Being Human

[Umbran]

Syfy's version of "Being Human" has begun.

I've watched the first season of the BBC original, and in its mere six episodes, it did a lot of plot and character development. It is an excellent program.

The main problem I find with the SyFy version is that it is merely okay-to-good, compared to the original's excellent, and coming so close on the heels of the original, it invites direct comparison, and the contrast does not serve the SyFy program well.

 

[Morrus]

For fans of the original series, the third series beings Sunday night on BBC3.

(Haven't seen the new US version, but I might try it out - but certainly not at the same time I'm watching the BBC series. That would be far too disorienting!)

 

[Plane Sailing]

Trivia: the vampire character in the US version is called Aiden, which is the real name of the actor playing the vampire character in the UK version.

 

[Felon]

I'm surprised Sam Witwer hasn't had more of a breakout success. Our boy Starkiller is primed for bigger and better things.

The female lead is overacting big time.

Like most BBC dramas, the original Being Human offer a lot more ambience. American shows (and films) just don't like quiet or slow scenes that build up mood and suspense, citing "pacing" problems as the reason why they wind up heavily edited or on the cutting room floor.

I remember that scene in the BBC pilot where the werewolf is locked in the room with his sister and he's pleading with the ghost to come help. The shrieking desperation was very palpable.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've only recently discovered the BBC version -- I don't have BBC America on my cable -- and I find the American version to be pretty crappy in comparison.

The very blue collar nature of the British show, the in media res start to things, the greater acceptance of "this is the way things are, let's not piss and moan about it constantly," the lack of expository speeches, all of that gets trashed in the American version. (It's hilarious to me that they had to promote one of the guys to a nurse, because apparently orderly isn't awesome enough -- when being an invisible person WAS THE POINT, not to mention a great counterpoint to all the awesome supernatural characters in the age of Anne Rice/Twilight.)

Instead, we get yet another show full of angsty supernaturals who have to speechify every chance they get, with Important Moment music blasting in the background. In other words, they remade a quirky, counter-programming, aggressively lower class/blue collar supernatural show and gave us ... yet another version of every other supernatural genre show on American television. Hooray?

I'll watch the second episode to see how they resolve the cliffhanger in the basement, but they're going to have to really dazzle me in that hour to keep me around after that.

 

[LightPhoenix]

The biggest problem I had with the US version versus the UK version was that it felt... wrong. I'm not sure how so; maybe the cinematography, or set design, or post-production. The best I can come to describing it is that it felt to "neat." I like Felon's use of the word "ambiance" - it didn't feel to me like a show about monsters overcoming their brutal nature. the ambiance I picked up on was more like a teen vamp movie, like Vampire Diaries or Twilight.

I wasn't too big a fan of most of the actors either. Witwer just isn't (IMO) charismatic enough to pull off a vampire, nor is Pellegrino*. Rath didn't get to do much, but what I saw of her was meh. Huntington was okay, but (again IMO) really seemed to be more copying Tovey than bringing his own to it. They also didn't seem to gel as a cast. Hopefully all of this fades when they get more comfortable in the roles.

* As an aside, I'm not a fan of Pellegrino at all; I think his "Harrick" is dull, lifeless, and uninspired.

I'm not a huge fan of the changes to the vampires, especially needing the blood. What I like most about the vampire side of BH(UK) is that vampires don't need blood, they're just addicted to it. It makes Mitchell's struggle less fatalistic and more hopeful. As a requisite for life, Aiden will always end up in situations where he has to kill people to survive. He doesn't have the choice that Mitchell does.

I don't anticipate watching this too much longer, but I'm willing to give it a fair shake.

 

[Felon]

The very blue collar nature of the British show, the in media res start to things, the greater acceptance of "this is the way things are, let's not piss and moan about it constantly," the lack of expository speeches, all of that gets trashed in the American version. (It's hilarious to me that they had to promote one of the guys to a nurse, because apparently orderly isn't awesome enough -- when being an invisible person WAS THE POINT, not to mention a great counterpoint to all the awesome supernatural characters in the age of Anne Rice/Twilight.)

Instead, we get yet another show full of angsty supernaturals who have to speechify every chance they get, with Important Moment music blasting in the background. In other words, they remade a quirky, counter-programming, aggressively lower class/blue collar supernatural show and gave us ... yet another version of every other supernatural genre show on American television. Hooray?

Yeah, this all sums up where I was going with the whole "no quiet or slow scenes" comment.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

In no particular order:

The music WAS too loud.

I think that either the original cast is better- I haven't seen the BBC's Pilot in a a while- or they've had a chance to really grow into their roles.

If you're going to change one character's name- "Harrick" is now "Bishop"- why not change all of them?

The pacing seemed a bit more...frenetic.

 

[Greg K]

The original pulled me in very quickly. This bastar...um Americanized ...version did not. The writing of this remake was not witty. The cast lacks chemistry. This, for myself, was not engaging on any level. I ended up flipping channels about halfway through.

And, why did the writers feel a need to change names? Was this necessary? Did they think viewers could not relate to the names George, Mitchell, and Sally?

And, I was, already, worried what the remake of Skins is going to be like...

 

[Dog Moon]

And, why did the writers feel a need to change names? Was this necessary? Did they think viewers could not relate to the names George, Mitchell, and Sally?

And, I was, already, worried what the remake of Skins is going to be like...

Weird. The first episode was soooo close to the original that it was just weird. And apparently with this show they changed SOME of the names, but not all. Apparently it's not an uncommon thing if they're doing it with more than just one show.

If there's any comparison to Being Human American vs. not like there is to Skins, I've suddenly become a lot more eager to check out the original of Being Human.