Love/Hate Season 4 may be drawing to a close on this side of the Atlantic, but in the USA they're heading right back to the very beginning with that much talked about remake.
If you were listening to the radio this morning you might have heard the show's creator Stuart Carolan telling Pat Kenny that the show will definitely be remade, and that he expects an official announcement in the coming weeks.
"I would guess they will reinvent it entirely" Carolan told the Newstalk host. "The [remakes] that do well are the ones that don’t stick too rigidly to the original. The first two series of the [US] Office faltered until they Americanised it." Of course, we think that's a marvelous idea: We quite simply couldn't stomach the idea of the Americans taking our favourite characters and tearing them to shreds. Or doing the accents... Don't even start us on the accents.
Anywayall things considered, we figured that if we can't beat 'em we may as well join 'em so we've been mulling things over here in the office, trying to decide who'd fit the bill in America's answer to our most popular drama. Here are just a selection of suggestions for a few characters from the very far corners of our warped little minds.
America's Darren
He may be a goner but the bambi eyed baby faced assassin was a smash hit with the lads and ladies, so we're guessing any US remake would need a ridiculously pretty boy to fill the void. Transformers star Shia La Beouf might give it a decent go, or maybe Star Trek's Anton Yelchin (he's already good the blue hoodie - see below) could bring his youthful charm to the role. They could go all out with Kick Ass star Aaron Taylor Johnson or maybe even get Alex Pettyfer in to give it a go.
America's Robbie
Remember Darren's baby brother? Who was killed off within the first 60 seconds? Yeah, we think that'd be the perfect additon to Justin Bieber's acting CV.
America's John Boy
The original King Pin himself was quite the force to be reckoned with and while we'd absolutely love to see Aidan Gillen play him again, we're guessing he's got enough on his plate already. In his absence we think Aaron Eckhart could give him a run for his psychotic money, or perhaps it'd be the ideal role to get Colin 'Jaysus' Farrell going with a wonderful US TV career. He did tell our Caroline he'd consider it, and he's got a track record for playing decent maniacs after all...
America's Nidge
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor has really made his mark as the main man so we can imagine finding America's answer to the Nidge Weasel will prove quite the task. We've already heard Bryan Cranston's name being flung about so many times, but we're guessing the Breaking Bad star wouldn't want to be pigeonholed too quickly. They could always pull Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum out of the bag to give the gangster thing a go, or maybe even call in the marvelously malevolent Mark Strong to bring the brute force.
America's Trish
Now we quite simply couldn't have Nigel without Trish and we're guessing her US counterpart would need to be even more over the top. Enter Leighton Meester who we could easily imagine bouncing a kid on her knee while shouting the odds, or perhaps Scarlett Johansson (her Don Jon Brooklynite vibe is a wee bit amazing) could size up to the criminal? Anna Paquin could always give it a go what with True Blood ending after the next season, or, if they've got the cash and she's got the time, Mila Kunis could always head back to her TV roots.
America's Fran
There's just something about Peter Coonan that makes him a wee bit irreplaceable so when trying to think of an American Fran, we had quite the bit of trouble. Chris Pratt's been proving he's got serious acting chops of late so we think he could prove a rather interesting addition. Then again, if we're going for a bit of glam US drama Kevin Zegers could rough himself up a bit and give it a go, or maybe they could call in Emile Hirsch to search for help, not hassle...
America's Tommy
Now, if Kel Mitchell isn't available to wax lyrical about orange soda (it sounds SO wrong lads, SO wrong) they could always call in Justin Chatwin, who'd already been breaking hearts in Shameless USA. If Justin's not up for it there's always Charlie Hunnam, who has a pretty clear schedule post 50 Shades of naaaay. Of course, if they really wanted to pull out the big guns, they could always call in old reliable Aaron Paul. He's got the perfect combination of somewhat rugged good looks and edge, and bringing a baby to a brothel would be nothin to Jesse Pinkman in fairness.
America's Siobhan
Charlie Murphy's put in a stellar performance as poor oul Siobhan so when the show heads Stateside we think it'll take the likes of Carey Mulligan to pull this one off. However, in keeping with the Shameless USA theme, Emmy Rossum could always team up with her old co-star Justin Chatwin to bring Tommy and Siobhan to the US audience... Then again we could definitely see Anna Kendrick proving she's got what it takes to deal with Nidge and the boys.
Love/Hate Cat
Salem Saberhagen. In fairness lads, it'd be TV's biggest and most controversial comeback in decades.
Of course, all of the above are just our own suggestions and if you don't agree with them that's 100 per cent coolaboola. If you think you can do better, don't hesitate to let us know below.