Irish actors are toasting a decision to remake an American classic…
And we’re all going to need to brush up on our cúpla focail!
The remake, as Gaeilge, will air on TG4 next year after a Dublin-based production company snapped up the rights this week.
The show?
TG4 have been inspired by the place where everybody “knows your name” and are to remake the US eighties telly smash Cheers.
Sideline, which is behind Irish formats of Mastermind, Take Me Out and Family Fortunes, completed a deal with CBS in LA to reproduce the show.
Sideline creative director Billy McGrath said: “Is reproducing Cheers any different than us producing a version of Mastermind, Take Me Out or The Great British Bake Off for Irish viewers?”
He added: “With a scripted format we have a lot more freedom and have access to the original 275 Cheers scripts and the ‘okay’ to adapt the ten or 12 we need and change them for the Irish market.
“The decision to option Cheers is also a strategic one as the deal gives us a brilliant insider education on the execution, casting, writing and top class production values of one of the most celebrated studio shows in TV comedy history.”
The series, which ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993, made stars out of Ted Danson, Kirstie Alley, Rhea Perlman, Kelsey Grammer and Woody Harrelson.
Sideline have their hands on the official scripts now and casting, script editing and translation are under way.
The Irish language version is called Teach Sean for now and a full production submission will be brought to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland in January 2013.
Ready for a blast from the past?
