Iran’s Anti-Gay ‘Modern Family’ And Five Other Bizarre International TV Adaptations

The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting has remade US sitcom Modern Family with one slight change: the removal of the gay couple.

Haft Sang is an unauthorised version of the program (you think the IRIB fuck around with international franchising agreements?) which basically recreates its more official US counterpart – even down to similar set design. They have also switched the genders of a few of the characters, in order to avoid the implications of them fraternising before marriage.

Many international remakes of US and UK shows make these types of switches to fall in line with viewers’ sensibilities. Sometimes, though, it’s enough just to be able to watch a German David Brent. Below are a few of the odder international remakes.

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There Are Ten Versions Of The Nanny, Including the Most Popular Russian Show Ever

Who would have dreamed that a show about two mismatched couples taking years to hook up despite spending every day together would have such international appeal? The Nanny screened in over ninety countries, with ten international versions made. My Fair Nanny remains the most successful show in the history of Russian television, so much so that when the US version wrapped at 146 episodes, the Russians weren’t having it, simply hiring the American writing staff to script more episodes for them. They got around that pesky marriage proposal business between Maksim (Mr. Sheffield) and Viktoria (Fran) by using the time honoured “it was all a dream” method – pushing reset on the unresolved sexual tension.

It’s also worth noting the original website for The Nanny is still functional, and it’s exactly how you want it to be.

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The Boss In The French Version Of The Office Rocks A Red Keytar And Makes Cheese Jokes

The French version of The Office (named Le Bureau) stays fairly faithful to Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant’s original UK series, including a recreation of the infamous episode where David Brent whips out his guitar and starts ‘entertaining’ his staff. Except hapless boss Gilles Triquet pulls out a red keytar, because that’s inherently more French we suppose. The ‘stapler in the jelly‘ joke was replaced with a bit about cheese, the post-work pints are swapped out for office champagne, and Gilles’ wacky catchphrase is “zat’s life”. Just writing this stuff makes me feel racist.

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Colombian Breaking Bad Looks Bleak As All Fuck

Metastatis is a Spanish-language of Breaking Bad set in Columbia, and Walter Blanco is the one who knocks. Oh, and they cook inside an old school bus because motor homes just aren’t a common thing there.

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NBC Made A US Version Of A UK Show Based On Friends

Coupling was a brilliant UK show about the sexual lives and boozy misadventures of six friends in their 30s. Although the show adopts less standard narrative devices than Friends, and is rooted in UK grit as opposed to US gloss, it is still heavily indebted to the program. Which is why it was baffling when NBC, the network that aired Friends, green-lit an American version of Coupling in 2003, while Friends was still on the air. It lasted four episodes, with BBC America rubbing salts in NBC’s wounds by airing the clearly superior UK version directly after each episode.

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Also, The Chinese Friends Is Called Planet Homebuddies

It even features a song by the guy from The Rembrandts, who wrote the original Friends theme ‘I’ll Be There for You‘.