TV Show Remakes

[landtuna]

'Perry Mason' has been rumored to be 'in development', with Robert Downey Jr. starring..whether for TV or a feature film, I don't think anyone knows yet.

I don't think Perry Mason would hold up today.  We've all seen too many court room dramas where the outcome is decided by an unlikely twist of fate as were most of the old Mason shows.  And if it is aired as just another drama the Perry Mason name is just an advertising scheme similar to Hawaii 5-0.

[Corky Marlowe]

Countless game shows have been remade as well...a list too long to mention

This made me think of a couple recent game shows that were essentially old shows with new names, which the producers got away with because most of their audiences were too young to remember the originals.

"Minute To Win It" (with Guy Fieri from the Food Network)..."Beat The Clock"

"Figure It Out" (was on Nickelodeon some years ago)..."I've Got A Secret"

"Identity" (Hosted by Penn Jillette a few years ago)...The "Who's Who" segment from the syndicated version of "What's My Line?" stretched out to an hour (maybe  half hour, but still!)

[azumanga]

This made me think of a couple recent game shows that were essentially old shows with new names, which the producers got away with because most of their audiences were too young to remember the originals.

"Figure It Out" (was on Nickelodeon some years ago)..."I've Got A Secret"

Personally, "Figure It Out" was a mishmash of guessing the "secret" of IGAS, which is discerned from a list of clues, which were given along the same lines as "Password Plus" and "Super Password".

[WMC2006]

The new Charlie's Angels started the 2011-12 tv season but lasted only a few weeks.  I saw just one episode and wasn't impressed and I really didn't find the Angels as beautiful as the originals.

[chrish]

They never seem to learn that remakes in television and even movies seldom work, the remake is almost always a very poor imitation of the original.....is the industry so devoid of creativity that the are just out of ideas? Was there a great demand from the public for a remake of Arthur or the Posiden adventure especially when the originals would be very had to equal let alone beat.

[Dave]

How about CW bringing back Melrose place, & their version flopped.  I personally thought it was good, but the wrong network had the show.  While it didn't have much of the original cast, it overall had a new cast living at Melrose Place creating new drama.  The only regular from the original Melrose Place that was in the CW version nearly the entire run was Heather Locklear.  The storylines simply weren't good enough, along with being on the wrong network ended up doing doing well.  I'm surprised 90210 (original was Beverly Hills 90210) is doing well for CW, though it doesn't even come close to the original as far as the original cast, or the original series.  Yeah they had a few guest spots for the original cast, but CW scrapped that idea and made it into something not even close to the original.   Not sure how long 90210 will stay on, but it's terrible.

[FreddyE1977]

Mission Impossible.  Though both series featured Peter Graves, the 80's revival was a pale
shell of the original.

I was a big fan of the original, as well as the original Hawaii Five-O.  The biggest problem with
the new Five-0 in my view is that they appear to be going out and taking some kind of poll
on hipness, coolness, and other cultural indicators, and then they are trying to write
characters and stories around all of that.

Just develop good characters and strong stories, and the buzz will take care of itself.

[firepoint525]

  I'm surprised 90210 (original was Beverly Hills 90210) is doing well for CW, though it doesn't even come close to the original as far as the original cast, or the original series.  Yeah they had a few guest spots for the original cast, but CW scrapped that idea and made it into something not even close to the original.   Not sure how long 90210 will stay on, but it's terrible.

I would call the new 90210 more of a spinoff than a remake, since Erin Silver (David and Kelly's half-sister) was cast in the new show.  But I haven't watched it, so I can't really comment on the quality of it.

[trapper12]

Star Trek The Next Generation did well although the first few seasons tended to be remakes of TOS episodes in my opinion.

[FreddyE1977]

The first couple of seasons of Star Trek TNG were quite tedious.
It was only when Gene Roddenberry died and the producers gave up on
his vision of a "non-violent action/adventure series" that they were
free to build it into a successful show.