Peep Show is set to receive a gender-swapped US remake.
There have already been several attempts to launch an American version of the cult British comedy. Starz abandoned a remake in 2016, while Fox created a pilot with The Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki in 2005 that never went to series, and Spike TV also tried and gave up on the show in 2008.
FX now has a script in development from Portlandia writer Karey Dornetto, which serves as a new adaptation where the two leads – originally played by David Mitchell and Robert Webb – are played by women.
The news was initially broken by Sam Bain, who co-created the original series with Jesse Armstrong, in an article in The Guardian about diversity.
“People sometimes ask if I look at my earlier work differently now – whether my shows would have been better if they had been more diverse,” Brain wrote. ”What would Peep Show have been like with women as the two leads? It’s a great question – and it’s one I’ll shortly have the answer to, because there is a script in development for a US Peep Show with two female leads. It’s at FX Networks and it will be written by top comedy brain Karey Dornetto.”
Peep Show originally ran for nine seasons on Channel 4, between 2003 and 2015, making it the broadcaster’s longest ever running comedy.
The show followed the lives of mismatched friends Mark Corrigan, an uptight loan manager, and Jeremy Usborne, an unemployed musician. It also starred Oscar winner Olivia Colman.
