The family will still seem familiar in that they're lazy and watch constant TV

Maya Forbes Head writer

"We would like the family to be very much like the British one, but we have a few restrictions," says Maya Forbes, head writer of the new CBS pilot.

"You can't even say 'Jesus Christ!' on American network TV," she says. "There's smoking only if one of the characters makes a responsible comment about how bad it is. So we'll have to rely on junk food."

The American Royles will be called the Kennedys and feature a Boston working-class family.

To give it an added twist, the Dave character - to be called Roger in The Kennedys - will be black.

Jim Royle: Will be played by Randy Quaid

"I think Craig Cash's Dave is one of the funniest characters I've ever seen on TV," says Ms Forbes.

"But we liked the idea of black people and white people sitting around watching TV in a comfortable way. Then there's the fact that America has a lot of mixed-race couples.

"And I'm interested in the fact that you can be sitting happily with a family member who you love and suddenly something can bubble up, hit a nerve and you've got a racial divide. So we thought it would be interesting to explore class and race should the show move forward."

She says that family dynamics are very much like The Royles.

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"Hopefully, the family will still seem familiar in that they're lazy and watch constant TV."

The couch potato father of the family, Jim, will be played by Randy Quaid - best known as Cousin Eddie in the goofball National Lampoon films and Ishmael Boorg in Kingpin.

In the British version, Jim Royle, is played by Ricky Tomlinson - who himself is discovering a Hollywood career after filming 51st State alongside Samuel L Jackson and Robert Carlyle.

Barbara Kennedy will be played by Pamela Reed, who recently starred alongside Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe in the film Proof Of Life.

Ms Forbes also said that she had not yet thought of a replacement for Jim's "my arse" catchphrase.

"It's difficult to find something with bite that you can actually say," she said.

The CBS Network will decide whether to make a whole series after the pilot is filmed.

The British version has picked up numerous awards including best comedy drama at this year's prestigious Royal Television Society Awards.