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Unfortunately, very rarely domestic adaptations of cult foreign series become as successful as the original. However, this does not bother Russian producers at all, so they stubbornly continue to adopt interesting ideas from their foreign colleagues and spoil them with a bad script, weak actors and disgusting directorial work, due to which most of these projects are closed after the first season. Of course, there may be exceptions, but they only confirm the rule.
10 Dr. Tyrsa / Dr. House
“Doctor House” is a television series that has not ceased to become a nominee for various awards for more than ten years. The main character was so fond of the public that in medical universities every year the number of applicants grew exponentially. However, when Mikhail Porechenkov played in the domestic version of the cynic genius, the interest of young people in medicine fell sharply.
In our version, the main character acquired the features inherent in the hero of snotty melodramas. Between operations, Tyrsa indulges in melancholy, meaningfully looks into the void and philosophizes on the theme of love. An uninteresting plot and boring dialogue complete the failure of this adaptation, which was confirmed by the low ratings of the series.
9. Escape / Escape
The Russian “Escape” is a complete copy of the American version. Few adjustments were made only to make the action of the film closer to Russian realities.
Critics generally gave a negative assessment of this work: experts noted poor acting, miserable scenery, boring dialogues of characters, and weakness of the script. But this did not convince the producers to curtail the project, so in May 2012 the second season of the series was released.
8. Mind Reader/Mentalist
The Russian adaptation of the American detective story “The Mentalist” about a talented volunteer expert helping the police in solving complicated crimes is considered one of the most failed remakes of foreign series.
The original “Mentalist” was popular both in the West and in our country, however, the domestic version of the series, beloved by many viewers, received mostly negative ratings, both from critics and from ordinary viewers.
7. How I Met Your Mother / How I Met Your Mother
The domestic version of the popular television series borrowed not only the main idea of the original, but also the images of the main characters up to their portrait resemblance.
In the new version of the series, the main character has lost the charisma inherent in the character of the original version. He looks stupid and unnatural, this is especially noticeable when a character living among Russian realities exactly duplicates the lines of the American hero, which are very different from the reality around him.
6. Luba, children and factory / Grace on fire
The television series “Grace on Fire” was one of the most popular in its time. In 2005, the domestic version of the series beloved by the foreign audience – “Lyuba, children and the factory …” saw the light of day. The rating of this series was so low that the producers decided to cut the planned volume of episodes by almost half.
Work on this project was carried out at a time when the airtime of entertainment channels was “crammed” with sitcoms – apparently, numerous TV producers were haunted by the resounding success of “My Fair Nanny”, which, by the way, is also a remake of the American series. However, even such a large demand for sitcoms could not ensure commercial success for the series “Lyuba, Children and Plant …”.
5. Family / Family
The premiere of the series “Motherland”, which was supposed to start on the TV channel “Russia 1”, the audience was waiting with great impatience. And this is understandable, because Pavel Lungin himself undertook the adaptation of the American series of the same name, which won the Emmy and Golden Globe awards! And the stellar cast (Vladimir Mashkov, Victoria Isakova, Maria Mironova, Sergey Makovetsky and others) also promised the film big ratings.
However, neither the eminent director, nor the good play of the actors who played the main roles, saved the audience from disappointment. The domestic film “Motherland” received negative reviews from critics and record low ratings.
4. Humanoids in the Queen / Third planet from the Sun
“Humanoids in the Queen” is a domestic adaptation of the cult series “The Third Planet from the Sun”. But weak acting and bad dialogue ensured the complete failure of this TNT channel project.
3. Bones / Bones
The plot of the adapted version is faithful to its Western original: a forensic anthropologist and her colleagues investigate complicated crimes, studying the bones of victims in detail.
The American series in Russia was quite popular, but the domestic remake cannot stand any comparison with it. This applies to the game of actors, and the construction of the storyline, and dialogues. The result is low ratings and a flurry of negative reviews.
2. Theorists / The Big Bang Theory
Exact copying of the plots of foreign series and trying to make the characters identical to the original never lead to success. The heroes of the domestic version, by no means, are drawn to funny geeks, as if stuck in puberty. Their dialogues sound boring.
The main character is no longer such a bright narcissistic egocentric, with his witty sarcasm falling in love with the audience, but only his unsuccessful copy. All in all, a complete failure.
1. Waste / Waste
The plot of the original television series tells the story of five offenders who, by court order, work in public works. But one day, as a result of a sudden storm, they are struck by lightning, thanks to which they discover supernatural abilities in themselves. However, later the main characters realize that all these superpowers are not a gift, but a curse that brings a lot of additional difficulties.
Domestic cinema has not been able to shoot high-quality pictures with a similar plot before, but this time the creators of the remake have outdone themselves. The opinions of critics and viewers agreed: the domestic “Dregs” is not an adaptation, but a pathetic parody of the original.