Will & Grace? Hawaii Five-O? Murphy Brown? Magnum PI?

Fedup said:
I wouldn’t mind seeing Twightline Zone series by Hitcock.
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I also always enjoyed "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" though it was reruns when I first saw them.
Rodd Sterling was a local boy so "The Twilight Zone" has a special place for us.
 
GravitySucks said:
I also always enjoyed "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" though it was reruns when I first saw them.
Rodd Sterling was a local boy so "The Twilight Zone" has a special place for us.
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I knew my spelling was not right somehow. Thanks for the correction. I saw it in the early 80s when I was living in Boston.
 
Chuckanut said:
Of course. Make the male sidekick a female. That is getting rather formulaic.
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The entire re-hashing of old series, even with the same title/names is a huge demonstration of the lack of creative thinking, and to me it's insulting as if I would not notice the different characters playing the same roles.
 
COZI and MeTV rerun many of the original "old" series, and are free OTA.

I myself would like to see colorized versions of 12 O"Clock High, Combat, and McHale's Navy, but that's just wishful thinking.

Most of these series are on DVD and can be found on the 2nd hand market, or at the public library (at least in our locale).

_B
 
So I was a huge Murphy Brown fan for the original. I will definitely check out this late version.
 
I was thinking about this... there is a split on the 'new' old series... there are the ones that bring back the old cast Rosanne, Murphy Brown, Will & Grace and the ones with a whole new cast that copies the original... sometimes to a large extent...


I would think the ones with the old characters will prove to be the ones that work out better since people will still associate with them... IOW, Murphy Brown can start right up with basically the same stories with just them being older..


Any remakes with new characters that are doing good?




BTW, I saw a teaser of Magnum where he is jumping from the car and a big truck hits it and he is jumping on the truck... problem is that he still would go 'splat' on that truck as it is going much faster than he is... but I think he will survive...
 
While I enjoy some of the remakes, it does feel like there's a lack of creativity. Not only in shows, but movies (remakes, superhero movies, etc.) and sometimes music. This is where I'd give credit to netflix, their original content isn't always the greatest but they can be unique and sometimes actually pretty good.
 
Bring back Gunsmoke! But wouldn't be the same without James Arness and the rest of the old cast. That's why I don't care for most remakes.
 
I can't think of any programs about lawyers, cops, detectives, PIs, doctors, etc that aren't a repeat of what has already been done multiple times. I don't see the new remakes being any different. It is getting too easy to predict the scripts and even the dialog. This probably won't make any difference if you 20 or 30 something.


Cheers!
 
I don't look for a brand new idea, or concept. I like shows where the cast has chemistry, with good acting, writing, and directing. If the scripts are totally predictable, that's not good writing. Sure, the outcome is often predictable, but how they get there can be interesting. And a good show won't always be predictable. But if they always have an unpredictable ending, it would probably mean it's far-fetched.

What I don't like are shows, especially comedies, that rely on annoying characters. I guess they appeal to a lot of people since a lot of shows have them, but I generally won't watch them.

As far as the remakes, if shows aren't going to be that different anyway, why not try to jump start it with the name, if not the cast, of a known hit? Bringing back the original cast can work if the chemistry is still there. 30 years later, Magnum and Hawaii 5-0 aren't going to be able to bring back Selleck and Lord (not even alive) in those roles. Some are complaining that Higgins is now a woman. Do they also want the original scripts recreated? I've got no problem with updates. Hawaii 5-O did the same with Kono, and most of the characters had considerably different personalities, and it apparently works well, as it's been going for 8 years.
 
I don't know how much they really pay attention to the baby boomers. They have cancelled several new TV series after just one season that were among the best, IMO. (e.g. Timeless, Limitless and Vegas.) I'm surprised they haven't cancelled Billions and House of Cards, which are both great IMO.


Sometimes remakes or redo's work pretty well. The remake of Dallas was as good (no it was better) that the original series. Of course several of the original key actors were in the remake too but it was great and the new actors were taking control.


And speaking of TV and Boomers, I'm getting more than a little tired of all the BS I'm seeing in "many" (not all) of the newer TV commercials. Specifically they are cramming their cultural view points or messages down my throat.
 
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I never watched any of those shows, so I won't be watching them this time, either.


Just this month, on my various "oldies" cable TV stations (Decades, AntennaTV, MeTV), I lost reruns of Mary Tyler Moore and the original Star Trek (with some remastered special effects, so it does have some "freshness" to it). And earlier this year, I lost All in the Family reruns.


The only prime time shows I watch are 60 Minutes and Law & Order SVU. The latter has really gone downhill the last 5+ years to the point where I really don't care too much if I fail to watch it for a few weeks. It's now "Olivia Benson, the Single Mother Cop" show.
 
Difficult for me to get into series reboots.

I can see for diehard fans of the original shows, like Murphy Brown or Rosanne (before all the controversy).

But a show like SWAT. Why make a show with the same main character instead of just having a new show to stand on by itself? I don't get that.
 
ncbill said:
Bring back The Rockford Files...my favorite (actually believable) PI show.
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Only if you could bring back James Garner. I can't think of a single younger actor who would have the same charisma he had, even in his later years. That's what made the show, IMO. From what I've read, he was an all around nice guy who only married once and stayed married.
 
Beldar said:
COZI and MeTV rerun many of the original "old" series, and are free OTA.

I myself would like to see colorized versions of 12 O"Clock High, Combat, and McHale's Navy, but that's just wishful thinking.

Most of these series are on DVD and can be found on the 2nd hand market, or at the public library (at least in our locale).

_B
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+1 Just watched Magnum PI last night - the last show of the 7th season where he sort of dies....didn't know he'd been married and had a child....

AND wow, I had forgotten how gorgeous he was in that show. I like him in Blue Bloods - he sure has aged well in his looks - yikes!!!!
 
Kirk kissed way more alien girls than Picard ever did

Sunset said:
The entire re-hashing of old series, even with the same title/names is a huge demonstration of the lack of creative thinking
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RunningBum said:
I like shows where the cast has chemistry
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These observations capture my sentiments about remakes. Whatever happened to the boundless creativity of decades ago? Even shows that had strong similarities and pillaged each other for plots still featured profound differences in characters and presentation. The Munsters was a totally different show than The Addams Family. Bewitched was not the same as I Dream of Jeannie. The Beverly Hillbillies were earthy, while Green Acres was surreal. McHale's Navy had a vastly different flavor than Hogan's Heroes.

When I recall my favorite old programs, those shows not only started with a clever premise but their casts meshed together perfectly. It almost never was merely one main character carrying the show, it was the interactions among them that made it great.

So often the supporting characters were really the main attraction. Consider Ralph Kramden, the prototype of the blustering, blue-collar everyman. Maybe the most enduring archetype in TV history, given that he's been cloned so many times (Fred Flintstone, Archie Bunker, Homer Simpson, Tim Taylor, Ray Barone, etc.). But he'd have been purely 1-dimensional without a strong wife in Alice and an even more comically oafish sidekick in Ed Norton.

Often the protagonist was The Straight Man, only entertaining because he was surrounded by strange and more colorful characters. Andy Taylor without Barney Fife? Mayberry would have been "nipped in the bud".

Physical comedy like Rob Petrie's can only take a show part of the way; that's where Laura and Buddy and Sally and Mel come in.

Likewise, Mary Richards' story of a young career woman struggling to find her independence was mildly interesting, but it burst into life when you added in Rhoda Morgenstern and Lou Grant and Ted Baxter. And who would have cared about the bland Richie Cunningham if not for Fonzie and Potsie and Ralph and Mr C?

I don't believe that all the good ideas have been used up. Star Trek: The Next Generation showed that you can be successful re-using an existing concept as long as you put some fresh thinking into it. But if all a producer is going to do is slap old names on new actors and go through the motions of replicating a predecessor show, it won't have me watching it.
 
Beldar said:
COZI and MeTV rerun many of the original "old" series, and are free OTA.

I myself would like to see colorized versions of 12 O"Clock High, Combat, and McHale's Navy, but that's just wishful thinking.

Most of these series are on DVD and can be found on the 2nd hand market, or at the public library (at least in our locale).

_B
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McHale's Navy was colorized way back in the 90's It's shown up here and there briefly but hasn't found an audience. Which, I reckon was supposed to be young people who don't dig anything in B&W. Unfortunately they also don't dig WWII and actors they've never heard of like Borgnine. With the original B&W ones on Antenna TV they can capture the original audience i.e. People in their very late 50's and older.

If you're like me and almost never saw a color TV as a lad/lass perhaps you weren't aware that the final season of 12 O'Clock High and Combat! were actually filmed in color. It's not the whole series but you get an idea of what it would have been like. (If you can find them)
 
Mdlerth said:
I don't believe that all the good ideas have been used up. Star Trek: The Next Generation showed that you can be successful re-using an existing concept as long as you put some fresh thinking into it.
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+1. The Fargo television mini-series is another example, IMO.

Mdlerth said:
But if all a producer is going to do is slap old names on new actors and go through the motions of replicating a predecessor show, it won't have me watching it.
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Again, +1. The Office and House of Cards are two examples: both are remakes of original - and much superior - British productions, dumbed-down for American consumption.
 
bclover said:
So I was a huge Murphy Brown fan for the original. I will definitely check out this late version.
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Me too. I still remember some hilarious lines & scenes from that show.

I've always liked watching Candice Bergen, enjoyed her autobiography & I like how she's aged -- she looks and sounds like a real person, not an unrecognizable mannequin. As an actress, she often seemed a little stiff in dramatic roles but is wonderful in self-deprecating comedy.
 
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