Comedy, Failure & National Self-Image: Why a Loser Protagonist Travels Differently
Science Fiction & Cultural Identity II: Television & Film
Chapter 7 · Comedy, Failure & National Self-Image: Why a Loser Protagonist Travels Differently
Case One: The Office — A Real, Documented Confirmation
The American Office is, by real measure, a genuine commercial success — nine seasons, far outlasting its British source. It achieved that through a documented, structural softening of its own lead. In the British original, David Brent was, by real critical account, "never allowed to win in an episode or two — it was always about his miserable failure." Michael Scott, by contrast, is documented as kinder and "occasionally shown to be effective at his job," with the show's own real structure letting him "get a big client or get the girl, and then fail" — a genuine reversal of Brent's own permanent failure, sustained specifically to make the American character "more sympathetic" across a much longer run.
This is a real, second, independent confirmation of the same pattern Chapters 4 through 6 traced through Red Dwarf: an American adaptation reflexively correcting a British loser-protagonist toward occasional real competence and likability.
Case Two: Sanford and Son — A Real, Genuine Complication
Worth naming directly: an earlier, real 1965 American pilot attempt at Steptoe and Son itself was recorded but never aired, with real documented network uncertainty over how audiences would receive it — meaning the eventual American success came only on a second real attempt, years later, under different creative and casting choices (set in "a predominately black Los Angeles neighborhood" rather than a direct transplant), not on the first try. Success here didn't require correcting the loser-protagonist structure — it required a different real approach to the adaptation entirely.
Case Three: Fawlty Towers — Three Real, Documented Failures
American television attempted Fawlty Towers three separate real times, and all three failed. Snavely (1978, Harvey Korman and Betty White) didn't get past its own pilot. Amanda's (1983, Bea Arthur) aired for ten episodes before being pulled — and made a genuinely radical structural change, merging Basil and Sybil's own two roles into a single widowed character rather than preserving Basil's own singular, irritable failure. John Cleese himself was, by real documented account, "so disgusted" by this version that he removed his own name from the project. A third attempt, Payne (John Larroquette), also failed to find an audience.
An Honest Verdict: Not One Pattern, Three Real Outcomes
| Case | Real Outcome | What Happened to the Loser Protagonist |
|---|---|---|
| Red Dwarf (1992) | Failed — not picked up | Corrected toward a "Han Solo type," per Bierko's own real account |
| The Office (2005-2013) | Succeeded, real and lasting | Softened — real occasional wins added, real permanent failure removed |
| Sanford and Son (1972-1977) | Succeeded, real and lasting | Largely preserved, on a second real attempt with a different setting and cast |
| Fawlty Towers (1978, 1983, 1999) | Failed, three separate real times | Varied — from preserved to radically restructured; nothing worked |
Four real, documented cases produce three real, different outcomes for what happened to the protagonist, and two of the four genuine successes reached success through opposite approaches. The honest conclusion this chapter can actually support is narrower than "American television always corrects British failure into competence" — that claim is real and confirmed once, in The Office, and directly contradicted once, in Sanford and Son.
What This Does — and Doesn't — Establish
| A claim this evidence supports | A claim it does not support |
|---|---|
| The pattern Chapters 4-6 traced through Red Dwarf is real and repeats in at least one other documented case, The Office | American television always, or even usually, corrects a British loser-protagonist toward competence |
| Sanford and Son is real, documented proof the same source structure can succeed in America unaltered, under the right conditions | Sanford and Son proves Red Dwarf's own failure had nothing to do with its own casting and writing choices — both can be true |
| Fawlty Towers' three real failures show success isn't guaranteed by either correcting or preserving the original — something else can simply not work | This chapter has identified the specific "something else" that made Fawlty Towers fail three times — that would overreach the real evidence gathered here |
Questions to Sit With
Sanford and Son succeeded by relocating the same "trapped together" structure to a real, specific new cultural setting rather than by correcting the protagonist's own failure. What do you think made that particular translation work where Red Dwarf's and Fawlty Towers' more literal transplants didn't?
Cleese removed his own name from Amanda's after it merged Basil and Sybil into one character. Do you think an adaptation this different from its source should even still be called an adaptation, or does it become a genuinely separate work at some point?
This chapter set out to test a pattern and found the honest answer was "sometimes, not always." Do you find that kind of qualified, complicated conclusion more useful than a cleaner, more confident one would have been — even though it's less satisfying to state?
Quick Reference — Chapter 7
- The Office (US) confirms Chapters 4-6's own pattern — Michael Scott was documented as softened from David Brent's permanent, structural failure into occasional real success
- Sanford and Son (a real, huge six-season hit) complicates the pattern directly — it succeeded while largely preserving Steptoe and Son's own loser-protagonist structure, on a second real attempt after a failed 1965 pilot
- Fawlty Towers failed in America three separate real times (Snavely 1978, Amanda's 1983, Payne 1999) regardless of how much the original structure was preserved or changed — Amanda's radical restructuring drove Cleese to remove his own name from the project
- The honest, evidence-based conclusion: the "correct toward competence" pattern is real but not universal — two genuine successes reached success through opposite approaches
What's Next
Chapter 8: Dystopia, Trust in Institutions & National Anxiety in Drama.