Mind Your Language revived in US

British 1970s sitcom Mind Your Language, cancelled by ITV executive chairman Michael Grade when he was LWT deputy entertainment controller, has been given a primetime slot in the US on cabsat channel Bridges TV.

Mind Your Language centred on a class of foreign students learning English and was eventually pulled from its home on ITV when Grade felt the stereotyping of nationalities it represented had become offensive.

The show, which was produced by LWT and ran on UK television screens from 1977 to 1979 featured characters including a sex-mad Swede, a humourless German and a macho Italian.

Sikh and Pakistani students were frequently portrayed as being on the brink of war with one another, and yet Bridges TV, an American Muslim channel that launched on EchoStar in 2005, maintains Mind Your Language can be a positive force for multiculturalism.

The company said in a statement that the series features “one of the most culturally diverse casts ever to appear in television” and follows the “hilarious efforts of immigrants as they learn English and integrate into their new home.”

“Humour is one of the best ways both to entertain and break down cultural barriers. Bridges TV is proud to bring Mind Your Language to a new generation of Americans,” said Bridges TV CEO Mo Hassan.

Despite having been dropped in the UK in 1979, Mind Your Language went on to sell to broadcasters around the world, with territories including India, Malaysia, Middle East and South Africa picking up the show.