F-U, Reboot-Mania: Express Your Hate Here

[BW Manilowe]

5 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I saw the pilot of Party of 5. Party of 5 was actually pretty good. I mean, it's an entirely different show with different characters, but it had a vibe that did remind me of the OG show, especially before it went full-blown soap once Bailey became an alcoholic. I found myself liking and rooting for the characters.

I always kind of wanted a reboot that was set against the backdrop of the 2008 Financial Crisis/Election of Barrack Obama, but whatever.

My predictions- Aly Sheedy's character will be raceflipped to a light-skinned back girl, Andrew McCarthy's character will actually be gay (and made either Latino or Asian),  Mare Winningham's character will be made Muslim, and Emilio Estevez's character arc will be deemed too creepy in the MeToo era and dropped or heavily modified.

Edited to add: I just realized they could touch on the topic of gentrifying D.C. That could be interesting.

What about Rob Lowe’s & Demi Moore’s characters?

[methodwriter85]

Their character arcs were pretty much the least dated of that movie. I think you could largely keep those two arcs the same. I think Demi's character would be obsessed with showing off her lifestyle on Instagram, though.

Edited January 6, 2020 by methodwriter85

[Kromm]

I am actually NOT totally put off by the Punky Brewster continuation. 

To some degree it suffers from WhoAskedForIt-itus, but the original show really has taken on a much greater stature in people's memories than it had at the time. It VerySpecialEpisoded itself into a lot of hearts, admittedly hearts too old to be a really prime audience admittedly. 

It will suck if its generic.  It HAS to have the same social and political bent as the original. 

In the YouTube comment section for one of the postings of the trailer I observed a smartass making a generic Troll comment about how he was sure they'd put a Transgender character in, because that's what (he thinks) all "politically correct" TV does now. My reply back was simply "you must not have seen the original if you think this show would ONLY do something like that as some 21st century PC patrol thing.  They almost might have done it THEN, back in the 80s..."

Here's the trailer. Very hard to tell from it what this will ACTUALLY be like. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kromm]

Okay, I was okay with a Punky Brewster continuation, at least conceptually (since the preview honestly reveals so little of how socially conscious it will be), but this Saved By The Bell continuation looks like total poo:

 

[DearEvette]

New Perry Mason limited series at HBO.

I dunno about this.  It makes  Perry Mason look like some  hard-boiled gumshoe?  Like a broke-down PI.  You can't even tell he is a lawyer in this.

 

[Irlandesa]

58 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

I dunno about this.  It makes  Perry Mason look like some  hard-boiled gumshoe?  Like a broke-down PI.  You can't even tell he is a lawyer in this.

This is based on the Perry Mason character in the novels as opposed to the version who appeared in the TV series. I haven't read them but as I understand, he starts out as a private eye (he might not even be a lawyer yet in this series) and the original character was a bit grittier.

On one hand, it's jarring to connect this character with the Raymond Burr character.  On the other hand, I think this looks really interesting and I can't wait.

Edited April 16, 2020 by Irlandesa

[DoctorAtomic]

I wouldn't have learned not to hide in a fridge if it wasn't for Punky Brewster. 

Isn't that the current m/o of these niche streaming services though? Trading on nostalgia? While Punky certainly had a 'the lesson this week is -', I'm doubtful that this continuation isn't anything more than Generic Family Sitcom with 80s Character. When is Alf coming back? 

Perry Mason sounds cool though. I doubt (myself included) too many people are familiar with the book character.

[DearEvette]

42 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

This is based on the Perry Mason character in the novels as opposed to the version who appeared in the TV series. I haven't read them but as I understand, he starts out as a private eye (he might not even be a lawyer yet in this series) and the original character was a bit grittier.

On one hand, it's jarring to connect this character with the Raymond Burr character.  On the other hand, I think this looks really interesting and I can't wait.

I thought maybe that might be the case, so I went and read the synopsis of the first Perry Mason novel,  The Case of the Velvet Claws and he is a lawyer in that even though it is the only book that doesn't have a courtroom scene.  His BFF Paul is Drake is the detective in that book and all the rest.  From the description of Paul Drake in the book, Matthew Rhys looks more like he should look like than Perry Mason.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

I thought maybe that might be the case, so I went and read the synopsis of the first Perry Mason novel,  The Case of the Velvet Claws and he is a lawyer in that even though it is the only book that doesn't have a courtroom scene.  His BFF Paul is Drake is the detective in that book and all the rest. 

I believe it's going to be an origin story of sorts because it takes place a year before the first book was published. 

And here's a description of the character based on the books.  While he was a lawyer in the books, it sounds like he's more of a mix of hard-boiled detective and lawyer--willing to be underhanded to find out the truth.

[DoctorAtomic]

Oh, I didn't realize that it was set in what looks like the 40s. Is that period making some kind of comeback in tv now? Also, Orphan Black is in it. I was interested enough to check it out when I got around to it, but now I'll be looking to set the tivo. 

[BW Manilowe]

4 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I believe it's going to be an origin story of sorts because it takes place a year before the first book was published. 

And here's a description of the character based on the books.  While he was a lawyer in the books, it sounds like he's more of a mix of hard-boiled detective and lawyer--willing to be underhanded to find out the truth.

He’s also a war veteran attempting to get past something that happened in France, as I remember from the HBO character description of Perry I posted in the topic for The Americans when it was announced Matthew Rhys had gotten the role of Perry Mason.

Here is a page put out by HBO with descriptions of the major/major supporting characters in the show, including the description of Perry (but not on the original page I linked to... same description, different source page) that I linked to in The Americans’ topic when Matthew’s being cast as him was originally announced.

Edited April 17, 2020 by BW Manilowe
To add info.

[paulvdb]

8 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

When is Alf coming back? 

I don't know. The only thing I found was an article from 2018 about a reboot being explored. No news since then, so it might never happen.

[BW Manilowe]

2 hours ago, paulvdb said:

I don't know. The only thing I found was an article from 2018 about a reboot being explored. No news since then, so it might never happen.

I think the actor who played the father died. So they’ll have to recast that role if they go forward. I’d swear the person in the ALF costume for certain, more mobile, scenes has passed too, but I’m less positive on that.

[Ohiopirate02]

14 hours ago, Kromm said:

Okay, I was okay with a Punky Brewster continuation, at least conceptually (since the preview honestly reveals so little of how socially conscious it will be), but this Saved By The Bell continuation looks like total poo:

 

I cant figure out the target audience for this one.  The original viewers aren't going to want to watch a teen comedy, and teens aren't going to want to watch the adults especially Slater.  That talk scene was cringy.  

[Bort]

1 hour ago, BW Manilowe said:

I think the actor who played the father died. So they’ll have to recast that role if they go forward. I’d swear the person in the ALF costume for certain, more mobile, scenes has passed too, but I’m less positive on that.

They could always reboot it as Alf living with a whole new family. In fact, wasn’t there a later TV movie that said the Tanners had been given new identities?

[DoctorAtomic]

Wow there was a tv movie?

3 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I cant figure out the target audience for this one.  The original viewers aren't going to want to watch a teen comedy, and teens aren't going to want to watch the adults especially Slater.  That talk scene was cringy.  

I think it's what I said before - trading on nostalgia. They're expecting the original viewers to tune in. It's lazy and hopefully will fall flat. Produce good, original content and you'll find an audience. 

I think the whole streaming service model is just throwing everything at the wall right now anyway. I'm fine with Hulu, Netflix, and cable. They've still got tons of good content and don't have to resort to gimmicks. 

[Bort]

2 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Wow there was a tv movie?

Yeah, I had to go look it up. Project: ALF (1996)

[BW Manilowe]

Freeform Cancels Immigration-Themed Party of Five Reboot After One Season

[methodwriter85]

3 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

Freeform Cancels Immigration-Themed Party of Five Reboot After One Season

I am not surprised but it's disappointing. It was a genuinely good show. I'm kind of surprised at how badly it did because it was a pretty good fit with Freeform.

Edited April 17, 2020 by methodwriter85

[Blergh]

17 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

Freeform Cancels Immigration-Themed Party of Five Reboot After One Season

For those of us who don't have Freeform (or other online programs on our TV set), that's too bad as it sounds as though it would have been a good premise.

 

However, the good news is that at least they WERE able to get an entire season produced and distributed- as opposed to regular networks which have the capacity of cancelling shows even with just one episode aired so the audience would have had no idea of any possible 'what might have been ' potential. 

[methodwriter85]

That reminds me of Time after Time, the ABC adaption of the 1979 movie about HG Wells chasing after Jack the Ripper after he steals the time machine to go into the future. It wasn't bad but the ratings were so bad that ABC cancelled after 5 of the 12 episodes produced aired. The remaining episodes were eventually put on ABC ondemand and then the CW Seed app. 

[DoctorAtomic]

That sounds fucking awesome. 

[magicdog]

Seems we're closer to a "Columbo" reboot. I'm not crazy about that if only because Peter Falk made the character his own, but Mark Ruffalo could pull it off.  I do NOT however like the idea  of a Ms. Columbo if Natasha Lyonne got the part.  If they want a doddering female detective who's smarter than she looks, then create something different, not make her a female Columbo in an alt universe.

 

Better still, just create something original!  PLEASE!

[andromeda331]

2 hours ago, magicdog said:

Better still, just create something original!  PLEASE!

I really wish they would just do that. Why does the detective show have to be Columbo? Can't it be anything else. Its like when they were thinking of rebooting Cagney & Lacey. So the only way two women could star as Detectives in the 2010s is if they were Cagney & Lacey? Can't they just be two women Detectives? I wonder if the shows would do better as originals then rebooting old shows. They never hold up or usually are way too different from the original show. Every reboot I've tried I hated and stopped watching for those reasons. I always wondered if they'd do better had they been originals instead of yet another badly, weird reboot that looks nothing like original. 

[Irlandesa]

26 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

Why does the detective show have to be Columbo?

Name recognition. When it comes to marketing and awareness, using a familiar property takes care of some of the most difficult parts of marketing a new show.  That won't make it a hit but people immediately understand what it's about.

And in some cases, it'll be a hurdle.  Perry Mason was a specific show about a brilliant, established lawyer who always solves his case.  It was a specific take on a character created in books that were grittier than what the TV series ended up being.  So now with the new adaptation, people are going to find it jarring that the character they remember from the TV series isn't the same character this adaptation is using.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Irlandesa

[andromeda331]

12 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

Name recognition. When it comes to marketing and awareness, using a familiar property takes care of some of the most difficult parts of marketing a new show.  That won't make it a hit but people immediately understand what it's about.

And in some cases, it'll be a hurdle.  Perry Mason was a specific show about a brilliant, established lawyer who always solves his case.  It was a specific take on a character created in books that were grittier than what the TV series ended up being.  So now with the new adaptation, people are going to find it jarring that the character they remember from the TV series isn't the same character this adaptation is using.

I get that's what they want. But since they never end up doing that it just seems better to go with a new series. The new Perry Mason is a perfect example. Those who loved the original show are not going to like seeing him so different. So the same people their trying to hook into the show are going to be the ones who stop watching it. That leaves trying to build an audience with people who never saw the original. Which if they never did their less likely to give it a try. A new show even one inspired by Perry Mason or the books would probably work better. Look at how many different shows have Sherlock type characters but still manage to be their own shows.  

[Irlandesa]

7 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

. The new Perry Mason is a perfect example. Those who loved the original show are not going to like seeing him so different. So the same people their trying to hook into the show are going to be the ones who stop watching it.

But that's just it, they aren't rebooting the original show or trying to necessarily target viewers of the original show. If anyone, they're trying to target fans of the book.

7 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

Look at how many different shows have Sherlock type characters but still manage to be their own shows.  

Sure. But also look at how many successful Sherlock iterations there have been in movies and film.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Irlandesa

[Stats Queen]

6 hours ago, magicdog said:

Seems we're closer to a "Columbo" reboot. I'm not crazy about that if only because Peter Falk made the character his own, but Mark Ruffalo could pull it off.  I do NOT however like the idea  of a Ms. Columbo if Natasha Lyonne got the part.  If they want a doddering female detective who's smarter than she looks, then create something different, not make her a female Columbo in an alt universe.

 

Better still, just create something original!  PLEASE!

Colombo - yes, Peter Falk - yes, Mark Ruffalo - hard pass for me (It’s personal - he just annoys me).

[ratgirlagogo]

The difference is that a bunch of different actors have played Sherlock Holmes, and yes Virginia at least three others I have seen on TCM (Warren William, Ricardo Cortez, and Donald Woods) besides Raymond Burr played Perry Mason - although seriously few people are going to think of anyone but Raymond Burr in the role.  In the case of Columbo this just seems nuts to me.  While Peter Falk was not the original choice for the role he right away BECAME this role and America fell in love with him.  I certainly did.  This isn't like Superman or James Bond.   I understand this is another IPR reboot but I'd rather just see Ruffalo play a detective with some Columbo-esque characteristics.  That would be fine.

[Guest]

I completely missed this in the craziness of the last month but Netflix announced the Baby-Sitters Club cast.

IMDb has some of the supporting cast listed. Alicia Silverstone and Mark Feuerstein are playing Kristy’s mom and step-dad. 

[Annber03]

Looks like a great cast! Nice to get to know a little more about them here :). Those photos are so cute. 

[methodwriter85]

Netflix has a pretty decent record with cute, fun teen t.v. shows. And the fact that they got Claudia's outfit so dead on makes me hopeful.

 

[BW Manilowe]

19 hours ago, magicdog said:

Seems we're closer to a "Columbo" reboot. I'm not crazy about that if only because Peter Falk made the character his own, but Mark Ruffalo could pull it off.  I do NOT however like the idea  of a Ms. Columbo if Natasha Lyonne got the part.  If they want a doddering female detective who's smarter than she looks, then create something different, not make her a female Columbo in an alt universe.

 

Better still, just create something original!  PLEASE!

Regarding the bolded: The problem with that is, then you have people saying how crappy the original stuff is (& really there are only so many ideas you can create a TV show [or a movie] from anyway), & why don’t they bring back this show or that show instead of airing the original crap? Regardless of what gets programmed, someone’s not gonna be happy & it’s gonna be a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation.

[BW Manilowe]

HBO Max Is Rebooting Head of the Class with the Scrubs Creator

[janie jones]

This has my support if the school does a production of Little Shop of Horrors.

[biakbiak]

Hopefully they won’t cast a pedophile. 

[janie jones]

I was also thinking that, too.☹️

[Stats Queen]

4 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Hopefully they won’t cast a pedophile. 

Please pardon my ignorance. To whom are you referring (haven’t been able to find anything on ,y own search)?

[biakbiak]

31 minutes ago, Stats Queen said:

Please pardon my ignorance. To whom are you referring (haven’t been able to find anything on ,y own search)?

Dan Schneider was an actor who went onto Nickelodeon as a producer who there are a gazillion stories about.

Edited May 13, 2020 by biakbiak

[janie jones]

The guy who played Dennis on the original Head of the Class.

[methodwriter85]

They want to reboot the Wonder Years as a black family living in Montgomery, Alabama during the late 60's. It sounds like it has potential, but I kind of wish they'd pick the setting of a black Los Angeles suburb in the late 80's/early 90's instead. I just think "race relations during the 60's" has been done to death by this point. I'd be more interested in seeing a coming of age show showing pre-Rodney King Riots Los Angeles.

Edited July 14, 2020 by methodwriter85

[DoctorAtomic]

It doesn't really strike me as a reboot per se. The Wonder Years doesn't own the patent to coming of age stories. 

I agree with the issue about the time period. I'm not sure what new drama can be mined. Furthermore, it's so removed from *now* that any resonance wouldn't be so strong imo. Something in the 90s, people were around. They're going to remember life then. 

[OtterMommy]

6 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

It doesn't really strike me as a reboot per se. The Wonder Years doesn't own the patent to coming of age stories. 

I agree with the issue about the time period. I'm not sure what new drama can be mined. Furthermore, it's so removed from *now* that any resonance wouldn't be so strong imo. Something in the 90s, people were around. They're going to remember life then. 

That was my thought too.  Why does it have to be the Wonder Years?  Why can't it just be a coming of age story featuring an African American family in Montgomery?  

[DoctorAtomic]

Because that would be too nuanced for a press release. 

It makes it sound like the show will have the same characters with the same relationships, but African American. That's not terribly ambitious, creatively, and makes it look like the network/production is just forced-woke. 

Besides, nearly everyone on FB already said blackish was the actual reboot of the Wonder Years. 

You want to tell a bold racial story, do it on a family who is in the Black Panthers. 

[methodwriter85]

10 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

It doesn't really strike me as a reboot per se. The Wonder Years doesn't own the patent to coming of age stories. 

I agree with the issue about the time period. I'm not sure what new drama can be mined. Furthermore, it's so removed from *now* that any resonance wouldn't be so strong imo. Something in the 90s, people were around. They're going to remember life then. 

It also falls into the trope of setting race relations stories into the distant past to make white people feel more comfortable because they have no personal experiences with the time period. Setting it in say 1989 or 1999 would change that. And isn't Everybody Hates Chris already a black reboot? That's what it always felt like.

[DoctorAtomic]

Oh yes, for sure. You can't have white viewers remembering that they might have been perpetuating microaggressions. 

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Besides, nearly everyone on FB already said blackish was the actual reboot of the Wonder Years. 

Did this happen to coincide with the news that someone wants to make a reboot of Blackish with a black family?  Because before that was announced, I don't think I'd ever seen anyone compare Blackish to The Wonder Years.  Other than being a sitcom with a family (black family if we're comparing it to the proposed reboot) in it and having narration, I don't think the shows have much in common.

Mixedish is far more thoughtful comparison, IMO. Both Mixedish and The Wonfer Years center on an adult in the present day (Kevin/Rainbow) narrating a look back as they enter their teen years (12 years old for both), in the past (70s/80s) and their families. 

 

[DoctorAtomic]

I have no idea. Keep in mind it's Factbook so grain of salt. 

I think the underlying premise is that coming of age period tv show isn't strictly the purview of The Wonder Years. 

[Irlandesa]

4 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I think the underlying premise is that coming of age period tv show isn't strictly the purview of The Wonder Years. 

Of course not.  But it's probably one of the most recognized versions of that kind of show.  That's probably why they want to reboot it and use that title.

 

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

It also falls into the trope of setting race relations stories into the distant past

Yes, there's always an inherent potential problem in setting shows in that time period, where even when (such as this project) you're not aiming - which I firmly believe some show runners have at least subconsciously done - to use that setting as an excuse to show your white, straight, male characters (around whom the show is centered) being racist, sexist, homophobic assholes - shrugging it off as "it was the times, man" without properly examining the impact of that time on the characters who aren't white, male, straight, etc. - there's still the issue of major segments of the audience sitting there in their privilege, watching the blatant discrimination "back in the day" and acknowledging yes, that was awful, but congratulating themselves on how isn't it so great we're past all that (or, for non-southerners, isn't it great we were never that bad) without examining how many things haven't truly changed. 

I may give this reboot a watch, as I am indeed interested in exploring the situations - at home and within the larger society - covered by episodes about the original middle class white characters in a generic CA/NY-type suburb as they were instead experienced by a middle class black family in an Alabama suburb.  (And I'd love if the gender-based issues and feelings of the female characters were far better explored than in the original.) 

But I'd be even more interested if there was also a show where the "coming of age" the black narrator was looking back on happened around 2000 instead, and in a "blue" city.  A black adult looking back at what was going on in her/his formative years in the recent past of a diverse general area (in what is probably still a largely segregated individual neighborhood) challenges the audience members whose experience of the same area in the same time was different because of race in a way that "dude, the '60s south was really shitty for black folks" doesn't.

Basically, I don't fault this concept for a show, I just wish it was part of a much broader spectrum of programming.  Mixed-ish looks back on the '80s, but most "modern" day period pieces still go back further.