Netflix's hit Spanish comedy series “Machos Alfa” (Alpha Males) has been greenlit for a fourth season in Spain and a fourth international version in Germany, joining other adaptations of the show in production in France, the Netherlands and Italy.
“Machos Alfa” is the story of four middle-aged friends who go through midlife crises in parallel as they try to adapt to modern sensibilities regarding masculinity. The series was created and written by Alberto and Laura Caballero, the kings of Spanish comedy who worked together on the famous series “Aquí no hay quien viva” and “La que se avecina.”
The series was launched in December 2022 and quickly became one of the most popular comedy series in Spain, ranking 10th on Netflix for 13 weeks. The second season was released in February of this year, and production on the third season recently ended, although a release date has not yet been announced.
Germany will begin production on the as-yet-untitled German version of “Machos Alfa” this fall. The main cast has already been confirmed, including Tom Beck, Serkan Kaya, Moritz Voormann and David Root.
The French version of the show, Super Male, began production in January. It was created by Noémie Saglia, creator of The Hook Up Plan, who also wrote alongside Estelle Koenig and Julien Teyssier. Saglia is directing the first three episodes of the show, while Olivier Rosemberg is directing episodes four through six. The show is produced by Grands Amour and Petites Panthères.
In the Netherlands, production of “Haantjes” began in May, produced by Hollands Licht with Anna van der Heide and Anna van Kempema directing. Luuk van Bemmelen and Richard Kemper are the show's screenwriters.
Production of the Italian version of the novel “Maschi Veri” also began in May, produced by Groenlandia. Its eight episodes were written by Furio Andreotti, Giulia Calenda and Ugo Ripamonti.
According to Larry Tanz, Netflix's VP and Head of Content for EMEA, the decision to adapt “Machos Alfa” was a traction strategy, as executives in other regions who saw the show immediately knew that the local version could work with their audiences.
“It was definitely not something we planned initially,” the executive explained. “I remember meeting the team behind the show, Alberto and Laura, and they were so excited about it. When the whole team saw the show, we had executives in other countries saying, ‘We love this show, it’s so relatable to our audience.’”
According to Tanz, Netflix executives from multiple countries often get together “to share ideas and things from our countries that we’re excited about.” When the Spanish team started showing early footage of “Machos Alfa,” executives in other countries quickly jumped on the idea, and several edits were approved before the first season aired in Spain. Because of the interregional relationship, once that permission is granted, things can move quickly, Tanz says.
“We’re in a situation where if someone in one of our territories likes something that’s been done in another country, it’s quick and easy to have a conversation between the teams to talk about the possibility of adapting something in another country,” Tanz said.
While platforms, radio and TV stations have been offering regional adaptations of popular dramas, unscripted shows and competitive programming for years, comedy has long been a harder commodity to export.
“What might be funny in one country might not be funny in another, so we had to figure out how to make this funny and make it relevant to the audience we were talking to,” Tanz admitted.
However, the Netflix team in Europe, the Middle East and Africa believes there are exceptions to this rule. Tanz points to highly regional shows like “Seinfeld,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “Friends,” which are each unique to New York City but have managed to make an indelible impact around the world.
Tanz says the contemporary themes of toxic masculinity and male fragility in “Makos Alpha” make it an exciting proposition for other regions, especially those that share some cultural similarities with Spain.
It's also important to note that while the Machos Alfa adaptations will share themes and some plot points with the original series, they won't be a remake in the vein of The Office , which began as a near-frame-for-frame remake. In fact, Netflix will treat each adaptation as a unique original inspired by the Spanish version.
“Local adaptations are not made specifically for fans of the Spanish original. In some cases, you might want to appeal to fans of the original, but in this case, the audience for non-localized comics in most countries is not that big, so we’re targeting a much broader audience,” he explained. “It’s not like we’re making it a secret that these are remakes, but we want the audience to see each of these adaptations as something original and local to them.”
Each adaptation will also be treated as a unique original when it comes to determining its ultimate success on the platform. According to Tanz, “We will measure each adaptation individually. We will look at the audience size and engagement of each adaptation individually, and we will not compare them to each other, but rather judge them against other local originals in those territories.”
