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

[DoctorAtomic]

She was great on that show. I think one of the smart moves was that she had her own company so that have the writers room to give her agency. 

[andromeda331]

8 hours ago, magicdog said:

I think she was even better as Elizabeth Burke in White Collar.  One of the few TV wives who didn't whine and complain because her FBI agent husband had to answer the call of duty during their marriage.

She was awesome in that show. She was supportive but never whined or complained. I love her friendship with Mozzie.   

6 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

She was great on that show. I think one of the smart moves was that she had her own company so that have the writers room to give her agency. 

It really was. When Elizabeth does help its aways in ways that make sense like helping them throw the party in the second episode or helping throw the kid's party in season three.  I love when she finds a woman's card in her husband's jacket and Peter tries to explain that he was trying to get information from a woman you think she's going to be hurt or jealous but she ends up laughing. Later she helps him get into clinic where Neal was caught breaking into by coaching him during his call to the woman to get invited to the clinic. Another episode when the men are trying to catch a black widow by going to a bachelor auction. She helps Peter practice conversations for talking with the women. 

[DoctorAtomic]

The one with the phone call was hilarious. You could tell they were all just having a blast. 

[CoderLady]

The 4400 reboot on the CW

I don't know what to feel about this. This show was appointment TV for me when USA was "characters welcome." It had a diverse cast of interesting main and supporting characters and good stories. I was sorry to see it go, but it went out on an intriguing and satisfying ending.

I'd like to see Promise City (previously known as Seattle) again after things settled down, but I'm afraid that on CW this will just be one more fantasy drama about outcast young adults with superpowers being all defiant and angsty. It's sad that there is no other, better network for the show.

I'll probably cautiously watch the premiere, but I'm prepared to be bitterly disappointed.

[DoctorAtomic]

I know how I feel. 

Ass. 

 

The kids at school made fun of me because I told them Frank Sinatra was my favorite singer.

Well, hard to argue ol' Blue Eyes. 

 

 

[Danny Franks]

I recently watched the first five or six episodes of the Magnum P.I. reboot and, as someone who never really watched the original but was aware of it, I just felt like was... completely flimsy. Pretty to look at but without any depth or consequence. Maybe that's true of the original show, but it definitely seems to be true of anything on CBS. I've watched a few of their shows and they all seem the same. Just superficial and geared around producing television that never requires you to think or even to pay attention.

[AimingforYoko]

Can I interest you in a live-action Powerpuff Girls?

[CoderLady]

1 hour ago, AimingforYoko said:

Can I interest you in a live-action Powerpuff Girls?

Oh gawd, more nonstop pouting and bitching. Hard pass.

[Spartan Girl]

[methodwriter85]

16 hours ago, CoderLady said:

The 4400 reboot on the CW

I don't know what to feel about this. This show was appointment TV for me when USA was "characters welcome." It had a diverse cast of interesting main and supporting characters and good stories. I was sorry to see it go, but it went out on an intriguing and satisfying ending.

I'd like to see Promise City (previously known as Seattle) again after things settled down, but I'm afraid that on CW this will just be one more fantasy drama about outcast young adults with superpowers being all defiant and angsty. It's sad that there is no other, better network for the show.

I'll probably cautiously watch the premiere, but I'm prepared to be bitterly disappointed.

I was into the first two seasons of the show but bailed by the last year. I think the last thing I remember was Killabelle going through an extreme case of SORAS and everybody on the boards hating her.

I also remember thinking that the little girl was a dead ringer for Miracle on 34th Street-era Natalie Wood, and then seeing Natalie Wood's daughter Natasha actually show up as the free-spirit sister of the agent that takes in Alien Abduction Natalie Wood. 

Knowing the CW everything's going to be sexed up and weird. I'd be shocked if they have the Child Natalie Wood character on the show unless they age her up to "16" and make her a love interest to Chad Faust and Patrick Flueger's characters. 

Edited February 10, 2021 by methodwriter85

[DoctorAtomic]

52 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

I think the last thing I remember was Killabelle going through an extreme case of SORAS and everybody on the boards hating her.

That is accurate. The entire baby plot was ill advised. I think they never really knew what to do with Jordan Collier because he didn't have any powers per se, and felt like he needed a foil. I would have stuck to him just having visions of the future and whether people had 'faith' in him or not. 

But hey - the first real appearance of Mahershala Ali!

And I did love Diana being all put out that she was the only one who didn't end up with an ability. 

[Sakura12]

17 hours ago, CoderLady said:

The 4400 reboot on the CW

I don't know what to feel about this. This show was appointment TV for me when USA was "characters welcome." It had a diverse cast of interesting main and supporting characters and good stories. I was sorry to see it go, but it went out on an intriguing and satisfying ending.

I'd rather see this reboot on a streaming service than the CW. Where all main characters will probably be hot 20/30 somethings. Instead of all different ages the original had. Or if they have older people they will be the first to die. 

[Blergh]

I'm not sure any 4400  reboot will do more than bomb. I mean, they tried it with V and that wound up laying an egg.

[DoctorAtomic]

V had some potential. It was worth it for the Thorn Birds joke. 

[methodwriter85]

3 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

I'd rather see this reboot on a streaming service than the CW. Where all main characters will probably be hot 20/30 somethings. Instead of all different ages the original had. Or if they have older people they will be the first to die. 

I'm going to bet that the Child Natalie Wood character will be 16 and embroiled in a love triangle with the Chad Faust and Patrick Flueger characters.

[roamyn]

On 2/9/2021 at 6:21 PM, Danny Franks said:

I recently watched the first five or six episodes of the Magnum P.I. reboot and, as someone who never really watched the original but was aware of it, I just felt like was... completely flimsy. Pretty to look at but without any depth or consequence. Maybe that's true of the original show, but it definitely seems to be true of anything on CBS. I've watched a few of their shows and they all seem the same. Just superficial and geared around producing television that never requires you to think or even to pay attention.

The original was pretty cheesy, but we got Tom Selleck in short, shorts!
 

This new Magnum has NONE of the charm of TS.

[Stats Queen]

3 hours ago, roamyn said:

The original was pretty cheesy, but we got Tom Selleck in short, shorts!

Yes, yes we did.

[methodwriter85]

4 hours ago, roamyn said:

This new Magnum has NONE of the charm of TS.

Jay Hernandez is pretty, but there's a reason why he generally hasn't gotten a lot of lead parts.

Bummer to hear the new Magnum isn't good because it has Zach Knighton and I kind of have a thing for him.

Edited February 12, 2021 by methodwriter85

[Jaded]

I think a big part of the reason why the new Magnum isn't as entertaining as the 80's version is due to who the current one is associated with. Like it's former sister show the newer version of Hawaii Five-0 it suffers from a case of the show runners thinking a lot of action scenes can make up for a lack of story. Even though 80's Magnum could be cheesy to me it seemed like the same characters as now had more depth back then. The issue of current Higgins being female and around the same age as Magnum has been another annoyance of mine in regards to the show. 

A show like Hart to Hart would have been better in regards to the way Perdita Weeks and Jay Hernandez get paired off each episode to go on action adventures together which seems to leave others as window dressing. I don't think anyone expected an exact 80's Magnum remake but they brought characters from that version onto the new one in the first couple seasons just to kill them off like the plan was to get them out of the way.

[Raja]

5 hours ago, Jaded said:

I think a big part of the reason why the new Magnum isn't as entertaining as the 80's version is due to who the current one is associated with. Like it's former sister show the newer version of Hawaii Five-0 it suffers from a case of the show runners thinking a lot of action scenes can make up for a lack of story. Even though 80's Magnum could be cheesy to me it seemed like the same characters as now had more depth back then. The issue of current Higgins being female and around the same age as Magnum has been another annoyance of mine in regards to the show. 

A show like Hart to Hart would have been better in regards to the way Perdita Weeks and Jay Hernandez get paired off each episode to go on action adventures together which seems to leave others as window dressing. I don't think anyone expected an exact 80's Magnum remake but they brought characters from that version onto the new one in the first couple seasons just to kill them off like the plan was to get them out of the way.

I remember when the first Magnum teaser trailer came out with "Detective Katsumoto" and the comments that went up asking why not Lieutenant Tanaka did anyone actual know the old show.  By the time of the pilot episode aired they went back and fixed things like TC's uniform and since they changed actors Katsumoto became the legacy LT Tanaka.  And since that point they introduced legacy characters to get rid off as  the producers were only interested in the big 4 characters and the Ferrari  from the original show.  I guess Luther Gillis from (not) St Louis survives for now should he ever make another appearance.

However I am the rebel here as the show is more consistently fun for me than the original where I only liked the relatively serious episodes. I much preferred its stablemate Simon & Simon, especially when they hit syndication and the re-watching began.  But Magnum PI held a special place with the returning Vietnam veterans focus where as among other 80s characters, including Rick Simon, Vietnam veteran was more of a line in the bio. The new show trying to match things like being POW's in a world where they probably would have been beheaded and not held in a Taliban or other force  camp doesn't work.

[Rose Quartz]

15 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Jay Hernandez is pretty, but there's a reason why he generally hasn't gotten a lot of lead parts.

Bummer to hear the new Magnum isn't good because it has Zach Knighton and I kind of have a thing for him.

Zach Knighton is the best thing about the reboot IMO, and he's had some really great scenes.  But the show has definitely sidelined him and Stephen Hill as TC in favor of the Magnum/Higgins/Katsumoto dynamic so I've largely lost interest in it.

[biakbiak]

A reboot I can’t wait to watch Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller Bridge in a Mr & Mrs. Smith show for Amazon.

[Irlandesa]

52 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

A reboot I can’t wait to watch Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller Bridge in a Mr & Mrs. Smith show for Amazon.

Sounds better than the movie (which I wasn't enamored with at all) so I'm all in.  Are they going to co-write this thing? 

[Guest]

A 'Real World: New York' reunion will launch along with Paramount+

[Cherpumple]

On 2/12/2021 at 8:33 AM, Raja said:

Magnum PI held a special place with the returning Vietnam veterans focus where as among other 80s characters, including Rick Simon, Vietnam veteran was more of a line in the bio.

I was too young to appreciate the original Magnum PI during its first run, but it was one of my pandemic binge watches last year, and your comment about the Vietnam veterans focus is spot on. I went into it expecting the light tone of the goofier episodes, but was really surprised by how many episodes involved topics pertaining to the war, either as the main or subplot. The show was pretty blunt about the types of issues veterans faced, including flashbacks/PTSD, substance abuse, divorce, financial struggles, etc. and touched on larger things like political fights over the repatriation of remains, efforts to rescue remaining POWs, war orphans, and racism against Vietnamese refugees in the US. They also did a good job of comparing and contrasting the experiences of Magnum's generation with that of Higgins, who served in the British Army around the 1940s. As a child of the 80s, I always knew that the Vietnam War had been highly controversial and unpopular, but it was really interesting to see just how consistently negatively it was portrayed in Magnum. It's hard to explain, but it felt different to the way the recent/current wars are portrayed in media today, which seem to balance out the more negative storylines with lots of "rah rah USA USA" messaging. For the most part, I think this is one of the more interesting aspects of the show, and I can't help thinking that seeing Thomas Magnum, handsome ladies man who drives a ferrari and lives on a fabulous estate in Hawaii, openly talk about the time he spent at a VA psychiatric hospital after his deployment may have helped some real-life veterans in the 1980s who may have been struggling with similar issues.

This sounds like a downer, but I seriously enjoyed this show. It's mainly a fun action dramedy with some great characters and scenery. The plots don't always make sense, but it doesn't matter. It's just fun spending time with the four main guys (TC was my favorite).

[Zella]

8 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

I was too young to appreciate the original Magnum PI during its first run, but it was one of my pandemic binge watches last year, and your comment about the Vietnam veterans focus is spot on. I went into it expecting the light tone of the goofier episodes, but was really surprised by how many episodes involved topics pertaining to the war, either as the main or subplot. The show was pretty blunt about the types of issues veterans faced, including flashbacks/PTSD, substance abuse, divorce, financial struggles, etc. and touched on larger things like political fights over the repatriation of remains, efforts to rescue remaining POWs, war orphans, and racism against Vietnamese refugees in the US. They also did a good job of comparing and contrasting the experiences of Magnum's generation with that of Higgins, who served in the British Army around the 1940s. As a child of the 80s, I always knew that the Vietnam War had been highly controversial and unpopular, but it was really interesting to see just how consistently negatively it was portrayed in Magnum. It's hard to explain, but it felt different to the way the recent/current wars are portrayed in media today, which seem to balance out the more negative storylines with lots of "rah rah USA USA" messaging. For the most part, I think this is one of the more interesting aspects of the show, and I can't help thinking that seeing Thomas Magnum, handsome ladies man who drives a ferrari and lives on a fabulous estate in Hawaii, openly talk about the time he spent at a VA psychiatric hospital after his deployment may have helped some real-life veterans in the 1980s who may have been struggling with similar issues.

This sounds like a downer, but I seriously enjoyed this show. It's mainly a fun action dramedy with some great characters and scenery. The plots don't always make sense, but it doesn't matter. It's just fun spending time with the four main guys (TC was my favorite).

I've never watched Magnum PI, and I must confess, I'm pleasantly surprised the show was that complex. I had just assumed it was 80s cop action fluff. 

On a side note, I also didn't know a character was named T.C. Whenever I hear that name, I always think of the T.C. from The Wild Bunch (part of the "egg-sucking, chicken-stealing gutter trash" crew) and did a double take with the resulting mental image. 

[DoctorAtomic]

TV and movies were really steeped in Vietnam at that time period. Rambo was actually a counterculture anti-war character iirc before they late 80s-ed him up for the cold war. I also was too young, but I knew there was a war and lots of people were in it. 

9 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

It's hard to explain, but it felt different to the way the recent/current wars are portrayed in media today, which seem to balance out the more negative storylines with lots of "rah rah USA USA" messaging.

Vietnam was also the last time there was a draft iirc, so more tv viewers were likely veterans themselves or knew someone. Or writers themselves, so you're going to see a lot of that content around then. 

[biakbiak]

The thing I hated about the Magnum Pi reboot is they tried to suggest that the POW situation which formed a large part of the three vets from Vietnam was similar to the Afghanistan/Iraq war and it just wasn’t. And it’s actively offensive. The number of POWs and MIA was enormous compared to the literal handful of on Afghanistan and Iraq. I am not comparing the trauma  combat or anything but facts matter and the pilot annoyed.

[Danny Franks]

1 hour ago, biakbiak said:

The thing I hated about the Magnum Pi reboot is they tried to suggest that the POW situation which formed a large part of the three vets from Vietnam was similar to the Afghanistan/Iraq war and it just wasn’t. And it’s actively offensive. The number of POWs and MIA was enormous compared to the literal handful of on Afghanistan and Iraq. I am not comparing the trauma  combat or anything but facts matter and the pilot annoyed.

It's the three 'main' guys who were POWs together, yes? The only one of them who seems to have the gravitas of an experienced soldier who is trying to move on with his life is the black guy. The others seem too callow and carefree.

One thing I'll say about the woman who plays Higgins is that at least they cast someone who looks like she's capable of performing athletic feats and keeping up with Magnum himself. Perdita Weeks actually has some muscle definition and a wiry strength, unlike a lot of supposed TV action heroines.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Danny Franks

[biakbiak]

46 minutes ago, Danny Franks said:

It's the three 'main' guys who were POWs together, yes? The only one of them who seems to have the gravitas of an experienced soldier who is trying to move on with his life is the black guy. The others seem too callow and carefree.

My point has nothing to do with how they act  coming off of that experience because people deal with trauma in many, many different ways.

[Rose Quartz]

I don't hate the POW plot in the current Magnum, probably because for all its issues it's still more realistic than the storyline in the original.

In the '80s show, Magnum and TC's history as POWs was retconned in at the start of the third season.  We find out that after they were captured TC was brainwashed by Ivan and they were allowed to escape so that 10 years later TC could be "activated" to kill a high ranking politician.  That was bad enough, but the show also implied that a recent real life political assassination had been carried out by another one of Ivan's plants, which I found really tasteless.  The final scene is justifiably a classic, but the rest of that episode was way too over the top for me.

[Danny Franks]

47 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

My point has nothing to do with how they act  coming off of that experience because people deal with trauma in many, many different ways.

Ok. Well my point is that the actors don't have the gravitas to pull off the roles they're supposed to be playing.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Danny Franks

[Cherpumple]

9 hours ago, Rose Quartz said:

In the '80s show, Magnum and TC's history as POWs was retconned in at the start of the third season.  We find out that after they were captured TC was brainwashed by Ivan and they were allowed to escape so that 10 years later TC could be "activated" to kill a high ranking politician.  That was bad enough, but the show also implied that a recent real life political assassination had been carried out by another one of Ivan's plants, which I found really tasteless.  The final scene is justifiably a classic, but the rest of that episode was way too over the top for me.

Yeah, that episode was bizarre. I definitely don't think all of their Vietnam-themed storylines worked very well, but it was interesting to see the variety of topics covered.

[Rose Quartz]

8 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

Yeah, that episode was bizarre. I definitely don't think all of their Vietnam-themed storylines worked very well, but it was interesting to see the variety of topics covered.

It was definitely hit or miss.  Bellisario wrote a lot of those storylines and usually did a good job, but other writers who tried to handle those topics really tended to struggle.

I don't particularly like how the reboot is handling most of the veteran plots.  They're all focused on Rick and TC and Magnum is rarely involved at all, which is a weird dynamic, and most of them seem rather cliched.  The one scene I did like is when Rick was turned down for a loan and tells TC that the loan officer thanked him for his service "so at least there's that".  I do think that expression has been used so much in the US that it's become meaningless to a lot of people and I appreciate the show calling it out.  I also like that they've made Shammy a recurring character instead of just a one shot, but I haven't been impressed with a lot of the other storylines.  

[Raja]

5 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

T.C. = Theodore Calvin. 

I watched the original during its first run and often in syndication.   There were a variety of episodes, some far more serious than others.   I won't watch the new version.

Towards the end of the series, I think the Frank Sinatra episode (Laura) is one of the better episodes.  Death and Taxes is another good episode.

Of course there are two crossover episodes that in syndication don't look good at all given the way they have appeared to have been "edited".   One involving Jessica Fletcher, the other involving Rick and A.J. Simon.

I liked how the original series made the transition of Mac.  Magnum took advantage of Mac most of the time.  After he was blown up in a Ferrari, several years later a Mac look alike surfaces (Jim Bonnick) and he turns the table on Magnum.

They gender and race swapped Mac on Magnum PI, though she acted more like Maggie in her appearance in my opinion. I don't recall her being killed off like most of the legacy reoccurring characters yet.

[roamyn]

On 2/12/2021 at 3:09 AM, Jaded said:

I think a big part of the reason why the new Magnum isn't as entertaining as the 80's version is due to who the current one is associated with. Like it's former sister show the newer version of Hawaii Five-0 it suffers from a case of the show runners thinking a lot of action scenes can make up for a lack of story. Even though 80's Magnum could be cheesy to me it seemed like the same characters as now had more depth back then. The issue of current Higgins being female and around the same age as Magnum has been another annoyance of mine in regards to the show. 

The newer H50 was developed better.  And the four leads (plus Meghan Rath) can actually act.  I didn’t care for Jack Lord’s McGarrett.  And his persona wouldn’t work in today’s tv (The character, not the actor).  Did it go on a season or two, too long?  Yes, I think it did.  But many shows- not all - begin to suffer in some extent beyond 7-8 years.  The storylines, the actors’ apathy, the short attention span of humans, the showrunner’s or tv heads change and want different directions that might not sit well w/fandoms or actors.

But on the whole, the reboot of H50 was exciting and very much a success.

[Llywela]

On 2/14/2021 at 4:29 PM, Zella said:

On a side note, I also didn't know a character was named T.C. Whenever I hear that name, I always think of the T.C. from The Wild Bunch (part of the "egg-sucking, chicken-stealing gutter trash" crew) and did a double take with the resulting mental image. 

To me, TC will always be Top Cat! 😄 

[ABay]

4 hours ago, Llywela said:

To me, TC will always be Top Cat! 😄 

Well, yeah, cuz close friends get to call him TC providing it's with dignity.

[magicdog]

On 2/16/2021 at 1:25 PM, roamyn said:

Did it go on a season or two, too long?  Yes, I think it did.  But many shows- not all - begin to suffer in some extent beyond 7-8 years.  The storylines, the actors’ apathy, the short attention span of humans, the showrunner’s or tv heads change and want different directions that might not sit well w/fandoms or actors.

True.  Then again, considering they were on location shooting in Hawaii (so everyone had lived there full time), I can understand wanting to keep shooting there.  Jack Lord chose to remain there when the show ended.

Interestingly enough, Magnum PI premiered the fall following H5-O's cancellation (1980).

[AimingforYoko]

CBS to revive CSI with original stars William Peterson and Jorja Fox.

CBS, the most risk-averse network ever?

[Anduin]

5 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

CBS to revive CSI with original stars William Peterson and Jorja Fox.

CBS, the most risk-averse network ever?

I watched that while TWOP was doing recaps. When the recaps stopped, I lost interest. And haven't found it again in the years since.

[AimingforYoko]

Just now, Anduin said:

I watched that while TWOP was doing recaps. When the recaps stopped, I lost interest. And haven't found it again in the years since.

Didn't they end with the Tarantino episode?

[Kromm]

5 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

CBS to revive CSI with original stars William Peterson and Jorja Fox.

CBS, the most risk-averse network ever?

Yeah, but I'd pay cash, money, if they drafted Caruso too, dragged him from Miami to Vegas, and just had him do his stupid sunglasses/bad pun thing, then dissappear for the rest of the episode. 

[Anduin]

35 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

Didn't they end with the Tarantino episode?

Thinking back, no. They went on a bit further. But it's been many years, I can't be entirely sure.

[SVNBob]

On 3/31/2021 at 9:29 PM, Anduin said:

Thinking back, no. They went on a bit further. But it's been many years, I can't be entirely sure.

No, they did end with the Tarantino two-parter.   It was also a season finale, so it was a good ending point.

[Anduin]

47 minutes ago, SVNBob said:

No, they did end with the Tarantino two-parter.   It was also a season finale, so it was a good ending point.

Right. IIRC I watched a few more episodes, but without recaps the magic was gone. That was probably the only show I watched because of the recaps.

[supposebly]

On 3/31/2021 at 7:45 PM, AimingforYoko said:

CBS to revive CSI with original stars William Peterson and Jorja Fox.

CBS, the most risk-averse network ever?

No kidding. Who was asking for this? I loved the few early years (maybe until the 5th?) but no. No more procedurals with the quirky middle-aged white male genius at the helm for me. It's time to put that kind of character to rest. Permanently.

[AimingforYoko]

9 minutes ago, supposebly said:

Who was asking for this?

William Peterson's financial advisor?

[supposebly]

3 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

William Peterson's financial advisor?

I would have thought he made more than enough with his first run.

[methodwriter85]

10 hours ago, supposebly said:

No kidding. Who was asking for this? I loved the few early years (maybe until the 5th?) but no. No more procedurals with the quirky middle-aged white male genius at the helm for me. It's time to put that kind of character to rest. Permanently.

Middle aged? Maybe in 2000 he was, but dude is a senior citizen now. Lol