UK TV shows, which is why we don't call series "seasons" as our shows don't run for entire seasons. [They are generally called series or serials, which I find actually more helpful than the generic season, as I don't think there is a way of distinguishing between a season of a series and a season of a serial.] As for budget differences-- I would think that producing Doctor Who and Torchwood on their tiny budgets, small even by UK standards, is a testament to their quality. Throwing money at a show- or at anything- doesn't necessarily make it better.
Regardless of the differences in TV culture though, of differences in ad breaks and how many episodes there are, if there was more respect for them they would find a way. Remaking a show is even more insulting than dubbing something in a foreign language. I'm not suggesting that everything over here is great because its not, or that the US should pick up more than a few good British shows ever now and then, certainly not so much as to effect jobs, but I think it would be nice to have a bit more respect for the shows that are good enough and a bit more tolerance for things that aren't American.
pfffft
i don't think they should do it. to me personally, i find that it's kind of sad how people aren't so original in ideas anymore.
i like the british version of torchwood and i don't think making it americanized would help it. it'd be an insult to the original version.
I really hope they don't do it...
Ok, first, I would probably at least try to watch it. But really, I can't imagine anyone filling the shoes of John Barrowman, someone else might be ok, and I like the people you've mentioned, but for me...I just don't know. Perhaps for someone who had never before seen the show, I could see someone with no prior knowledge of the characters accepting someone else. I got hooked on the American Queer As Folk, still rate it up there as one of my favorite tv shows, but I wonder if I had seen the original RTD version if I would have felt the same, you know? That being said, and Barrowman of course being the main force for me in the show (ha or anywhere, I just adore that man), I don't like the thought of anyone else playing any of the other characters either! Owen, Tosh...even Gwen...and Ianto*sigh*...especially Ianto! Gareth David Lloyd is just delicious in his role and I just don't want to see anyone else playing it! Hrmph!
On a similar note, it seems to me like this new show New Amsterdam, or whatever it is called, is sort of borrowing at least one major plot line from TW, in that its character can't die. The guy, I mean he is alright looking, but does he ooze the omnisexual charge of JB? Well, in a word, (or two) Hell No!!!
I read your posts...
and I argee with all of you,
Torchwood USA's out.
Torchwood Canada sounds better to me.
Hmm
Now why couldn't it be simple? Queen Victoria had a good relationship with the US, so perhaps there is already a Torchwood in the US. I mean she sent a replica desk to us, why not a replica agency. Perhaps the rift was only discovered after WWII or something, but for some reason the US gov't asked the Queen to send over a team to deal with it as they had experience.
And as much as I love the idea of Nathan Fillion getting to cowboy it up again, my vote goes to James Marsters. It could be easy as pie to tie-in to the current Torchwood. Jack gets a message that the US Torchwood all got sucked through the rift and are missing, a new team must be put together. Captain John Hart is looking to turn his life around in a very Jack Harkness kind of way. You can send over a very British and asexual Capt John, who has to assemble his team (and who could make lots of uptight american jokes). Their Gwen could be a recent FBI reject, or assigned from the FBI or CIA, I love the idea of Katie Finneran. Your handsome as they come Owen could be Nathan Fillion. Ianto would be masterfully played by Alessandro Juliani. And the Toshiko role wouldn't need to be filled by an Asian, but it could be any minority. Personally I like the idea of of them finding an African American or Hispanic woman to fill those shoes (muchless stereotypical as well).
Such an idea would aloow for many crossovers as Jack and John already have an existing relationship, and as John is new to this whole "play nice" ideal he is bound to fumble and make mistakes, which makes for more compelling TV than Alien of the week. Also they would have to attempt to find the original US team and figure out what happened to them, and if this is a threat both teams.
Otherwise I thought we already had our Torchwood, it had less characters, more sexual tension, and it was called the X-files.
I'm not trying to be rude
I hope it never happens
I like some of those choices, but I hope there will never be an American version of Torchwood. USA tv is very homophobic and everybody seems to be obsessed by het romance stories, so I fear what would happen with an American production of TW.
The only way I could imagine an USA version of TW is one with Ewan Mcgregor, Jeremy Piven and Julie Benz.
Or maybe with Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as Ianto and Jack, the sex would be hot!
I agree with the comments
I agree with the comments that a) Torchwood is a British organization and b) a lot of the show has to do with Jack, who would both be hard to re-cast and would upset things with his DW connections.
The idea of a Torchwood Canada would be viable, or even some rival American institution much like Torchwood (the US could have found out about TW, somehow, and decided they sure as hell wouldn't be left out of the loop...and there's all that Area 51, etc. stuff that can be tied-in). Re-making/casting Torchwood itself as an American show would probably be a complete mess. But basing another team along the same lines (the mysterious leader, the shy one, the arrogant one, etc.) could work, since it is a very basic formula of team-based shows.
I'd just be pretty upset over the lack of gay/bisexual content moving it to America would bring. We're really bad at having serious gay shows on tv.
Why recast the show?
'American Torchwood' wouldn't make sense.
The accent is the most important thing