What long gone TV series needs to come back in a modern interpretation?

[Skip Intro]

Different name, maybe, but same premise.

[mth44sc]

1. None

period

[Skip Intro]

2. Yes. Yes. Yes. They do. Especially Bewitched. nt

[XemaSab]

3. A MASH-type show in Afghanistan could be interesting

Not a remake but a modern interpretation...

[Skip Intro]

4. Thanks. Changed "remake" to "modern interpretation"

[Fire Walk With Me]

5. Mr. Ed.

Except, it's based in Washington D.C. and Wilbur is a lobbyist.



Hollywood, I await the flood of offers!

[Skip Intro]

8. Hey, I get a cut. My thread inspired your idea. 20% will be fine.

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. Damn, you're good. Okay, deal!

Before you find out about co-producing ;)

[Skip Intro]

15. Waiiit A Minnnute.

Suddenly I feel like Bebe from Fraiser.

20% and a share of the residuals.

That's my final offer.

[Fire Walk With Me]

19. See, at this point, Mr. Ed clops in and says "Willllburrrr...

...this is the Senate, not "Let's Make A Deal"!"

Antics ensue!

[Skip Intro]

33. .

:rofl:

[kentauros]

9. A lobbyist for whom? Monsanto?

:P

[Tangerine LaBamba]

6. "Doctor, Doctor"

The funniest damn show ever on TV.

[Skip Intro]

11. I'm drawing a blank.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. No surprise.......

It was about 20 years ago, and it only lasted a couple of years. Low ratings got it cancelled, but it was incredibly smart and sly and filthy and you really had to pay attention with all the jokes that they slipped past the censors.

It was one of the first shows to portray a gay man coming out and revealing that he was HIV-positive.

Amazing show, really.

Here ya go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Doctor_(1989_TV_series)

[yellowdogintexas]

30. That WAS a good show. I was thinking abou all the ways Matt Frewer would pronounce Deidre's

name just the other day.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

35. I had them all on videotape,

and just left them stacked in the closet.

Yep. The tape deteriorated.

I got nothing. And it's never been released on DVD, alas.

[kentauros]

7. I Dream of Jeannie, college-age version

:D

I'd be happy with a teen-genie cartoon, though ;)

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. It was called "Weird Science" and Danny Elfman did the title music.

What more could you ask for? :)

[kentauros]

16. What more I could ask for is "I Dream of Jeannie"

;)

I want a Middle Eastern djinni, not the weird science one, though I liked that show, too :)

Something like this: Djinnified!

[begin_within]

14. Fractured Flickers, Police Squad, In Living Color, Upstairs Downstairs, Monty Python's Flying Circus

[Deja Q]

17. "Roseanne"

"All in the Family" was redone, sorta, as "Boston Public". Both shows, while good, felt staged.

"Three's Company" was innocent double entendre and silliness. Hilarious stuff. Given today's sitcoms, which rely more on direct explicitness rather than double entendre, I'm not sure it'd work. And who'd believe the co-ed platonic situation these days? It'd be the exact opposite; people don't think "platonic" relationships are even possible. It's always about sexual relationships. And guess what's going to sell more... so 3's Company must remain a product of its time. I don't see it working in today's America.

"Married with Children" became a template... and while MWC was sold as a parody, subsequent shows kept forgetting the parody aspect. This one too must remain "of its time".

"Roseanne" was a working class show about working class people and their children. And of all the shows listed, it felt the most "real". Moreso than any "reality show" garbage.

Maybe even "The Cosby Show" - clean, fun, had a moral at the end... season 1 rocked... or is it too clean for modern audiences? That's the scary part...

But I voted "Roseanne".

[Skip Intro]

22. .

All good observations, my friend, but Hypnotoad - you changed your name? How will I ever remember who you were without your frog? Is this your first name change? I changed from nu_duer to Skip Intro, and am thinking of changing to zephyr. Wow. No more Hypnotoad, per se.

At any rate, yeah, Rosanne would be one that should be remade. Lotta hard working Americans in hard times. I think it would work, and would be therapeutic, as Rosanne was to many.

[kentauros]

29. How about Bosom Buddies ?

Think we'd end up with another Tom Hanks on our hands? :D

[Lethe]

77. Busom Buddies ....

lol

i went in to my local grocery store the other night feelin' really buzzed. while i was shopping the theme song to Busom Buddies came on the intercom (they play music 24/7) it cracked me up so bad, i couldn't stop laughing...

and then i wondered what the hell happened to the other guy on that show? is he teamed up with the other guy from WHAM! now or what?

edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeyJOcuGbyI

[kentauros]

18. Not so long-lost: Frank's Place

Such a great, intelligent and funny show.

And it starred Tim Reid! :D

[KamaAina]

54. And timely, too

Frank has to figure out how to rebuild the restaurant after the Federal Flood. You know he'd be tempted to just pack it all in and go back to Boston; remember, he was uneasy about settling in New Orleans to begin with.

Everybody else has to figure out how or whether to rebuild, too, or Frank won't have any customers.

[Paladin]

20. "The Man From UNCLE"

I doubt if the original could be improved upon, but it would be fun to see an attempt.....

[graywarrior]

21. My Mother the Car

No, wait....

The Wild Wild West

No!.... Car 54!

Wait wait wait..... MAVERICK!!!!!! Starring.....John and Sarah!

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

23. Get A Life

considering todays economic outlook, I bet a comedy about an adult man living in his parents basement might click with some people.

[Fire Walk With Me]

24. Sweet. It would even be funny to simply continue the series

20 years from where it left off. He's still a paper boy :)

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

26. just the thought of the opening

is cracking me up

[jmowreader]

75. No. A thousand times no.

In 21st Century America, we call an adult man living in his parents' basement a Freeper. They're not funny at all.

[Robeson]

25. The Carol Burnett Show....

...of course, only if Carol Burnett were a part of it...:-)

[RFKHumphreyObama]

27. None

It will only be a disaster

[kentauros]

28. Sabrina the Teenage Witch did quite well

for something that was a spinoff of an old Filmation cartoon, and in itself a spinoff of The Archies ;)

[Liberal_in_LA]

31. The Prisoner. Star Trek

[Fire Walk With Me]

32. RIP Patrick.

If they could re-do The Prisoner, and do it with some equal panache and awareness, it might rule.

Might.

[Blue_Tires]

67. we shall see

http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner/

[Skip Intro]

38. Star Trek, man. Get back to the basics with it, and show me some places man has never gone before.

The new movie goes back to the Kirk and Spock days, and that might be cool, but I want to be awed by the distant future, I want to encounter strange life and new civilizations, I want to boldly go where no one has gone before. I want to be awed by futuristic technology. I want to marvel at the possibilities of what exists many light years away. Give me that premise, and a starship that seeks to explore, that seeks out the unknown. That's what I want from Star Trek. That, goddammit, is their mission!

[kwassa]

34. Knight Rider

oh, wait.

[Skip Intro]

36. yeah

[Auggie]

37. Mannix. Whatever to the P.I. genre anyway?

[Fire Walk With Me]

39. "Starsky and Hutch"

but from Huggy Bear's point of view.

I'm so easy, Mad Magazine's spoof had me rolling for years, calling his character "Buggy Hair". I'm almost over it now.

[RagAss]

40. Ready and Waiting.....

[Initech]

41. Ultraman could be intresting if it were done by JJ Abrams (LOST, Alias, etc).

[crimsonblue]

42. None of the above.

[Pierre.Suave]

43. Leave It To Beaver...

What? Was this supposed to be a Family show?

:P

[Richard Steele]

44. WKRP in Cincinatti

MST3K would be better, but only if it was done "high end"...
A million-dollar-per-episode budget with the rights to RECENT movies,
and an all-star cast of voices.

Imagine Ryan Stiles, Kelsey Grammar, and Patrick Warburton
snarking on "Majority Report" one week,
"Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector" the next,
and that horribly bad copycat crap "The Grudge" a week after that.

I'd buy that for a dollar.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

45. I voted Star Trek, but afterwards I realized what I REALLY REALLY want is...

[bookworm65t]

46. Twilight Zone

The original can't be outdone, but like you said, a modern interpretation would be interesting.

[geardaddy]

48. They already have remade TZ

Original Series (1959-1964) 156
First Revival (1985-1989) 65
Second Revival (2002-2003) 44

[kentauros]

50. And "TZ" has been remade in the Lounge

:P

[geardaddy]

51. Heeeee!

lol

[geardaddy]

47. How about a Barnaby Jones, Cannon, Kojak mix

starring John McCain as Barnaby Jones, Karl Rove as Cannon, and * as Kojak (except he rubs bald heads instead of having one).

[Jamastiene]

49. Bewitched would be great.

I had the biggest crush on Elizabeth Montgomery when I was a little girl. :loveya:

[kentauros]

65. I still prefer Jeannie

[Iggo]

52. None. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

[krispos42]

53. MASH

A character-driven comedy taking place in, say, the former Yugoslavia.




MST3k needs to come back, but doesn't need to be re-imagines. It just needs to come back!

[kwassa]

55. Baywatch

:bounce: :bounce:

[geardaddy]

56. Fantasy Island...

n/t

[InvisibleTouch]

72. There was a remake a few years ago.

Didn't last long, and it was pretty bad. Totally lacked the charm of the original.

[victoryparty]

57. The White Shadow

[DS1]

58. Riptide!

[Bucky]

74. Hell yes! That show shoulda gone on for 8 seasons!

They were the usual Magnum-lite TV PI studs, but they flew in a fucking pink helicopter and their requisite hot chick neighbor was Anne Francis! How can so much awesome fit in just 45 minutes of television?

[IDemo]

59. Mayberry, RFD

With Obama as the well spoken, well reasoned Sheriff. I'm not sure if Bush should be the puffed up Barney Fife or the town drunk, though.

[NewJeffCT]

60. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Only cuz the show ruled, and I'd love to see a continuation.

[Iggo]

61. On second thought...

...this is the correct answer.

More Buffy.

[NewJeffCT]

64. I thought the last season

Joss Whedon tried to get in three season's worth of ideas, but never quite developed them all to their full potential.

[Throd]

62. "When Things Were Rotten"

[bigwillq]

63. I voted for Roseanne

It's timeless, and the issues they dealt with are still relevant today.

[MrCoffee]

66. Small Wonder

[Blue_Tires]

68. Lancelot Link!

I kid, I kid...

Although i was never a big fan of it (little before my time)...wouldn't a well-written "Dallas" remake just clean up all the ratings?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

69. If MASH came back in a current war, they'd be dealing with Haliburton and >>

It'd be like MASH Meets Milo Minderbinder (from Catch-22).

[MrScorpio]

70. That Girl

This time she's an ex porn star, ex crack addict who got back in the job force after spending time as a sex slave in an Mexican prison.

She's got secrets, but can drink any man under a table.

Things get interesting when she goes out on dates

[Drunken Girlfriend]

71. ..

Popular was a good show,that got canceled quite quickly.

I was also a big fan of Swingtown,which got canceled after only one season.

[Bucky]

73. Why is Ultraman NOT winning this poll? It's really the only rework-needing series on the list

Redoing "All in the Family" or "MASH" would miss the point that both series are historical artifacts, their essense was the conveyance of 1970s values. Re-visioning I Love Lucy would be the television equivalent of the "New Coke". (Actually, they even tried it once; they called it Dharma and Greg and the show was palatable, but still had more than the normal level of television pointlessness.)

[Bucky]

76. Presented for exclusive repost rights: Bucky's revisionization for an American "Ab Fab"

This came out in a post two or three days ago. I think my Americanization of "Ab Fab" is simply the single most American TV show one can imagine. As American as "All in the Family," as American as "Sanford and Son." The original post is here ==> { http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=8456023&mesg_id=8460646 } and goes steadily downhill throughout the thread.

This (an American Ab Fab) would probably work as an American show if they slightly changed the format, like...

Instead of being lushes, you could make the stars into these buddy cops who work under cover as airline attendants or maybe strippers. Also, less with the talking all the time and maybe throw in the occasional car chase or... no, wait... the occasional speedboat race... and give them a wacky streetwise side kick named "Rock-o" who's also a wiz with computers so he can help them solve their cases.

Yeh, Ab Fab could totally work on American television that way. Just make sure the stars aren't fucking dinosaurs like on the British version.

---

responding to cries of incredulity, I offered a slight reworking of the original content

---

okay, what about this...

You keep the two "old" ladies (just don't cast any over-35 fossils---I mean, shit, people gotta look at 'em, after all) only it's more like Mary and Rhoda, but with kids. I'm thinking three cute kids, aged 7-12 so that they still can hang onto the cute factor a few years in case the show goes into multiple seasons. Anyway, the focus would be on the kids who get into all sorts of crazy antics, except underneath it all, they're really good kids who just like to say precocious things. Then the moms can explain the moral of story at the end of each episode.

Also, you gotta expand the demographic, so throw in a zany neighbor character: I'm thinkin' a wacky streetwise dude named "Rock-o" who's also a wiz with computers so he can help the kids do their homework.

---

only the lovely valerief understood the depths of my genius vision---or is it genius RE-vision?

---

(ValerieF): As long as they're kind to children, too.


See, now you're thinkin'! Maybe in the US version they own a pet store or something

You can't go wrong with scenes involving the "Ab Fab" gals cuddling little puppies. Audiences will eat it up!


(ValerieF): And a lovable, curmudgeony Gramps to go with the lovable Grammy. And maybe a neighbor who's a witch, too.

So, ya see, DUers, turning stale, talky British shows into American TV gold ain't rocket science... it's just a matter of practically applying sound business principles. Give the people what they want. The American people? They want puppies!

[Lethe]

78. Riptide

why not? lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMq59GCaIfw