Anarchy in the U.S. of A Versus the UK

[The Collector]

I want to compare and contrast the US and UK shows.  Some things might be considered spoilery, but I doubt at this point that they're following very much where the UK show went, although Paul Abbott is listed as a consulting producer or something in the credits.

 

Mickey and Ian never got together in the UK series, except in a throwaway scene in the epilogue of one episode.   In the US, they're a major couple. 

 

Karen is gone from the US show.  She was a major character throughout all the seasons of the UK series.

 

Sheila is still in the show, but she didn't have the twins, Kev and Vee did.  She is probably the character who diverged most from the original series, although she started out the same. 

 

Kev and Vee are still in the US show and have children, and aren't in prison in Romania for baby-napping.  

 

There is no Lillian in the US series.   She was a madam who ran a brothel in the Chatsworth on the UK series.  Mickey is running this instead in the upstairs of the pub. 

[TyranAmiros]

Monica is also radically different, and Fiona didn't run off with Jimmy/Steve. I can't see this Carl becoming a Police Officer or Debbie joining the army either.

I wish they did have a Mimi character on the US version--it'd be nice to know if Mickey and Mandy have a mother or what happened to her.

In general, I think the changes are exactly why the show works when so many adaptations of UK shows fail--poverty is different in the US, and the changes give the show an authenticity a carbon-copy would lack. Just look at the US remake of Skins.

[wovenloaf]

We do see Mickey and Mandy's mother briefly in the US one don't we?? She's not really much of a character, but she is the one who pulls a shotgun on Lip in one of the earlier seasons (2, I think) isn't she? And Mandy gets pregnant because her dad supposedly gets so drunk he confuses Mandy for her mom. She does seem to have just disappeared after that season though.

[backhometome]

 

We do see Mickey and Mandy's mother briefly in the US one don't we?? She's not really much of a character, but she is the one who pulls a shotgun on Lip

No that was her aunt. I'm pretty sure their mom is dead.

 

I tried watching the UK version and couldn't get into it at all. 

[Vapor]

Mickey's family becomes a major part of the UK series, to the point where it almost feels like it's their show at times. The mother, the father, and all the siblings have major storylines. Mickey himself is super-awkward and kind of dumb compared to the rest of his family (though they naturally aren't too progressive, so he still has to contend with a lot of nonsense).

 

So many of the Gallaghers left that I guess the "Milkovich" family became a natural replacement as things started changing.

 

I haven't seen every episode, but I did get the vibe that the UK show leaned more heavily in the comedy direction than the US show did. Each are capable of being both wacky and serious, but I would describe the US version as more of a drama. It just has a more cartoonish sense of humor about everything compared to "Mad Men" or whatever.

[xls]

I'm watching the UK version now and enjoy it whereas I just could not get into the Showtime version.

[JustaPerson]

I'll be honest, Mickey is much hotter in the UK series (no offense to Noel Fisher.) And I felt like Steve/Jimmy came off much better in the UK version, probably because the character was gone by the end of season 2 with Fiona so we didn't have to see any weird Estefania storyline in the UK version.