What if Doctor Who had been created by Americans?

[Darth Marsden]

*slaps OP*

WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THIS.

(Seriously though - it'd have a bigger budget and better known stars, but it'd be soulless and wouldn't last.)

 

[Isaac_GS]

However it would probably have been written by Joss Whedon, and thus would have sucked even more than it currently does.

Actually, it probably would have been cancelled halfway in the first season regardless of how good or bad it might be.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I was going to come in and say it would have been called Star Trek, but then I remembered there was a Star Trek episode which was a backdoor pilot for an (unproduced) American Doctor Who ripoff. So the correct answer is if Doctor Who were American, his name would be Gary 7.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assignment:_Earth

Unfortunately that's one of the TOS episodes that I've never watched, so I can't comment much on how the character actually played out, but there's your American first Doctor right there.

Edit: It's apparently a better example than I thought it was, since despite the similarities, there's actually very little chance that Roddenberry would have known much if anything about Doctor Who at the time, and what's more, most of the serious similarities didn't actually come into play until the John Pertwee era of Doctor who, which was still in the future when this was made. The BBC probably didn't rip the episode off for that era either, since Doctor Who wasn't the only show in this equation that took a while to get across the pond -- Star Trek took its dear sweet time, too.

 

[ImSkeletor]

What the heck is wrong with 90% of the people in here?
Star Trek
Star Trek TNG
Deep Space 9
Babylon 5
Stargate SG1
Quantum Leap
Brisco County Jr
Firefly
Fringe
Terminator:Sarah Conner chronicles
V(original/remake)
Battlestar Galactica(original/remake)
The outer limits
The Twilight Zone
X-files
Caprica
Warehouse 13
Eureka
ECT
Yeah America can't make good Sci-Fi. sure. It's not like the U.S has produced 90% or more of all decent Sci Fi shows. No, can't be.
I got to say this thread revealed some really weird prejudices that the Doctor Who community has.

 

[Tom_green_day]

It is possible it would be an American made show that is put in a British setting.Basically the same Except the British stereotypes would be turned up to 11.

But they already are, I haven't seen a single 'British' element that is actually British and not just what outsiders think Britain is like. The whole programme seems to me to have a target audience of Americans, which upsets me because the orignal show figured out the impossible (sarcasm) and made it fine to both. At the moment, as an English person, I find it pretty insulting at the moment.

 

[Lawnmooer]

I got to say this thread revealed some really weird prejudices that the Doctor Who community has.

I dare say that Torchwood: Miracle Day has left a bitter taste in the mouths of Doctor Who/Torchwood fans, what with how much different a direction it went in from the original series.

Combined with the fact that a LOT of people are really bitter about the cancellation of Firefly, people are likely to be anti-American when it comes to dealing with popular sci-fi shows.

 

[smithy_2045]

It would've lasted a couple of seasons tops in the 60s before being canned and never being thought of again.

 

[Darkasassin96]

It would have a bigger budget, and thus better stars, and effects.

Effects, yes, but there's no reason the quality of the acting would have been better.

(For that matter, you could argue that letting writers know they'll be having expensive effects isn't always a good idea)

I think Yahtzee said it best. You do your best and most creative thinking working within limitations.

This is even evident in the new series and we gained a classic villain as a result. Does anyone believe that Blink was making a huge strain on their effects budget?

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

More justice/revenge stuff. More "morals-to-your-face" plots or topics. All asisstants would be smokin' hot and he'd be played by Mr. Ironman himself.

Americans can't do british well. I can't fathom i'd be anywhere remotley close - they'd probably not even start a pilot.

 

[Olas]

Well for one it would probably have aliens that look less stupid, and instead of taking place in London a bizarrely large percentage of the time it would take place somewhere in the United States a bizarrely large percentage of the time.

 

[mrhateful]

While I think americans are probably the best in the world at making epic movies/series they are definitely the worst when it comes to comedic shows. Like "WAAUW how can you even call that comedy" bad that said I have never seen doctor who and so I don't know what catagory it fits under. I know I saw the IT crowd and the american IT crowd(first episode) one is funny other is... ye

 

[sanquin]

Contrary to... well just about everyone else in this thread, I think they'd make the doctor full pacifist. People seem to forget that the Doctor is not only quite capable of killing people, but has probably killed more than anyone in the history of time. There are moments when he seems downright cold, cruel even, taking vengeance on those who cross him.

An American audience would probably prefer him to be more Batman-like, with a strict no-kill policy, even when it doesn't make sense. We love our violent heros, sure, but when we have one that isn't violent we like them to be completely that way. The American fandom of Dr. Who likes to idealize him, ignoring his obvious history of genocide in favor of the image of a nice charming British guy who'd never hurt a fly. While the dualistic nature of the doctor is a key part of his character, I think it's one a lot of American fans would rather not have to deal with.

As the doctor himself said. "I am not a good man. Good men don't need so many rules." And indeed as you said, he has killed tons of people. Or even worse fates than just death. He has those rules for a reason, and if he does ever completely break them he could shadow many a villain from his own series.

On the rest, I totally agree with you. The way you described it is how I would picture an American doctor who as well.

 

[mokes310]

I don't know, maybe there's a fair chance it could have been good? Perhaps I'm not the best to ask, because I'm a bit biased against the show...ok, a lot biased. I can't stand the show and think it's the single-most boring scifi show on the planet.

 

[hortez the champion of the frozen wastes]

They did make Doctor Who in America, they just called it Star Trek. Going off into space on adventures, messing with a bunch of different cultures and punching aliens in the face...

 

[Crimsonmonkeywar]

Not that much different. It would have definitely been cancelled, la Star Trek, then come back, and instead of it being overtly British it'd be overtly American. Seeing as popular America currently has a thing for 'British' it probably be cancelled....again, for being too America. Then it'd come back as the most generic 'Merica' type sci-fi show you can think of.