Posted by chicagomedia.org on July 02, 2008 at 10:04:15:
When old scripts get rewritten
So NBC is driving "Knight Rider" into the era of $4-a-gallon gas, The CW is updating "Beverly Hills, 90210" and ABC is toying with a revival of the short-lived dramedy "Cupid" in hopes viewers will fall in love this time.
Coming off a writers strike that depleted fresh material and believing a known quantity is an easier sell to viewers increasingly reluctant to commit to new characters and concepts, studios and networks are rifling through their vaults for old shows to dust off and brush up. Never mind that failures ("Kojak," "Night Stalker," "Bionic Woman") still far outnumber triumphs ("Battlestar Galactica").
Just this week, cable's AMC announced a miniseries remake of the existential cult classic, "The Prisoner," a British import that CBS aired in the late 1960s. AMC says the show's Cold War "paranoia, tense action and socio-political commentary" will now reflect "21st Century concerns and anxieties, such as liberty, security and surveillance."
Which gets one thinking about how other old programs might be made to seem fresh again in 2008.
"Lou Grant"--Owner Margaret Pynchon's Los Angeles Tribune was a thriving metropolitan daily back in the 1970s and '80s, although the bulk of the work fell to reporters Joe Rossi and Billie Newman, Animal the photographer and editors Lou Grant, Charlie Hume and Art Donovan.
Well, things have changed. Mrs. Pynchon's long gone and so is most of the staff. Now, it literally is just Joe, Billie, Animal and Lou putting the paper out in print and online—at least until the next cuts.
"9 to 5"--Same basic show based on the Dolly Parton movie as before, only now it's "8:30 to 6:15, Plus One Saturday a Month."
"The Adventures of Superman"--Mild-mannered Clark Kent makes way more money than Daily Planet cub reporter Jimmy Olsen and can't account for his lack of productivity, especially when Superman makes news.
So Kent gets laid off and becomes a political strategist. Crime surges in Metropolis as Superman abruptly turns his attention from keeping supervillains in check to crushing rogue 527 Group smear campaigns.
"The Odd Couple"--This oft-remade, oft-revived 1970s classic based on the Neil Simon play and movie about mismatched roommates gains new currency with a new media twist. Felix Unger and Oscar Madison are still divorced men sharing a New York apartment and driving each other crazy, but Felix, the neatnik snob with bad sinuses, is now the newspaper sports columnist, and Oscar, the everyman, has a smart, funny, hugely popular sports blog.
"WKRP in Cincinnati"--This 1978-82 comedy was revived once already in syndication in the early 1990s. But the once-quixotic and eclectic independent family-owned station has been bought by a huge radio conglomerate.
Herb Tarlek is the lone surviving employee, selling ads for the syndicated fare carried by the corporation's lower Ohio/upper Kentucky market cluster, mostly because his bosses would sue if he tried to leave for the Los Angeles Tribune's parent.
"The Mary Tyler Moore Show"--When last we left the gang at WJM-TV, a new owner fired everyone—including Lou Grant, who showed his acute foresight by leaving broadcasting to move back into the newspaper biz—but anchor Ted Baxter.
Sometimes no rewrite is needed.
(Tribune)