Leverage / Hustle

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Who here has seen Leverage? It's a rather recent american tv series about an audacious bunch of various types of thieves and con-artists going all robin hood, taking from the rich to give to the poor. It has a jazzy soundtrack and always ends with things looking bad before a dynamic reveal of all the tricks under the surface of the main trickery in order to get what they want.

Who here has seen Hustle? It's a slightly older British tv series about an audacious bunch of con-artists going all robin hood, conning the rich to give to the poor. It has a jazzy soundtrack and always ends with things looking bad before a dynamic reveal of all the tricks under the surface of the main con in order to get what they want.

It's an obvious copy for an american audience which I dont mind as long as they credit the original but it's hard to see where they've done that.

Also, I do not agree with the decisions they've made to tailor the show to americans but that's purely subjective opinion and it's really not aimed at me, since I'm british.

I just think it's really cheap. If they're gonna copy hustle then call it hustle; just like The Office and Who's Line is it Anyway.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

And there's America's Got Talent and Britain's Got Talent. Almost same name, but different countries.

This kind of stuff has always been done and always will be done. Unfortunately, people saying they're not happy about it won't really change anything.
It's pretty much like when they remake older movies. Although sometimes the names are kept the same, sometimes they're not.
I think it's just expected that the only people who will notice are the people who have seen the old version. And since Americans don't watch British TV (it'd be rather difficult, although we might get a few shows, I don't know), they're not expected to notice it or have a problem if they hear about it.
I would think that whoever decided to do Leverage asked permission from whoever did Hustle, unless it's not something that is mandatory to do.

I'm not trying to diminish what you're saying or anything. What I stated was just my view. =]

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Britain's got talent and america's got talent are made by the same people and owned by the same guy (Simon Cowell)
Hustle is made by Kudos Film and Television and shown on the BBC, Leverage is made by Electric Television and shown on TNT. I have searched all over the more official areas where you'd expect a mention of Kudos or the BBC and there really is none. That doesnt seem right to me. It's probably all above board but still feels wrong.

Also old movies remade almost always mention the fact that it is a remake. I mean, even if it's only loosely based