MTV’s The Inbetweeners is an abomination. I am the kind of person who believes remakes should be outlawed (with the exception of 3:10 to Yuma because … Russell Crowe), especially in the English-to-American direction. British shows that have been adapted for an American audience typically have more attractive actors — MTV’s Skins, SyFy’s Being Human, and NBC’s The Office, among others — but MTV’s newest creation doesn’t even have that going for it. There is literally nothing good about this show.
If you haven’t guessed already, I have seen — and loved — the original English version of The Inbetweeners. I enjoy the cripplingly awkward humor of English television, possibly because (thanks to my cable-hating parents) I spent many hours of my childhood watching old BBC reruns on PBS. Both versions of the show are about the life of teenager Will McKenzie and his transition from private to public school — or, as the Brits would have it, public to state school.
Will’s new friends in the original version embody common English stereotypes: the dumb football-loving one is Neil (played by Blake Harrison), the adorably socially awkward one is Simon (played by Joe Thomas) and the wannabe tough but actually lame one is Jay (played by James Buckley).
The American version focuses on the same characters, but Americans can’t relate to these quintessentially British stereotypes. Everything about the original show revolves around the struggles of teenagers in England, which are completely different than the struggles of teenagers in the U.S. No pimply, 16-year-old American kid can walk into a liquor store and pass for 21. In England, however, the drinking age is 18, so when Will saunters in to a liquor store and comes out with alcohol, it’s not so hard to believe.
All recent American adaptations of English shows (except for The Office, because Steave Carell, Rainn Wilson and John Krasinski are comic geniuses) have encountered these problems of audience identification. MTV’s production of Skins wasn’t renewed for a second season because the American audience couldn’t relate (and because of a sexual content scandal), and SyFy’s Being Human succeeded only because it departed from its source material so early in its first season.
Don’t watch this show. It is a sub-par attempt at remaking a hilariously British television series, and I would bet a great deal of money it won’t be renewed for a second season. If you’re itching to watch four awkward high schoolers fail at being social, sign in to Netflix and give the original version a try.
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