Dumbed-Down Imports

I have been intrigued by the almost universally negative reaction toward the newly imported “The Weakest Link” (“ ‘Survivor’ Clones: One of Network TV’s Weak Links,” by Howard Rosenberg, April 16). I have read the opinions of many U.S. critics and almost every one suggests that “The Weakest Link” is a derivative cross between “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and “Survivor.” I would like to point out that “Survivor” has not surfaced in Britain (as yet) and I would therefore like to know how “Link” could possibly be derivative.

Any television show that is transplanted to America must be heavily Americanised (or should that be Americanized?), sanitized and “dumbed down” to satisfy “demanding” U.S. audiences. Such an inclination to remodel results in such transatlantic disasters as “Queer as Folk,” “Men Behaving Badly” and “Red Dwarf.” If only the originals could survive, untouched by the heavy hands of American producers, then these programs could be judged on their own merits and not their tailored, inferior, alter egos.

DAVID LIVINGSTON

Dundee, Scotland