With the writer’s strike over, I had hoped that quality television would return, and I wouldn’t have to see another rerun until summertime, but the studios have found another way to market remakes.
I’m talking about remaking old shows and then selling them as new ones. NBC made a television movie remake of “Knight Rider.” Apparently, NBC is seriously considering making this a series.
This was the embodiment of cheese.
As if the dramatic music wasn’t bad enough, it wasn’t even loud enough to drown out the terrible lines.
While I’m on the subject of terrible lines, let me turn my attention to another bad show, “American Gladiators.” This show may be classified as a reality show, but I’m sure that the banter is from the original because I refuse to believe that any self-respecting writer of today would willingly write any of that garbage.
“Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles” is a continuation of a story started in the “Terminator” movies. This is pretty pointless because it takes place between “Terminator 2” and “Terminator 3,” so fans of the movies will already know what happened. The show is a lot like the “Knight Rider” remake in that it’s overly dramatic at times.
Some remakes are successful, like “The Office.” The difference between “The Office” and these new shows is that instead of trying to stay so close to the original, the writers for “The Office” have taken the show in a different direction and made it work.
There are more recycled plots on the way.
According to various sites, George Lucas is working on a “Star Wars” TV series, which would supposedly be comprised of the events between Episode III and Episode IV.
I guess George Lucas wasn’t finished ruining the “Star Wars” franchise, so this television series will be the stake in the heart for it. I’m just going to cross my fingers that there isn’t (another) “Indiana Jones” TV series in the works.
I hope that the newly resolved writer’s strike will remind the executives at the networks that they already have some pretty good shows.
Contrary to what studios may think, it’s not possible to take an old show and revamp it so that it’s better. All they’ve achieved are bad lines, bad effects and generic plotlines with familiar characters.
Instead of remaking old shows, try being creative and come up with a new show. After all, most classic shows didn’t start out as a remake.