All the speculation regarding who was going to play Del Boy (Steve Carrell?) was for nothing, the axe has fallen on the US version of Only Fools and Horses. There is a God.
As previously reported, ABC network was due to remake the Peckham-set comedy for American audiences. Helmed by the team behind Scrubs, Steven Cragg and Brian Bradley, a pilot episode is already in the pipeline. The plot, surprise surprise, was to chronicle "the misadventures of two streetwise brothers and their aging grandfather as they concoct outrageous, morally questionable get-rich-quick schemes in a bid to become millionaires".
The pilot - starring John Leguizamo as as Del, Dustin Ybarra as Rodders, and Christopher Lloyd as granddad - didn't go so well, resulting on ABC big wigs failing to take up the reins.
Chortle.co.uk reports: "It is the second time a planned remake has hit the buffers. It was originally piloted last season, but ABC chief Paul Lee is said to be such a big fan of the BBC original that he ordered the second attempt."
Mr. Lee, perhaps you should heed Sir David Jason once and for all: "I don't see that it will travel across the pond. The language will have to change so much and there will be so many parts of the storyline you have to change. It's so London and so British in its humour."
