At a presentation at the Television Critics Association conference in Pasadena today, the cast and producers of Syfy’s new show Being Human, about a vampire, a ghost, and a werewolf living together, praised the original UK version, but then argued that their remake is both different and worthwhile.
“It was about embracing what the original had, which we loved,” said Mark Stern, the President of Original Programming at Syfy. “But I think there’s a great opportunity to explore more of that world, which we’ve done. We had thirteen episodes [in our first season], they had six.”
Sam Huntington, Meaghan Rath, Sam Witwer
Both shows deserve to exist, Stern said. “There is a certain amount of [similar] ground that needs to be covered in the beginning. But the deeper into the series, the more they diverge. Watching the British series won’t spoil this series. They really do complement each other.”
“It’s a great premise,” said executive producer Jeremy Carver. “We [do] follow a similar trajectory at first. As a fan of the BBC version, we took great delight that we could confront some of these same moments, but then said to ourselves, ‘What if we did this differently?’ You’ll see moments that you think you recognize, but we take it in a different direction.”
“There are cultural differences,” added Sam Witwer, who plays the vampire. “Culturally, this is a North American version that deserves to be told.”
Seeing the actors was disconcerting, because they all look and sound more than a little like their UK counterparts.
Even so, the cast and producers all claim not to have watched much of the BBC version.
“We haven’t really seen it,” said Witwer. “I saw the first episode.”
“I’ve seen a couple of episodes,” said Sam Huntington, who plays the werewolf. “I was unaware of the BBC series until I was up for the job. Then I read the first two episodes [of our version], and they were beautiful.”
“We actually made a point of not watching the second season,” said executive producer Anna Fricke. “Because were mapping out our season and didn’t want to be influenced.”
“We didn’t want to just mimic them,” said Witwer. “Hopefully, if we’re successful, we’ll bring to them a bigger audience than they have now. They deserve that.”
The show is much more than its fantasy elements, the producers said.
“It has those supernatural elements, but if you took that all that away, it would still work, because it has these [great] characters,” Fricke said.
“At the core of every story, what all these charaacters struggle with, is what all of us take for granted,” said Carver.
The producers also promised that the US version would be as dark and provocative as the UK version has been.
“What we loved about the original series is that is it dark, it does push the envelope, and we want to do the same thing,” Fricke said.
Being Human premieres January 17th on Syfy.
Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
Similar Posts:
- Review: Syfy’s BEING HUMAN Just Might Be Better Than the Original
- Magic with an Accent: BEING HUMAN Explodes, MERLIN Picks Up, and More!
- Magic with an Accent: BEING HUMAN’s George Gets a Girlfriend (and a New Cage)
- BEING HUMAN’s Aidan Turner, Lenora Crichlow, and Russell Tovey Are Friends in Real Life (No, Really!)
- Interview: Lucifer Has a Point, Says Mark Pellegrino, Who Played Him on SUPERNATURAL
I was disappointed in the new version. I don’t find the characters as dark and interesting as the ones in the British version and I resent that SyFy doesn’t broadcast the British show. I miss George, Mitchell, and Annie. All the new characters don’t have the same acting talent, especially Annie’s remake. She is a bad actress who seems like she is reading her lines. The British Annie brings me to tears, George is witty, and pathetically charming, and Mitchel is sexy and sultry. I don’t feel anything for the wooden American actors chosen to replace them. Bad casting when it could have been brilliant.
It’s odd because I saw the promo for the US version of being human and it looked to me as though the script of the UK version is just copied word for word. I’m not saying its bad but I do feel that the US version lacks the dark gritty feel of its UK counterpart and that could be a real downfall. Being Human is not the vampire diaries and its not Twilight its a very dark complex take the word of monsters and it pulls no punches
I watched the first three episodes last night, and while it’s not quite as “dark”as the UK version, I actually think it’s better written. It’s considerably different in terms of plot, but the writing is much tighter and more seamless.
It’s one of the best things Syfy has produced, IMHO.
I am looking forward to it based upon your tantalizing reviews!