BBC America
Syfy
TV GUIDE: Ask Matt: Frozen Planet, NCIS, Southland, Alcatraz and More
Apr 2, 2012
by Matt Roush
Send questions to askmatt@tvguidemagazine.com and follow on Twitter!
... Question: I am starting to feel like Detective Britten from Awake as I watch the two versions of Being Human this season. I am enjoying BBC America's version a lot more than I expected, considering that I was initially devastated by the deaths of George and Nina. I miss them and don't miss Mitchell, but I have really warmed up to the odd couple pairing of working-class slob werewolf Tom and aristocratic fastidious vampire Hal. They have provided a lot of tension and also some very humorous and endearing moments. While I generally prefer the BBCA version to Syfy's, there have been some really good episodes on Syfy's Being Human this season, especially the recent one with Sally trapped in a dream world by the Reaper, and Josh, Aidan and Zoe trapped in the house while urgently needing to leave. But as intense and satisfying as this episode was, when Josh offered to let Aidan feed from him, I was yelling at the TV to not do it.
On BBCA's Human, we had recently learned that werewolf blood is toxic to vampires, so Josh's blood should have killed Aidan or made him seriously ill at the very least. Instead, Aidan just said Josh's blood tasted strange and seemingly suffered few, if any, ill effects. After Syfy's version introduced purebred werewolves, I fully expected George and Nina's baby to also be a werewolf. (How else could a purebred werewolf be produced except by two werewolf parents?) When she turned out to be the prophesied non-werewolf war child, it was jarring and seemed to rule out the possibility of purebred werewolves on BBCA's version. Don't the false echoes between the shows bother you at least a little bit? These shows have the same title and premise, yet there are many pieces of the mythologies that don't work the same. Most of the time, the differences don't bother me, but if these pieces of mythology had been the same in both shows, the consequences could have been major. Do you suppose the two sets of producers ever communicate what they're planning to the others? Do you recall any other shows that had two versions running new episodes in the U.S. simultaneously? — Frank
Matt Roush: I'm wary of saying this has never happened, for an adaptation and an overseas original that's still in production airing here concurrently, but it is rare, and as you note, confusing. For me, the Syfy show improved greatly as it divorced itself from a slavish recreation of the source material. I'm not really bothered that the specifics of the supernatural mythologies don't always match up, because it tells me the Syfy version is trying to do its own thing, which includes making up its own rules (as every vampire/werewolf/witch/whatever show tends to do). What would be the point in watching a clone? I still prefer the BBCA version, finding it richer and deeper and better acted, and agree that it has successfully reinvented itself this season. But the Syfy version, from what I've seen, is also a better show this year. Just not the same show as BBCA's, and I'm OK with that.
Being Human season four airs Saturday at 9/8C on BBC America.
Being Human season two airs Monday at 9/8C on Syfy.
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