America tried to replay the ‘Mind Your Language’ magic with their own ‘What a Country!’ that aired just about the same time the British comedy recorded their 4th and last season – in 1986.
What a Country! was set in a class of recent immigrants to the United States who were trying to pass the citizenship test. Their teacher was also named Mr Brown (Garrett M. Brown), their Principal was also named Miss Courtney (Gail Strickland) and their Pakistani student was also named Ali – the three names that were the original names of the characters in Mind Your Language.
The other students included a Russian, a Hungarian doctor, an African king), a Hispanic, a Japanese woman) and an Arab.
The series aired a total of 26 episodes before being canceled, and failed probably because they could not replicate the charm, innocence and natural acts of the Mind Your Language legends.
Many other countries tried their hand at the concept of ‘Mind Your Language’ – like India, Pakistan, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Japan – but not one of them made it to the cult status of the British series.
Maybe a major Hollywood movie should be tried instead – and who knows, it just may turn into yet another classic!
