Originally Posted by Jonwo:
“Two and a Half Men is too well known to be remade, I've alway thought the Australian TV series Packed to the Rafters could be remade, comedy wise, there aren't that many recent sitcoms that could be adapted, maybe a British version of The Nanny with Sheridan Smith as Fran.”
The obvious problem with remaking American shows in particular is that the general audience is now much more aware of them than they were a few years ago. I'm not sure there's really any need to remake a US sitcom anyway. With a couple of exceptions most of them now don't have a particularly big or original situation that would make a remake worthwhile. On the subject of Sheridan Smith though wasn't she cast in the BBC's mooted remake of Bewitched that never saw the light of day? That actually seemed like a not terrible idea. ITV may want to revisit that.
Originally Posted by Stephen_Simpson:
“Mark Linsey is the controller of entertainment and I'm not really sure what he has commissioned under his run that he would be best known for. I guess The Voice would be one.”
Although as others have mentioned Danny Cohen was very much the public face of The Voice in terms of BBC management. Its not clear that Linsey would have gone for the show without Cohen. I suppose The Magicians would be Linsey and actually they found a decent little format with that for the second series (although audiences had given up on it by then). And whilst its very easy and fair to criticise the BBC's entertainment division its worth mentioning that its not like any other broadcaster is doing a whole lot better which perhaps speaks to wider issues beyond the department heads.
Originally Posted by Jules 1:
“I do think that Pointless would provide a much better lead in for Britain's brightest. (probably least controversial comment on here ever. )”
It might very well provide a better lead-in but then there Saturday night line-up would be three game shows back-to-back. I already think that following Brightest with In It to Win It isn't exactly great scheduling adding Pointless would just hammer that home. Personally I wonder if maybe they should try flipping Secret Service and Animal Antics next week. Antics is rating slightly better in the slightly earlier time slot so could potentially provide a slightly stronger lead-in for Brightest. It also doesn't seem to be quite as offensively bad as Secret Service is.
Alternatively if they want to drop both I suppose they could try some Doctor Who repeats in that early Saturday evening slot. Present it as some kind of 'Best Of...' compilation as part of the anniversary. They could in fact scatter little runs like that across the year. And it would pave the way for them to turn that slot into some kind of drama repeat slot. They'd be able to grab stuff from CBBC and maybe use Merlin alongside Doctor Who and cycle in the occasional family film. I suspect it might do quite well.
Originally Posted by cylon6:
“I'm trying to think of any shows he's commissioned that have been big successes. The Voice was more Danny Cohen looking at and going after it. Linsey couldn't even name the winner at the Edinburgh TV Festival. They're useless at finding big weekend hits and still rely on Strictly.”
But again in the BBC's defence its not as if anyone else has had much luck finding new big weekend hits. Or in fact just big entertainment hits. Splash represents ITV's best new offering (commercially at least) since the launch of Britain's Got Talent which was a good 6+ years ago now. The only real success Channel 4 has had entertainment wise since Big Brother is Million Pound Drop and they've run that into the ground at jaw dropping speed. Five was having such trouble that they brought in Big Brother after it was dropped by Channel 4. The pay channels aren't doing any better either. Sky has Got To Dance and Living has a poor man's version of Take Me Out both of which were preceded and followed by some terrible stuff.
Of course to the credit of pretty much every broadcaster they are at least trying to find new shows. ITV and the BBC might still be overly reliant on The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and Strictly respectively but they are at least trying to get new formats off the ground. The public just aren't really watching them. All they can do is keep plugging away until they stumble onto a success.
As I mentioned above the fact that no British broadcaster is really having any luck with entertainment formats would suggest to me that the problem goes well beyond the department heads and even the departments themselves. There's clearly a much bigger issue that needs to be addressed somewhere along the line but I have absolutely no idea what that is. My best guess would remain a lack of credible presenters to development formats for. At the moment everyone appears to just be fumbling around in the dark. I think it says something (and not something good) when both ITV and the BBC have turned to sports presenters to front their supposedly big new Saturday night shows in Q1.
”
Bedell at ITV on even more no doubt considering she has comedy in her remit (and XF and BGT) and came into the job having done the equivalent role at BBC1. 
1.3m for Operation Daybreak. (Also known as Mission Impossible?) Much higher-viewing slot of course though.
