The British sit-com Outnumbered; which was created by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin (the pair behind Drop the Dead Donkey), and focusses on the efforts of Pete and Sue Brockman (played by Mock the Week regular Hugh Dennis, and Murphy’s Law’s Claire Skinner respectively) in their quest to lead a simple and uneventful life, but often find themselves outnumbered by their three unruly children; has now been chosen to receive an, off-season, American TV adaptation.
Despite being very highly regarded in the U.K.; remaining on the BBC’s flagship channel (BBC One) since 2007, winning several comedy awards, and even gaining several BAFTA nominations; another version of the show was attempted in the U.S. but failed to get picked up after a mediocre pilot.
The last attempt at making a U.S. version of the show was, rather surprisingly, made by the exact same people that are trying again this time around; Barbara Wallace and Thomas R. Wolfe are producing, alongside Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, and Jimmy Mulville, whose previous comedy Malcolm in the Middle had a similar premise (where the parents were often overwhelmed by their children).
However this time around they’re hoping for a more positive result; as only last season ABC successfully launched the family comedy Modern Family, which is similar to the British version of Outnumbered in that it has a mocumentary type feel (as Outnumbered is semi-improvised, and the children’s lines generally aren’t scripted); and may just get it, as this fall Fox are launching another family comedy; Raising Hope; that was ordered as an off-cycle pilot last summer.
