Comparison Of American Idol, The Office, And House Of Cards

American Idol, The Office, and House of Cards are three incredibly popular and well-regarded television series’ in the United States. All ran for several seasons, receiving critical acclaim at some point during their runs, and multiple Emmy awards to their names. Those three programs are examples of what modern reality tv, sitcoms, and dramas respectively aim to be. What same may not know is that all three have origins in the United Kingdom. American Idol began as Pop Idol a British ITV series that ran for only two seasons but spawned several international versions across the planet under the same “Idols” format. The Office is based off a BBC Two series of the same name that ran for only two seasons but, much like Pop Idol established several

Debuting in January 2004, the black comedy was critically acclaimed winning the BAFTA award for “Best Drama Series” in 2005. The Channel 4 program ended its run in May 2013 after 11 series and 139 episodes. Set in Manchester, the series tells the struggles of characters in the fictional Chatsworth council estate. Some of the storylines center on domestic violence, murder, homophobia, and adultery. Because of its popularity, Shameless ended up being adapted in Turkey Russia in 2017 and the United States in 2011. For the United States, a deal was struck with Showrunner and Executive Producer John Wells to bring the series to the American cable network HBO in January 2009 before it was moved to its eventual network Showtime in October of the same year. In January 2011, the show premiered with William H. Macy and was an instant success. Showtime saw the largest audience for a series premiere in their channel’s history in Shameless, in addition the show’s audience grew throughout the season, contrary to the expected post premiere drop in viewers for most program. This trend made become the best-performing first-year drama for Showtime ever. Similar to Skins the program has been toned down slightly to adapt to the audience in America but it still maintains the grit and edgy tone of the original including centering on the same fictional character with the same mental illness, Frank Gallagher as an alcoholic. The American adaption of Shameless has been much better received then Skins with Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter saying "Shameless is excellent, compelling television from the first moment. As long as it stays true to the roots of the original, it's going to be essential viewing." Today, the series concluded its 8th season this past January with 96 episodes already broadcasted and a 9th season already in the works. Contrast to Skins, Shameless has become beloved by American audiences and much