Coming to America

With the exception of The Office, American adaptations of British TV shows are largely horrific (see Coupling, Viva Laughlin — or rather, don't). So we were wary of Little Britain USA (premieres September 28 on HBO), the stateside version of the UK’s hugely popular irreverent sketch comedy show from Matt Lucas and David Walliams.

And now...a sigh of relief. Lucas and Walliams wisely didn’t mess with the original — though we could do without the laugh track they imported. And while here, the Brits found a native to help them out: In the premiere, insensitive weight-loss coach Marjorie Dawes (Lucas) spars with Rosie O’Donnell, playing herself as the new spokeswoman for the FatFighters group. When Rosie objects to Marjorie’s racist comments, calling them “disgusting,” Marjorie rejoins, “And licking another woman’s vagina isn’t?”

The duo also take this opportunity to make some sharp barbs about our country. Lucas, as Southerner Mildred, tells her grandson (Walliams) how tolerant her town was back in the day: they even elected a black mayor. But she adds, “It turned out he was also a Jew, so we shot him.” Okay, so even we were shocked by that one.


Little Britain USA premieres September 28 at 10:30 PM on HBO.