Only Fools and Horses to get US remake

By Neal Wallace

Only Fools and Horses is to be remade for a US audience, it has been confirmed.

The ABC network is to make a pilot version of the classic British sitcom, which ran from 1981 to 2003 and starred David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst.

Scrubs script writers Steven Cragg and Brian Bradley are to pen the script, while the programme makers have said that the show would follow the same formula of two brothers who "concoct outrageous, morally questionable get-rich-quick schemes in their quest to become millionaires".

UK sitcoms have been made for the US with varying degrees of success. Ricky Gervais' The Office has run for eight series, starring Steve Carell and James Spader in the lead role.

However, American versions of Absolutely Fabulous, Fawlty Towers, Men Behaving Badly and Couple have all failed to take off.

The creator of Only Fools and Horses, John Sullivan, died last year at the age of 64.