Now that we’ve talked about movie franchises we’d like to see rebooted (or not), let’s bring the discussion to the small screen. Because whether we like it or not, TV keeps going back to the rerun graveyard to remake old shows; this season, we’ll see new takes on 90210, Knight Rider, Cupid, and maybe The Streets of San Francisco. Such remakes have a poor track record, notes TV Week columnist Josef Adalian, citing such second-time’s-not-the-charm flops as Bionic Woman, Night Stalker, Family Affair, and Fantasy Island. Still, hope must spring eternal in the heart of every TV exec whose seen the rapturous fan response to the reinvented Battlestar Galactica (pictured), so as long as they’re going to keep trying, Adalian offers his list of shows actually ripe for a revival, including Married With Children, Quantum Leap, Eight Is Enough, and Good Times.
I find it hard to add to Adalian’s list because it’s difficult to imagine contemporary actors improving on the iconic roles we associate with earlier stars’ indelible performances. (How could you watch, say, a new M*A*S*H without constantly comparing the new stars unfavorably to Alan Alda, Jamie Farr, and Gary Burghoff?) The way to do it, I think, is to do what Galactica‘s creators did: take a second-tier show to which viewers have much less of an emotional attachment, add first-tier writers, and reimagine it radically. A show like Buck Rogers in the 25th Century might benefit from this approach. Or One Day at a Time; let Valerie Bertinelli play Barbara Cooper again, now all grown up, only now, she’s the one who’s a divorced mother of two teenage girls.
Your turn, PopWatchers: Which shows are ripe for reinvention as new TV series? And which should the networks keep their grubby paws off of?
Just a few off the top of my head:
Small Wonder
The A-Team (with Michael Clark Duncan as B.A.)
Misfits of Science
Who’s the Boss
The Fall Guy
Don’t touch:
ALF
Taxi
Six Million Dollar Man
Columbo
“Alien Nation” would make for a good reboot in the paranoid age of terrorism. Sci-Fi could use it to fill the Battlestar Galactica void.
After yesterday, I recommend bringing back Sledgehammer.
However, the best option for a re-boot show is one that there were plans for at one time — MacGyver.
Spiderman – I think there was a really bad live version in the late 70′s.
I would normally not recommend messing with something so perfect, but what about letting My So Called Life get a fair shake this time. Sure, Claire Danes couldn’t star in it, but I’m sure there is some other desperately melancholy teen out there ready to sink their teeth into a meaty role. What ever happened to shows featuring normal teens? Why do they all have to be filthy rich and over-sexed? Something a little more realistic would be nice.
I’d like to see I dream of Jeannie rebooted, but with role reversals ala BSG. Let a man play the eye candy and the woman be the astronaut. I know this show has fans, but I never loved it like I did Bewitched. I think it would make a passable reboot.
oohhh… I have another one… How about Fame. They could use all of the cast-off dancers from So You Think You Can Dance. I say lets cast Mark and Katee first.
‘Eight is Enough’; Isn’t it reinvented as ‘Jon and Kate plus eight’?
“Friday the 13th: The Series”. A great anthology show that had NOTHING to do with Jason. Was a great horror show with a new cursed item being sought each week. Would love it back on the air!
I can’t be the only one who’s been waiting around for 15 years for “Dinosaurs” or “Herman’s Head” to return to the air. They were clearly such great ideas the first time around.
Seriously though, the show that comes to my mind first is a little unconventional. I think “Where in the World in Carmen Sandiego?” is poised for a huge comeback. There are no gameshows for little geography nerds to turn to anymore. The show made it cool to know where La Paz is. Nowadays, being American and knowing that gets you stoned. Believe me. It’s well-documented.
Aw, “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” would be awesome! I used to love that show! Too bad Lynn Thigpen isn’t around to be the Chief anymore, though. Rockapella can reprise their goofy role, though. “Dinosaurs” was good, too. I remember several episodes/quotes pretty clearly…”Not the mama!” and the one where they try to send the mother-in-law to the tar pit or whatever come to mind.
Oops, “Lynne”.
Ok, this time I’m actually serious. I think “Night Court” and “Dear John” are both possibilities. I don’t think you’d have to tweak “Night Court” too much. It’d probably be fine if it was close to the original. The stupid crimes would obviously be a lot more up to date (i.e. Internet scams, Myspace tampering). As for “Dear John,” there’d be a lot of leeway here. It wouldn’t have to be a divorcee support group, but it’d have to center around some kind of support group. The only show I can think of that tried this premise recently was that FX show “Starved” that premiered along “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” It never made it through its first season, but I think that premise can be successful in the right hands.
Two words: Melrose. Place.
http://moviemartin.blogspot.com/2008/08/nostalgia-pt.html
And people wonder why I constantly condemn the movie and TV industry! Have all fresh and original ideas become extinct? I truly feel sorry for those newcomers who are trying to get noticed in an industry that won’t give them the time of day! Why have people become so content to have everything they’ve ever seen on TV and the screen re-invented, re-imagined, re-booted or whatever other kind of bullsh*t “re” word the entertainment industry chooses to deceive us with.
You know, every time TV and movie watchers help to make all of this recycled material successful, they just continue to prove to these Hollywood executive pimps that they (the watchers) are nothing but their whores!