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Everyone please give yourselves an endless number of self-fives for all of your submissions last Friday. Your mental creativity (and, sometimes, lunacy) never ceases to astound me. Here are the winners from Friday's contest:

From MicahSmith3:

Anne: "Don't forget to pack your copy of 50 Shades of Grey Aliens."

From safibwana:

"Palmolive dishwashing liquid softens your hands while you do the dishes."

CurlyMC:

Anne: "Skitter Ouija anyone?"

Nerd-alert Will has high hopes of climbing to the top of the social ladder now that he's got the chance to start fresh at a brand new school, but when the Vice Principal pairs him with three guys who sit squarely in the middle of that social ladder, Will must learn how to carry on through High School as a... regular High Schooler. In the still below, Simon (the one with the spray can) attempts to tell a girl he loves her by spraying her driveway with ink. Behind him, from left to right: Jay, Will, and Neil. Post your best caption ideas in the comments!

Check out all of our recent winners on TV.com's Open Caption Pinterest Board.

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What to watch on Monday, August 20...

Monday funday, here we come. With the television schedule filling out just a little bit more as we inch into fall, there's just enough to look forward to tonight (and just enough to take your mind off of the fact that it's Monday). Here's what's on TV tonight:

8pm, Syfy
Alphas
Syfy will give us an early showing of Alphas tonight, airing "Gaslight" at 8pm and 10pm. Not too shabby! In it, an Alpha goes nuts and kidnaps Rachel while visiting the hospital. Will the team be able to get to her before it's too late?

SERIES FINALE, 9pm, ABC Family
Bunheads
The surprisingly popular ABC Family show will finsih out its season tonight with "A Nutcracker in Paradise." Michelle and Fanny finally bond as they continue to work together on the summer recital, but something catches them both off guard shortly before the show that could completely destroy their progress. Meanwhile Boo turns her attention to a boy—and how to work up the courage to pursue him.

10pm, NBC
Grimm
In "The Kiss," Nick and his mom team up to take down the newly-arrived Mauvais Dentes while Monroe and Rosalee try to come to Juliette's rescue as information about her comatose state surfaces. Meanwhile, Hank continues to grapple with reality and Captain Renard gets thrown off when he gets a visit from his brother. Wild guess: does "the kiss" have anything to do with what Nick needs to do to wake Juliette?

10pm, TNT
Perception
After taking a week off, Perception comes back with "Lovesick," wherein the FBI enlists Pierce to help find a therapist killer. Also, Moretti gets closer to Professor Hathaway and Haley manipulates Pierce into getting funding for a new building. Will he be perceptive enough to see through her intentions? Har har.

SERIES PREMIERE, 10:30pm, MTV
The Inbetweeners
It's another MTV attempt at a British adaptation! Let's hope this one fairs better than Skins did. In the series premiere, Will Mackenzie is a new kid with high hopes of shedding his previously nerdy persona and starting out fresh as a cool kid. But when the school's vice principal chooses to have three social "inbetweeners" (not cool, not nerdy) show him around on his first day, his hopes of reaching the top of the food chain quickly might be dashed.

PLUS ALL NEW EPISODES OF...
Bachelor Pad, 8 p.m., ABC
Hotel Hell, 8 p.m., FOX
Love & Hip Hop Atlanta, 8 p.m., VH1
Tia & Tamera, 8 p.m., Style
The Secret Life of the American Teenager, 8 p.m., ABC Family
Wild Justice, 8 p.m., NatGeo
WWE Monday Night Raw, 8 p.m., USA
American Pickers, 9 p.m., History
Bizarre Foods America, 9 p.m., Travel
Border Wars, 9 p.m., NatGeo
Blood, Lies, & Alibis, 9 p.m., Investigation Discovery
Bunheads, SEASON FINALE, 9 p.m., ABC Family
Chicagolicious, 9 p.m., Style
Hell's Kitchen, 9 p.m., Fox
Intervention, 9 p.m., A&E;
Love It or List It, 9 p.m., HGTV
Opening Act, 9 p.m., E!
Remodeled, 9 p.m., The CW
Single Ladies, 9 p.m., VH1
Stars Earn Stripes, 9 p.m., NBC
The Real Housewives of New York City, 9 p.m., Bravo
United Bates of America, 9 p.m., TLC
Warehouse 13, 9 p.m., Syfy
Bad Girls Club: Mexico, 10 p.m., Oxygen
Beyond Scared Straight, SEASON 3 PREMIERE, 10 p.m., A&E;
Big Tiny, 10 p.m., TLC
Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, 10 p.m., Food
Gallery Girls, 10 p.m., Bravo
Locked Up Abroad, 10 p.m., NatGeo
Major Crimes, 10 p.m., TNT
Pawn Stars, 10 p.m., History
Push Girls, 10 p.m., Sundance
Ridiculousness, 10 p.m., MTV
Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets, 10 p.m., Investigation Discovery
The Glass House, SEASON FINALE, 10 p.m., ABC
House Hunters International, 10:30 p.m., HGTV
Get To Work, 10:30 p.m., Sundance

LATE-NITE HIGHLIGHTS...
Hope Solo on Chelsea Lately, 11 p.m., E!
Maya Rudolph and Jeff Foxworthy on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, 11:35 p.m., NBC
Tom Arnold and Ashley Greene on Jimmy Kimmel Live, 12 a.m., ABC
Liv Tyler and Maria Sharapova on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, 12:37 a.m., CBS

What are you watching tonight?

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The Inbetweeners S01E01: "First Day"

Among the different forms of the remake—reboots, revivals, reimaginings—surely one of the least respectable is the Americanization. It implies (or worse, confirms) some embarrassing notions about Americans, in particular the fact that we have no tolerance for foreign-made entertainment. Which isn't true! Except it kind of is true, isn't it? I mean, you and I enjoy subtitled cinema or the consistently solid offerings of BBC America, but let's be real: We're the exceptions in our population. Seriously, the number of people I know who still haven't seen the original version of The Office is staggering and I know smart people! But as much as we aren't particularly proud of this trend to remake foreign shows in our own image, let's admit something right now: Some Americanizations are terrific. The Office. Shameless. In Treatment. Ugly Betty (arguably). Queer As Folk (maybe). See what I'm saying? They're not ALL disasters like Coupling or Kath & Kim. So, among the different forms of the remake, a new subgenre must be acknowledged: the Surprisingly Good Americanization. MTV's new version of The Inbetweeners is one of them.

For the uninitiated, The Inbetweeners follows four teenage guys—neither popular nor outcasts—who tend to create as much turmoil for themselves as humanly possible. Whether it's buying alcohol, wooing the girl next door, or finally scoring their own set of wheels, these guys manage to take normal teenage rites of passage and turn them into scenarios of nuclear awkwardness. Although this American remake has borrowed many of the original elements—premise, character names, and even some jokes verbatim—it's also been imbued with a dramatically different tone. Where the U.K. version was slightly drab and gritty, MTV's version is clean, attractive, and heightened in the more stylized interpretation of high school as MTV's other surprisingly good teen comedy, Awkward. The Inbetweeners definitely fits right in here.

Much like the U.K. opener, MTV's pilot episode introduces us to Will, a snobby kid forced to transfer from a prep school to a public school after his parents' divorce. After falling in with a group of three misfits almost by default, they quickly form an alliance bound mostly by a shared affinity for bad decision-making. Joined by spacey Neil, neurotic Simon, and loud-mouthed Jay, Will suddenly finds himself playing hooky and scoring booze by Day 2. At this point the American pilot departs from the British original by segueing into a scenario that came later in the original series: Simon drunkenly confronting his crush at her house, only to have one of the most casually alarming projectile vomiting scenes ever broadcast on TV. (For my money this gag is even funnier in the American version.) Although The Inbetweeners traffics in some of the most juvenile basic cable humor since Workaholics, Will's insightful voiceover and the show's surprisingly heartfelt tone bring a decidedly Freaks & Geeks vibe to the proceedings. Basically these kids are eff-ups, but they're nearly impossible not to root for.

Among the more obvious changes between the U.K. series and this one is how much more attractive MTV's locations and characters are. There's no getting around this fact: Most of these kids are lookers. But their appeal extends beyond that; executive producer Brad Copeland (Arrested Development) has reconceived these characters to be much, much more likeable than their original counterparts. The British version of Will was borderline loathsome, but here he's a well-meaning kid just happy to be included. It's actually impressive how little these characters resemble their original inspirations (a major reason why fans of the original may still enjoy this version on its own merits) without changing the fundamental premise. As it turns out, there were plenty of us in high school who weren't necessarily outcasts. Just underconfident, overlooked, and bored.

But as much as The Inbetweeners' premise might seem universal to both British and American audiences, it turns out that coming-of-age stories perhaps DO benefit from localized interpretations. Being a teenager is all about the frustrating minutiae of everyday life, and so the more recognizable and relatable those details are, the more effective a story can be. For example, a major part of the British pilot involved high school students hanging out at a pub and entailed carvery-related drinking loopholes. Funny? Sure. Relatable? No. The replacement scenes in MTV's version—trying to buy booze with a fake ID and then attempting to drink straight vodka in an open field—were sliiiightly closer to things I actually exerienced. And while not all entertainment needs to share the same points of reference with all its viewers, MTV's The Inbetweeners suggests that maybe it's necessary for shows about teenagers. Maybe this particular genre should get a pass when it comes to Americanizations? Whoops, I just remembered MTV's Skins. Okay, I guess that was a disaster. But I will say this: I connected with this interpretation of The Inbetweeners almost instantly, whereas for the original I had more of an academic appreciation.

Most of the credit for this version's likeability goes to the snappy yet somehow laid-back, offbeat absurdism that Copeland brings to the table, but also the subtly stylish direction from Taika Waititi, director of New Zealand indie Eagle vs. Shark and a handful of episodes of Flight of the Conchords. Also, whoever oversaw casting deserves a raise and maybe a nice fruit basket. As Jay, Zack Pearlman is singularly funny and reminded me of a more excitable, less condescending Jonah Hill. And I can't say enough nice things about the improbably named Bubba Lewis, whose Simon walks an impressive balance between flailing neuroses and everyman romantic hero. And in a performance so departed from the original that it may as well sum up the whole remake, hilarious weirdo Brett Gelman (Eagleheart, NBC's brand-new Go On) plays Mr. Gilbert, who was a total dick in the original, but is now a possibly insane yet mellow sweetheart. So, funnier AND more likeable.

The Inbetweeners is not going to change anybody's lives in the same way that Freaks & Geeks or Teen Wolf might have (haha, just wanted to mention Teen Wolf somehow), and so my praise could definitely stand to be taken with a grain of salt. But if you like off-the-wall teen hijinks with a measured dose of heart, maybe give this version a shot? The 2008 U.K. original is a widely liked show that will continue to exist and be liked in the future; this new one will not replace it. But as the number of quality Americanizations increases (and let's be real, this Americanization trend isn't going anywhere), it might be time to accept that these things can work out pretty well. MTV's The Inbetweeners sure has.

What did YOU think of the premiere of The Inbetweeners?

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