After the failure of the pilot episode of the American version of The Thick of It, it is hoped that the series may still run stateside.

ABC recently funded a pilot of the political sitcom, created by Armando Iannucci, co-creator of Alan Partridge and The Day Today. However, last month, after viewing the test episode ABC's executives decided not to run with a full series.

But, according to The Hollywood Reporter, several other companies, including HBO, NBC and Showtime are interested in buying the format from the BBC and co-producers Sony. It has been reported that Showtime were interested in the series early on, but lost out on a bidding war with ABC.