Although CBS’s Ghosts has its own unique appeal, the U.S. remake of a UK sitcom did borrow one clever adaptation trick from an earlier cult classic. It can be hard for American remakes to capture the tone and appeal of their predecessors. Humor is famously subjective and often reliant on cultural context, so jokes that were hilarious in an English TV comedy can fall flat when remade for an American audience. However, 2021’s Ghosts proved this isn’t always true when the sitcom reworked the BBC’s 2019 series Ghosts with a new cast and characters.
2021’s American version of Ghosts borrowed the basic premise of the UK series. Sam and Jay are a young couple who unexpectedly inherit a remote country home. After a near-death experience, Sam gains the ability to see and talk to the ghosts that inhabit the house. That’s where things begin to change, as the ghost characters in CBS’s Ghosts are almost entirely different from their UK inspirations. Sam and Jay fulfill much the same function as the original show’s Allison and Mike, but few of the ghosts Sam communicates with bear a resemblance to the UK version’s characters.
CBS’ uproarious comedy series Ghosts has spooked up a big audience across its first three seasons, and now it will return for season 4.
CBS’s Ghosts wisely followed The Office’s approach to remaking a UK sitcom when the series remake took the name and basic premise of the original show, but dropped everything else. The Office was originally a cringe comedy that centered on Ricky Gervais’s delusional middle manager David Brent, but the U.S. version of the series was a warmer, less cynical show that focused on Steve Carell’s sweeter Michael Scott. Both Brent and Scott had blatant character flaws, but their personalities diverged completely. Similarly, the supporting characters who staffed the office itself were very different in the U.S. version of the show.
Ghosts clearly learned from The Office as the series ensured that the UK show’s central conceit remained intact but didn’t import many main characters. While Sam and Jay are often effectively carbon copies of Mike and Allison, they are also the show’s human characters. Almost all the ghosts are unique to the new show, much like The Office’s inhabitants. This explains how Ghosts has borrowed The Office’s successful strategy for translating a TV comedy from Britain to America. The basic setup stays the same, but new supporting characters allow for fresh storylines and a unique, original tone.
