Why remaking TV sitcoms doesn't work.
As part of a landmark sitcom season on the BBC to mark 60 years of comedy since Hancock’s Half Hour, the BBC has decided to remake some old favourites. Last night saw the showing of remade Are You Being Served and Porridge. Porridge which was brought up to date with Fletch replaced by his grandson and set in a different prison. While similarities may be drawn between the rest of the characters and those in the original series there was no implied link. It really was the better of the two. Are You Being Served on the other hand only had two characters changed and the rest of the cast, although played by different actress’ and actors and was much harder to sit through. Many critics and public alike have not taken to these shows kindly but why? The concepts worked just fine in their day but not anymore. It may not just be down to the quality of the scripts or acting talent involved. While the Porridge remake could actually work that could be down to so many changes being made from the original.
We are a consistent creature. When something works we like to stick with it. Sometimes this doesn’t make sense. Things change and so sometimes we need to change but consistency has been such a successful survival trait over the millennia that it has taken us to get here that it is ingrained deep within our makeup because of this we don’t like change. This would therefore imply that the new Are You Being Served should have been the better of the two but it wasn’t. The reason being of course, is the different cast. They are not the people we remember and so it just doesn’t seem right, we reject it. Were as the new Porridge has so many changes are subconscious can accept it as a new programme all together.
It is this rule of consistency the can make breaking a habit difficult. It doesn’t matter what the habit is, even something as pointless or health damaging as nail biting and smoking started for a reason. Now you’ve changed and it is now a problem so you’d like to stop. This is where hypnotherapy can help. You conscious know why you want to stop but it will never beat the subconscious or convince it. A hypnotherapist can change the perceived ideas of the subconscious and so stopping the habit becomes quick and easy. As a hypnotherapist I can’t make a bad sitcom any good. That has to be down to those that write, act and produce it but I can help your subconscious accept changes in your life and stop bad habits.