Channel 5 has stepped back from plans to acquire the US remake of Gavin & Stacey after production of the comedy was halted in the US.
The Northern & Shell-owned broadcaster had been set to close a deal for the series, known in the States as Us & Them, but backed off after network Fox put the show into hiatus.
The series, which stars Jason Ritter and Alexis Bledel in the title roles, was set between New York and Pennsylvania and originally commissioned as a 13 x 30-minute run. But Fox has now halted production after seven episodes (including the pilot).
Fox, which has not officially cancelled the remake, is expected to air the six episodes in the new year, but is not likely to produce any more.
Us & Them is produced by Sony Pictures Television, BBC Worldwide Productions and Baby Cow, which made the original BBC version. It is distributed internationally by Sony Pictures Television, the Hollywood studio that was set to ink the deal with Channel 5 before the hiatus.
Sony is expected to continue to pitch the existing episodes to UK broadcasters, but the show will more likely end up on a UK subscription video-on-demand service rather than a traditional channel.
This is the third time a remake of Gavin & Stacey has been attempted in the US, following failed attempts by NBC and ABC.
Us & Them was one of three adaptations of UK formats by US networks for the 2013/14 season following ABC’s pick-up of Lucky 7, a remake of The Syndicate, and The CW’s order of The Tomorrow People.
The latter is a sci-fi series based on the Thames TV-produced kids’ series, devised for ITV in the 1970s by Roger Price. The remake has been acquired by Channel 4 for youth-skewing network E4.
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