The Inbetweeners USA Season 1 Review

13th Jan 2013

So your immediate question is why? And unfortunately this will remain your question.

The Inbetweeners (UK version) came along in 2008 and followed the exploits of teenage boys Simon, Will, Neil and Jay. It was crass, gross, ridiculous and eerily accurate of the mindset of teenage boys. The writing was not only humorous but like many British comedies in this league it contained underlying heartfelt emotion and real human fragility without causing your gag reflexes to react. So how has the American version compared to this?

Well the script is still excellent. Mainly because they have copied the UK version nearly word for word (occasional Americanisms added) and have gone so far as to have the same opening credit (but in garish colours) and Simon’s yellow car. So yes I did find myself sniggering at certain lines. However this is pretty much where similarities end. The four boys cast in this show just don’t have the same chemistry as the UK boys. To quote a comment I saw by someone else Will and Simon look like the Jonas brothers. Will (Joey Pollari) is supposed to be a geek loser, not an incredibly cute, tall boy with great hair and Simon (Bubba Lewis) is supposed to be the one you find oddly attractive even though he’s a numpty not the gorgeous boy pretending to be a looser. Jay is played by a new actor (Zack Pearlman) who has grown up on the school of Jack Black. Appearance, mannerisms, timing, shrieking voice, it’s all Jack Black. Neil (Mark L Young) isn’t exactly bad he just seems to be trying too damn hard to be a dumb stoner and lacks the endearing quality the UK Neil had. Other particular issues I had included the librarian sub-plot (attempts to be shocking/funny in the last episode are just plain awful and not funny in any way), the local pedophile (again why is this funny?), the over use of music, the music montage scenes of teenagers having “like loads of fun” and the obligatory teenage girls in bikinis scene. The female roles are mostly poorly cast flat, emotionless and unfunny with the exception of Lauren who briefly broke the one dimensional American teenage girl stereotypes the others portray. Whilst Carli in the UK version does take advantage of Simon at least she is not a self-centered vapid airhead like the US version.

What this version has really emphasised is just how good the British Inbetweeners is. Watch the performances in the US version and then watch the UK version and you’ll be so impressed with how well acted it was. Jay (James Buckley) took what could have been a cartoon lying idiot (US version) and gave us a truly tortured and complex teenage boy.

Are there any redeeming qualities to The Inbetweeners USA? Well it is not completely lacking in all charm and once you get further into the season it found its own identity a little bit as it veered away from using the UK script. But it’s not great and unsurprisingly it only managed to be commissioned for one season. What I really question is who is going to buy this. Fans of the UK version will be insulted and those who don’t know the original should surely just be directed to the UK one.

A poor translation of British comedy genius which should have been left well alone. I just don’t see who the audience for this release will be.