The pitfalls of trying to adapt a Canadian TV series for the U.S.

TORONTO – CBC star Gerry Dee is putting his trust in Will Arnett to shepherd a proposed U.S. revamp of his Halifax-shot comedy “Mr. D.” But fellow Canadians who’ve been through similar adaptations warn of pitfalls that come with reworking a series for a new audience.

The comedian-turned-actor says details of the show, being developed in conjunction with CBS, are still being worked out. That includes storylines, writers and cast.

Dee’s not even sure how involved he’ll be in shaping those decisions, although he and fellow “Mr. D” creator Mike Volpe will be executive producers.

“It’s flattering but it’s early,” Dee said Thursday of the deal, inked last month.

“It’s a long process but at the end of the day, regardless if it goes any further, it’s pretty cool.”

Dee said he connected with the Toronto-bred Arnett through a mutual acquaintance who suggested they meet. It wasn’t long after that he received an email from the “Arrested Development” funnyman.

“He’d seen clips of the show on ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ while he was watching the Leafs from L.A.,” Dee recounted. “And then we sent him more clips and he YouTubed some stuff and him and his team down there at his production company took an interest to it.”

The deal is a rare example of a Canadian format being adapted south of the border, but Toronto-based TV producer Robert Cohen said it’s a growing phenomenon.

His production company Media Headquarters is behind CBC-TV’s “Canada’s Smartest Person,” and he says they are deep into similar talks that could lead to a U.S. version of the competition series.

“We’re having high-level conversations with a number of major American networks who are very interested in it,” said Cohen, who added a local version is already in Turkey with another soon to hit Argentina.

“We and CBC have been so happy and proud that a Canadian format — developed and conceived entirely by Canadians for a Canadian broadcaster — has had legs all around the world.”

Cohen said U.S. networks and producers seem increasingly willing to look north of the border for inspiration.

“More and more it’s true: American network executives and producers are looking at successes in Canada and thinking, ‘We can import those formats, just the same that we’ve been importing these other international formats,’” he said, noting it’s easy to imagine a Canadian hit translating into a U.S. hit.

“The nature of the demographics and our tastes and our styles are obviously similar. We consume a lot of American content and enjoy it, so we are very intertwined culturally in terms of our tastes.”

But it doesn’t always work.

Quebec star Patrick Huard tried to work with CBS on an adaptation of his francophone hit “Taxi 0-22” earlier this year. A pilot for a New York-set version was shot in Toronto starring John Leguizamo, but the network ended up passing on the series.

Huard, best known in English Canada for starring in “Bon Cop Bad Cop,” says that’s what happens “when you start to modify a project so much it loses its essence.”

“What made it a success in Quebec is the fact that this guy is everything but politically correct,” Huard said of the show, which he created and starred in as a misanthropic taxi driver.

“He was speaking his mind, he was almost right wing to the extreme, trying to open his mind little-by-little. That’s why this character was so touching, trying to accept his son who is gay, trying to cope with a world that is changing every minute.

“It’s a great topic … and they smoothed it too much. I think it was too gentle and it lost its grit.”

But Huard notes he had no control over that.

“When you sell your concept like that, especially with the Americans, they take it and they basically do whatever they want. That’s fine with me — I would probably do the same if I was buying a concept or a series from somebody, I would try to make it good for the people of my country, for my audience,” he allowed.

“But sometimes you steer too much away from what you love at first.”

Cohen, too, said things can easily go wrong, even with an established hit.

“By nature of that process there’s always going to be certain hits and misses.”

Dee expected there will be differences with an American version of “Mr. D.” For one thing, it will be shot in the traditional multicam sitcom style, unlike the single-camera format in Canada.

“I feel like they’re going to do a different version, that suits their audience and their network and their tone and that’s totally understandable,” he said.

“I have a pretty good feeling with guys like Will Arnett involved, weighing in and putting his name behind it, it’s going to be good. Because we know what Will’s done and what Will’s capable of and that’s what I trust.”