Reboot A Show: Give Us A Pitch!

[zxy556575]

There was a series pilot called Parallels that involved a group of people who entered a building in one time period and exited in a different parallel universe. It got great user reviews but looks like it never went to series. I really liked it. The creator spoke optimistically on Reddit about possibly continuing it, but that was a while ago.

 

The concept still seems eminently boot-able since there are so many ways it can go. Probably expensive to produce because of all the different sets/locations.

Edited April 17, 2016 by lordonia

[magicdog]

I've been thinking about an unusual reboot - of a show that most would figure is un-rebootable:  The Monkees!

 

Hear me out:  I love the original series with all my heart and have just about every scrap of Monkee music available!  The show went down in history as unique in many ways - not the least of which was being the first to be cross marketed (TV/Radio/Music/Concerts/Film) and even chugging along 50 years later!  All the while gathering new generations of fans and at least two generations of musicians who actively claim their music as a strong influence!  

However, my reboot idea is not to try to repeat the guys' outrageous antics (remember the debacle of the New Monkees back in '87?) .  Instead, it would be to create an alternative universe Monkees.  A more realistic group of guys who form a band in 1965 California and strive to make it big.  All the while, we get to know more about the era and the environment of the Sunset Strip music scene.  Based on my research and some recollections from those who had been there, there was a lot of musical upheaval  with tons of bands trying to jockey for position with that unique sound that wasn't part of what the industry was pushing at the time.  Plus there was folk music (The Troubador held "Hootananny Nights" weekly), the origins of country rock (which artists like Mike Nesmith would pioneer later on), surf bands, etc.  There's a lot to work with plot wise with the turmoil of seeking fame in a competitive field, financial struggles, and trying to keep from being cheated by unscrupulous managers/publishers/record labels, and all the while being considered an outlier even amongst outliers.  

Plus, we could flesh out the characters more.  In the original series the guys used their real names and their characters were extensions of their real life personalities.  In a reboot, we can root the characters in those base personalities and grow them to more realistic types.  Plus, their names could be a takeoff of those of the original characters/actors:  

Mike Nesmith becomes Michael Blessing (a pseudonym Mike used early in his career before joining The Monkees).

Micky Dolenz becomes Micky Braddock (the stage name Dolenz used as a child actor)

Peter Tork becomes Peter Thorkelson (His real surname - Tork was his nickname during his Greenwich Village days)

David Jones becomes David Armstrong [Jones]:  (In the original series, Davy's character often introduced himself with the middle name of Armstrong even though it wasn't in reality)

Unlike the original series, we could create an in-universe origin story for the guys as well!   

[zxy556575]

On 10/26/2016 at 3:28 PM, magicdog said:

I've been thinking about an unusual reboot - of a show that most would figure is un-rebootable:  The Monkees!

I couldn't watch that -- and I had Monkees posters on my high school bedroom wall --  but I appreciate your charming enthusiasm. :)

Edited October 27, 2016 by lordonia

[magicdog]

On 3/26/2015 at 12:36 PM, magicdog said:

Another animated suggestion:  The New Scooby Doo Movies  reboot.

 

The original incarnation (1972) had some of the most talented celebs guest starring and solving a mystery with the gang.  Tim Conway, Dick  Van Dyke, Cass Elliot, and Don Adams all appeared as themselves.   A regular TV series may not be likely but this could work in the current DTV releases.  They've already had the gang deal with Blue Falcon and the WWE wrestlers.  I propose a new generation of talent selected  to participate in a series of mysteries.  The condition would have to be they be  people who have been in the public eye for at least 20 years (to avoid the flash in the pan celeb du jour issue) and have cross section appeal.   

I was quoting myself here.  Little did I know what would happen.

 

Ask and ye shall receive!

[magicdog]

I don’t have high hopes for the Daria reboot.  They’re pairing her with Jody when she should be with Jane.  Plus I couldn’t tell if they were putting her back in HS or later.  

[ganesh]

I don't even remember who Jody was. When I read the article I was like, 'don't they mean Jane?' 

[WarnerCL45]

.

Edited June 30, 2018 by WarnerCL45

[SVNBob]

On 6/27/2018 at 2:55 PM, ganesh said:

I don't even remember who Jody was.

Jodie was the African-American girl.  Intellectually on par with Daria (as opposed to, say, Brittany) but her polar opposite in attitude.  Aware of her "tokenism" in the school, but used it to her advantage when she needed to.  Jane was Daria's first real friend, but Jodie would be a close second.  (Oddly, Brittany would be third...)

I think there's a couple of reasons for pulling in Jodie instead of Jane.  One is to get more of an African-Amercian voice into the picture.  The original Daria was really white.  Aside from Jodie, her boyfriend Mac (also AA, also very smart, and also aware of the tokenism), the one member of the fashion club that was Asian (the slow talker), and the psycho principal Ms. Li (also Asian), every other recurring character on the show was white.  I don't recall any Hispanic characters at all, and wasn't Lawndale in Texas?  Making Jodie a main and titular character brings in a needed diversity.

The other reason would be the polar opposite attitude I mentioned above.  Daria and Jane reflected and reinforced each other's attitudes.  Jodie challenged them.  And was right about as often as they were, so there was a mutual respect.  Those three may have disagreed about things, but they never talked down to each other or belittled the others' beliefs.  The contrast between Daria and Jodie will probably make for a better show than the similarities between Daria and Jane.

[magicdog]

Just thought of an 80s show which was all but forgotten and might make a fantastic reboot or continuation series:  "Street Hawk"!

 

The series only lasted a season back in '85-86.  It was in the mold of action adventure shows with a super powered vehicle (not unlike Knight Rider or Airwolf) and a protagonist out to make a difference.  Jesse Mach was a former PD motorcycle cop who was injured on the job.  His injury forced him off bike duty and put him in the police PR dept.  He meets a government agent/tech wiz named Norman who developed a hi tech motorcycle which has all sorts of bells and whistles and the ability to go up to 300 miles an hour.  Norman was based on a nondescript building with computers, etc. and had a direct link to the bike and could communicate with Jesse.  He could also see what Jesse could see via the helmet cam.  He also offers to fix Jesse's leg injury with cutting edge surgery (which wasn't FDA approved yet, but offered Jesse the opportunity to get back in the game again).  At the same time, Jess and Norman are testing out what the motorcycle (The Street Hawk) could do in the field.  Jesse would work at the Police PR division by day, and fight crime by night.

The show is terribly dated but here is how it could be done:

If we do an entire reboot, we go with the initial set up - although we could up the ante a bit by having  Jesse being seriously injured to the point where his leg is amputated.  This time, Norman offers him a cybernetic leg replacement (think Six Million Dollar Man) which would allow him to ride again.  The bike would look like the most smooth ride ever, Jesse's helmet would probably be the same with data on screen via the inner visor (not unlike Iron Man in the current films) and Norman could have a more tricked out lab with modern equipment.  However, unlike the show which only had the two as members of the Street Hawk team, I'd include a few more people:  Norman would have a wife (perhaps the surgeon who develops the cybernetic leg and keeps it in working order (kind of like Rudy in Six Million Dollar Man/Bionic Woman), and perhaps another tech or three to help keep the motorcycle going and/or operate as CSI types to analyze data.

Also, originally, Norman worked for the Feds and everything was developed via the government.  Naturally, I'd make him (or perhaps a different person) a tech billionaire whose latest development would be the crime fighting tech of the future.  Jesse would be needed to test out everything in the field with the hope that in the future, it would be in use to fight crime around the world.  His wife would be the equivalent in cybernetic enhancements (biotech) for amputees, etc. but politics prevented them from being able to make the tech available to the general public due to being experimental.

[Lugal]

A Wizard of Earthsea.  Don't know if it counts, since we only ever had the whitewashed miniseries on the Sci Fi channel (as it was called then), but I would love to see an animated version of Earthsea by the guys who did Avatar: the Last Airbender and Legend of Korra.  They could flesh out the world as it deserves to be and they could actually have the characters as Ursula Le Guin envisioned them (meaning Ged would look like a member of the Water Tribes).

[Captain Carrot]

In theory they could do a new The West Wing with either Zoe or Charlie running for president in 2020. All that's needed is a decent budget, Sorkin's involvement, and someone to reign in Sorkin's worst tendency's. (That he'll actually listen to).

[bmasters9]

If they ever reimagined The Streets of San Francisco for CBS these days (this one, I think, should have females in the leads, with feminine forms of the original character names), I think that Patricia Arquette (who is from Chicago originally, just as Karl Malden was) should be Det. Lt. Michaela Stone of the Homicide Division of the San Francisco Police Department (nicknamed "Mike," in the vein of Jane Seymour's lead on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and of course a nod to the original Mike Stone of the late, great Karl Malden), and Joey King should be Sgt. Stephanie Keller (or possibly, Sgt. Danielle Robbins). The same format should be kept (that Keller [or Robbins] is a Sergeant in the SFPD, being shown the ropes by veteran homicide detective Lt. Stone, just as it was on ABC from 1972-77 when the original male Keller and Robbins were Inspectors [a rank that, last I recall, no longer exists in the SFPD]).

Edited October 31, 2019 by bmasters9

[SVNBob]

Went down a small, weird internet rabbit hole and landed on a show that I'm actually surprised hasn't been rebooted yet in this age of reality TV.  Wikipedia shows that all of the Big 4 networks were looking into either reboots or shows of a similar concept to this one in the late 2000s, so it's a bit of a surprise none materialized.  I'm referring to the '80s perennial classic event program, The Circus of the Stars.

For those too young to remember, and for those old enough to forget, CotS was an annual special on CBS where all sorts celebrities, everyone from Harry Anderson to Pia Zadora, trained to become circus performers.  And every kind of act was represented; the various animal acts, the trapeze, the high-wire, clowns, juggling, tumbling, etc.  These specials usually showed clips of the stars training for their acts, the trapeze and high-wire in particular, then showed each act in its entirety.

But what I'm thinking for a reboot is an actual series.  There's still the actual circus itself; that's the obvious season finale.  But the episodes leading up to it would focus on the training portions.  There's still the big arcs for the high-wire and trapeze.  But there's also room for the smaller acts.  And while many of the animal acts, like big cat taming, wouldn't fly today, acts involving dogs and horses still seem feasible and not as cruel.

[memememe76]

I am ready for a Lost reboot. You have an existing cast of core young characters we can follow (and pretty diverse): Walt, Ji Yeon, Aaron, Charlie, Clementine, and Julian. There was speculation that Kate was pregnant when she returned to the Island, with Jack as the dad. And I think the actors from the original cast could return, particularly Hurley. 

[Affogato]

Blakes 7