Welcome to Flatch: Trailer for US remake of This Country gets mixed response from fans

Bridesmaids’ Paul Feig is directing American version of BBC Three series

The first trailer for Welcome to Flatch, the US remake of This Country, has been released.

Based on Daisy May and Charlie Cooper’s BBC Three mockumentary sitcom about two young people growing up in a quiet Cotswolds village, the Fox series centres around cousins (played by newcomers Chelsea Holmes and Sam Straley) living in a small American town.

In the trailer, which was released on Monday (17 May), the pair are seen causing mayhem in Flatch, vandalising local buildings and getting excited about the town’s local festival.

Seann William Scott, best known for playing Stifler in American Pie, takes on the role of the Vicar inspired by Paul Chahidi’s character in This Country. The supporting cast includes Aya Cash, Taylor Ortega, Krystal Smith and Justin Linville.

Bridesmaids director Paul Feig is at the helm, with the half-hour comedy written by Sex and the City writer Jenny Bicks.

The trailer prompted a mixed response from Twitter users, many of whom said they were intrigued by the trailer but that it could never live up to the Bafta-winning original.

“When will the Americans learn to STOP recreating UK shows!!! We want more Kerry and Kurtan and not any of this,” one tweet read.

(BBC)

“Another shoddy US remake that clearly looses [sic] everything about the original UK version that made it brilliant,” another commenter wrote.

One post read: “American version of This Country....uncanny feeling…”

“While I wish this all the success, why can’t Americans just watch the original British show, This Country?” another wrote.

However, some viewers were more positive, with one Twitter user writing: “Okay I’ll give them points for replacing the Swindon Town shirt with a Columbus Crew One.”

“I think this kind of looks quite good…” another person tweeted, while one tweet read: “This will be a hit.”

Speaking about the remake in an interview with The Independent last year, the Coopers – who are executive producing the series – said that screenwriter Bicks had had “exactly the same experience” as them, only growing up in Maine.

“The concept of two people living in a small rural town with not much hope and opportunity is universal,” Cooper said. “They’re setting it in the midwest, Ohio, and it’s so much more remote than anywhere in England.”

Welcome to Flatch will debut in the US early next year. It is not currently known if it will air in the UK.