Peep Show's US remake gets the go ahead

What could possibly go wrong?

Published: Thursday, 28 July 2016 at 9:07 am

Peep Show fans, gird your loins – because the cult Channel 4 comedy is getting a US remake.

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US network Starz is currently in the process of developing the new project under the eye of showrunner Eli Jorne (best known for Elijah Wood comedy Wilfred), with original series writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong on hand as consulting producers on the project (via Variety).

“We are hugely relieved to hand over the responsibility of coming up with the dark and twisted thoughts of two terrible men to the extremely funny, dark and twisted Eli Jorne,” Bain and Armstrong said jointly in a statement.

RadioTimes.com broke the story earlier this year that the US division of Objective Productions, the producers of the comedy, was “in negotiations about Peep Show in America”.

The original series starred David Mitchell and Robert Webb as dysfunctional flatmates Mark and Jez, and became a cult hit for the broadcaster despite never soaring in the ratings. Its ninth (and possibly final) series aired late last year, though the lead actors and creators have intimated they wouldn’t mind revisiting the characters at a much later date.

Of course, as we discovered last year, this isn’t the first time a US network has tried to capture the Peep Show magic. A Fox pilot starring The Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki was filmed in 2005, but was (perhaps thankfully) never taken to a full series.

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This was followed by another failed attempt at US channel Spike in 2008 where a script penned by Armstrong and Bain failed to get off the ground.

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Here’s hoping the new version can do one better – or at the very least, not ruin the British series in retrospect.

Authors

Radio Times commissioning editor Huw Fullerton. He sits in front of a shelving unit, looking at the camera and smiling. He wears glasses and has a moustache

Huw FullertonCommissioning editor

Huw Fullerton is a commissioning editor for Radio Times magazine handling comedy, entertainment and specialist drama. In a previous regeneration, he covered all things sci-fi and fantasy for RadioTimes.com.

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