– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

- Oh yeah, new camera, new lights, things are about

to get crispiness on a whole new level.

But the camera's here, gotta get used to that.

Okay think about what your favorite show is.

Barney the Dinosaur?

No that's been canceled for a long time, try again.

Well assuming that you have a current favorite show,

it might surprise you to learn that that program

does not air the same all over the world.

In fact, everything about it has probably been changed,

including the main character, by the time that it hits

a country outside of America.

(upbeat music)

Here are 10 American TV characters remade

in foreign countries.

Number 10 is Jack Bauer.

The TV show 24 was a watershed moment in the early 2000s

when television began to compete with big budget films

but it was also so successful that it spawned

a foreign remake.

In the original U.S. show, Kiefir Sutherland

played Jack Bauer, a counter terrorist agent

who had 24 hours to stop terrorist group.

However, in the Hindi version in India, set in Mumbai,

Jack Bauer was remade for an Indian audience

as Jai Singh Rathod, a military agent

who is caught between the love of his family

and his sworn oath to protect his country

from terrorist attacks.

Airing in 2013, this incarnation of Jack Bauer

was so successful that he came back to save the day

once again in a second season in 2016.

And if you really want a mind F, now all we need is Jack

to go to Mumbai and cross paths with his Indian alter ego.

Yep, shared universes are definitely a thing now.

Number nine is Michael Kelso.

Ashton Kutcher shot to fame in the late 1990s

with his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the sitcom

That 70s Show but few people are aware that Kelso

and all of his buddies from that show were recast

and remade for a UK television show.

The show was called Days like These and the setting

was changed from America to England.

Ashton Kutcher's character was renamed to Michael McGuire

and played by English actor, James Carlton.

The character did maintain many of the same quirks

from the original series such as being the male bimbo

of the group but British audiences didn't take

to this local reimagining of the series.

With the American version of the show proving more popular,

Days like These was canceled after just 10 episodes

without even airing a further three

which had been completed.

See you can never discount that Kutcher magic.

Number eight is Al Bundy.

Oh yeah, this was one of my favorite shows growing up.

Hey, Peg.

Married with Children was a hit U.S. show

from 1987 to 1997.

It actually remains the longest lasting live action sitcom

on Fox and was so popular that it spawned

a number of remakes.

But definitely one of the most out there remakes

has to be the German version and excuse my German

when I say this.

(clears throat) (speaking German)

Which translates to Help, my family is crazy in German.

Like Married with Children, the show followed

a middle aged father trying to negotiate his life

and deal with the ever-growing disappointments

of his career and family.

And of course with most foreign remakes,

the main character's name was changed.

Instead of Al Bundy, the German audience watched Tim Strunk.

I guess Tim Strunk isn't much worse than Al Bundy.

The show lasted for 26 episodes which is actually

pretty long, although perhaps it would have lasted longer

if they used the original cast but used German accents.

Hey, Al, (speaks German).

Number seven is Sam Malone.

Cheers spawned the popular spinoff show Frasier

but it also produced an official Spanish remake

which gave a different spin to the lead character,

Sam Malone.

Just like the U.S. show, this version was set in a bar,

this time an Irish themed bar in Spain.

That's just a really weird concept but let's continue.

In the U.S. version, Sam Malone owned a bar

and was a recovering alcoholic

and once famous baseball star.

The Spanish version changed Sam's name to Nico

and made him a former soccer player.

But was he still an alcoholic?

Did he like the sauce?

Well just like Sam, Nico actually had another addiction,

women, he was actually a notorious womanizer

who can't help but hit on every woman

who comes into the bar.

The Spanish production used the famous theme

where everybody knows your name but the show

was canceled quickly.

Hm, sounds like the theme song should have been

where absolutely nobody knows your name.

(vocalizing)

Number six is Ray Romano.

Does anybody else get annoyed by this guy's face?

Actually I shouldn't talk, I get those comments

all the time.

The original U.S. run of Everybody Loves Raymond

starred Ray Romano as the main character.

The show, which followed Ray as a family man

torn between his wife and his parents who lived across

the street was extremely popular.

Not with me, I wanted to gouge my eyes out.

Well a lot of people did like it and it was so popular

in fact that Poland actually made their own version

of Ray Romano himself.

Instead of being called Ray, they changed

the lead character's name to Roman, no doubt as a nod

to the original actor and creator of the original show.

And just like the original series, Roman was a sportswriter

who is continually stuck between his wife

and his overbearing mother.

However, unlike the U.S. series, the show as not a success.

It only lasted four episodes before being canceled

and poor Polish Ray was left on the trash sheet

by Polish television once and for all.

Poor Polish Ray.

Number five is Sheldon Cooper.

Sheldon Cooper and his scientist friends star

in the hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

But in 2010, the country of Belaruse made a show

which was eerily similar.

It followed a group of scientists who were terrible

with women and lived across the hall from a blonde waitress.

And hilarity ensued.

One of the character's names was Sheldon,

a brilliant scientist with almost no social skills.

Soon after the show aired, the creator

of The Big Bang Theory, Chuck Lorre, commented on

the similarities between these shows.

Basically accusing the Belarus show of using

the character of Sheldon Cooper and others

without permission.

When the similarities were pointed out to the Belarus cast,

the actor who played their version of Leonard walked out

on the show not wanting to be associated

with the plagiarism.

Good for you, fake Leonard, although in Russia,

TV show walk out on you.

Number four is David Brent.

David Brent is the iconic cringe inducing boss

of the original The Office as played

by series co-creator, Ricky Gervais.

Now if you live in North America, you already know

that the show was later adapted into a hit U.S. show

of the same name but we're going to disregard that

as a full remake as Gervais Brent actually guest starred

on that show so it's technically a spinoff

but the same cannot be said for the German show Stromberg

which took the David Brent character, renamed him

and hoped that no one would notice.

Side note, this doesn't just happen on TV,

there's literally a guy in France who takes

all of my videos and just translates them

and reads them on camera.

Yeah, so, anyway.

After the BBC threatened to sue the makers of the show,

they agreed to give credit to Ricky Gervais

and Steven Mershont who created the original series.

In the end, this version of Brent was very popular

and even resulted in a feature film.

I absolutely blame the U.S. version of that show,

which I really love, for me saying for years,

"That's what she said."

It's played out now but I still say it.

It's kind of like a tick.

Anyway, moving on.

Number three is Joel Hodgson.

Joel Hodgson played a character of the same name

in the classic show Mystery Science Theater 3000

but while the original show was off air for some time

until the recent reboot, a Russian company decided

to make their own version of the show.

Dear Russia and Germany, y'all gotta smarten up,

you're gonna get a slap.

It was uncreatively called Project Popcorn

and included their own Joel or Steven as he was called.

And it gets really weird.

In Project Popcorn, Steven is trapped by an evil doctor,

in this case, Dr. Hitler, who forces Joel,

I mean Steven, to watch terrible movies.

Unlike the original show, Steven isn't accompanied

by two wisecracking robots but instead watches

the terrible movies with two bizarre puppets

called Fidel the penguin and Ketchup the dog.

You know owning a penguin in the first place would be weird

but calling it Fidel would just be par for the course.

Come here, little Fidel, you want some ice cubes?

Number two is James T. Kirk.

Turkey is responsible for some of the most hilarious remakes

of all time but in one instance they actually remade

an iconic television series to a pretty high standard.

It was an episode of Star Trek called The Man Trap

complete with their own interpretation

of the famous Star Fleet captain, James T. Kirk.

The Turkish version contains all the same crew

of the star ship enterprise with an added character

for comic effect but what sets this rendition

of Kirk and the crew apart is that unlike the U.S. originals

which often shot on a sound stage, the Turkish version

used outdoor locations which in some ways gave their version

more production value as Kirk explored the remnants

of a destroyed city on an alien world.

Man if they wanted to do that thy could have just come

to downtown L.A., it would have been way cheaper.

Ha, boom L.A., roasted.

And number one is Walter White.

Hey Jesse, it's time to cook.

Brian Cranson's portrayal of Walter White in the TV show

Breaking Bad has to go down as one of

the greatest characters of all time.

Seriously, if you haven't seen the show,

what are you doing with your life?

But there is another Walter White.

In 2014, the Spanish language version of the show

was released.

Called Metastasis, the show mostly followed

the original Breaking Bad scene for scene.

Does that include the bathtub and acid scene?

(gags)

Just thinking about is entrails everywhere.

Now there were a few minor alterations

to the character of Walter White whose Spanish name

was Walter Blanco but Sony Entertainment Television

who funded the production, ensured that the series

would retread most of the storylines

of the original U.S. version.

The show was actually nominated for a number

of words in Colombia during its run and the actor

who had to fill Brian Cranston's shoes

was widely received well though most English speaking

countries aren't even aware

that this alternate version exists.

Until now, the knowledge whale's just packing your mind full

of (screams) goodness.

In all seriousness though, there is a guy from France

that reuploads all my videos, he just rips the script

and reshoots it, that's not a joke.

I'm not gonna give you his channel but it's out there

and I see you, French man.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
crispiness /ˈkrɪspɪnəs/ B1	noun - The quality of being crisp.
watershed /ˈwɔːtəʃɛd/ C1	noun - A turning point; a critical moment.
terrorist /ˈtɛrərɪst/ B2	noun - A person who uses violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.
incarnation /ɪnkɑːˈneɪʃən/ C1	noun - A person or thing embodying a quality or idea.
audience /ˈɔːdiəns/ B1	noun - A group of people gathered to watch or listen to something.
quirks /kwɜːks/ B2	noun - Peculiar behavioral habits.
reimagining /ˌriːɪˈmædʒɪnɪŋ/ C1	noun - The act of imagining something again in a new way.
longest /ˈlɒŋɡɪst/ A2	adjective - Having the greatest length.
remakes /riːˈmeɪks/ B1	noun - A new version of something that already exists.
negotiate /nɪˈɡoʊʃieɪt/ B2	verb - To deal with something in order to reach an agreement.
disappointments /ˌdɪsəˈpɔɪntmənts/ B1	noun - Feelings of sadness or dissatisfaction caused by the failure of one's hopes or expectations.
translated /trænsˈleɪtɪd/ B1	verb - To express the meaning of words or text in another language.
maintained /meɪnˈteɪnd/ B1	verb - To keep something in good condition.
bombo /ˈbɪmboʊ/ B2	noun - An attractive but unintelligent woman.
canceled /ˈkænsəld/ A2	verb - To decide that an arranged event will not take place.
spawned /spɔːnd/ B2	verb - To bring into existence.
counter /ˈkaʊntər/ B1	adjective - Acting against.

Key Grammar Structures

• In fact, everything about it has probably been changed, including the main character, by the time that it hits a country outside of America.

  ➔ Present Perfect Passive (has been changed)

  ➔ The phrase "has been changed" uses the present perfect passive to indicate an action completed in the past with ongoing relevance.

• However, in the Hindi version in India, set in Mumbai, Jack Bauer was remade for an Indian audience as Jai Singh Rathod, a military agent.

  ➔ Past Simple Passive (was remade)

  ➔ The phrase "was remade" uses the past simple passive to describe a completed action in the past.

• With the American version of the show proving more popular, Days like These was canceled after just 10 episodes.

  ➔ Past Simple (was canceled)

  ➔ The phrase "was canceled" uses the past simple to indicate a completed action in the past.

• Instead of Al Bundy, the German audience watched Tim Strunk.

  ➔ Past Simple (watched)

  ➔ The verb "watched" is in the past simple, indicating a completed action in the past.

• The show was actually nominated for a number of awards in Colombia during its run.

  ➔ Past Continuous (during its run)

  ➔ The phrase "during its run" uses the past continuous to describe an action that was ongoing in the past.