Oh, SKINS. The UK version was totally a guilty pleasure for all the right reasons…. now it comes to the US. Ho boy.
I watched the first two series of the UK version of SKINS about couple of years back, and enjoyed them quite a bit. I mean, I’m clearly not the target audience, but I could respect and enjoy the show for what it was…. something you couldn’t see in this country. Sure, it was completely ridiculous, but it was also completely entertaining.
Then they announced a US version. I was quite excited. And in the initial announcement, they said it was going to be a completely new thing, with a cast of unknowns that would craft the show from scratch, just like the original series was. It was an exciting prospect, even though I knew it couldn’t be as outrageous as the UK version.
Well, the operative phrase in the previous paragraph is “just like the original series”. Somewhere along the line, MTV scrapped the originality. What premiered tonight was more or less a direct reproduction of the British series, just cleaned up for American television and not nearly as well done. Completely and utterly disappointing.
That’s not to say they took the British script and just re-shot it, no. There are some name changes…. some toned down aspects…. and a really annoying yet completely predictable gender change. In the British version, there is a gay character, played by Mitch Hewer. Here in the US, the character is female, a lesbian cheerleader. Who knew that they would get rid of the gay male character in favor of a hot lesbian? Ratings ratings ratings! Something tells me that other male sexuality storylines will likely get cut as well… though I’m sure some subplots that will get girls to make out will be added. What a joke.
I will, however, give the show the benefit of the doubt. I recently watched the first episode of the original UK version of THE OFFICE. I was somewhat surprised to see the US version was a direct transfer of that… though since then, the show has grown into a completely different beast. I’ll watch at least another episode or two, see how the show goes. Who knows, it could surprise…. but I’m doubting it.
