ИСТИНА

Generally TV series are remade for national audiences due to an assumed lack of connections to the realities of life in another country which may produce an adverse effect upon its popularity of the show. Science fiction shows, especially with extraterrestrials as main characters, could have been considered immune to such a discrepancy. Still there was an attempt done with the humorous series “3rd Rock from the Sun” transformed into 40 weekly episodes of “Humanoids in Korolev” aired on TNT Russian channel in 2008. Unlike the American variant, “Humanoids” were not a success with the Russian public despite the “localized” humor. Some of the reasons may be connected with the acting and staging flaws but others, as research shows, are particular to treating the show core material during transformation which led to the audience rejection. Discussion of the “Humanoids in Korolev” versus “3rd Rock from the Sun” reception by the audience will be compared to the results of other series localized on Russian TV and original SF TV series filmed in Russia reception. Material for comparison is taken also from the Russian internet forums, topical survey among fans on a leading portal Fantlab.ru and in a class on SF TV at Moscow State University.