John Leguizamo cast as American 'Del Boy'
Over the last several years, American audiences have suffered endlessly through remakes of Coupling, Life on Mars and Prime Suspect while being subjected to continued rumors of remakes of British greatness such as MI-5, IT Crowd and Doctor Who. As we reported with sadness recently, the most popular British situation comedy of all-time, Only Fools and Horses, has become the latest in a seemingly getting longer list of British television that will be getting an American remake this Fall.
The ABC pilot for Only Fools and Horses was originally pitched as ‘the misadventures of two streetwise brothers and their aging grandfather as they concoct outrageous, morally questionable get-rich-quick schemes in a bid to become millionaires’, a pitch that at least somewhat resembles the British classic, which was voted Britain’s Best Sitcom in a 2004 poll.
More often than not, there exists the possibility that ‘pitches’ will never make it to the casting stage. Well, not so, for both ABC’s Only Fools and Horses, who have announced that John Leguizamo, who is currently touring the U.S. with his hit show, John Leguizamo’s Ghetto Klown, has been cast as the American ‘Del Boy’ and CBS’ Elementary, which recently cast Jonny Lee Miller for the lead role in their upcoming 21st century Sherlock Holmes series, Elementary. No other casting has been announced for either series.
Recognizing the brilliance of Only Fools and Horses, I’m just not ready yet to think this will transfer to an American audience. What will lovely jubbly translate as? To be fair, given the talents of both Leguizamo and Miller, I’ll definitely give these two a chance. A slim chance, but, still, a chance.
