‘The Inbetweeners’ star Joe Thomas on why US remake of show failed

The 2012 remake was cancelled after just one season

The Inbetweeners’ Joe Thomas has offered his thoughts on why the US version of the hit series didn’t work.

MTV‘s remake of the successful E4 sitcom premiered in 2012. It ran for 12 episodes before being axed by the network. The creators of the original series – Iain Morris and Damon Beesley – served as executive producers, with Morris also directing the season finale.

Now, Joe Thomas – who portrayed Simon Cooper in the UK version – has said that the lack of swearing and differences in culture resulted in the US show missing the mark.

“They tried to make an American version of The Inbetweeners and it was very hard because they couldn’t really swear very much because it was on network TV,” Thomas said during an interview on Sunday Brunch. “And then you couldn’t show them drinking and stuff and that’s kind of the whole show.
“Just do the credits then – the beginning credits and the end credits. Just film the outside of a school, and that’s it.”
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He added: “Just draw people’s attention to the various educational opportunities available to them.”

While rumours of The Inbetweeners returning for a fourth series were shut down earlier this year, Thomas did tease a project that he is currently working on with his former co-star Simon Bird. Though he wasn’t able to go into detail, the actor promised that “it’s gonna be great”.

Thomas stars in the new film The Festival, which is released on Tuesday (August 14). Directed by The Inbetweeners co-creator Iain Morris, it sees Thomas play Nick – a recent uni graduate who heads to a music festival with his mates after an unexpected break-up.

Speaking to NME about the movie, Thomas revealed his own worst festival experience. “The defining one was the first festival I ever went to, which was Reading,” he said. “We woke up in the morning and someone had pooed on our tent.

“It was classic, it was almost just like ‘welcome to the festival’.”

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