Copyright Infringement-ness

After being introduced to the amazing 'Skins' series on 40D in the UK, I was more than excited (yet apprehensive) about the US 'Skins' coming out in January 2011...
Sadly, my apprehension was correct :(

I can see the effort.. trying to keep Skins as good as the UK version, as it is a BIG HIT there
Unfortunately, the aim to keep the same feel turned into complete copyright infringement-ness... no idea how to express what I mean without using that phrase

Same characters.

Same story.

Same setting.

Same words.

I had to check 3 websites to be sure the show I was viewing via the internet was actually the US 'Skins' that aired on MTV the night before... it looked SO similar to the UK 'Skins' episode 1 season 1 that I thought someone must have been taking the mick and re-created the season (very well actually) using different actors.

The worst part: UK 'Skins' is still a million times better

Seriously, check out the links below... unreal!