Kevin Fallon points out that most reboots of classic series don’t stick around long:
Sleek, hip, and expensive relaunches of The Bionic Woman (which in 1978 starred an indestructible Lindsay Wagner) and Knight Rider (the ‘80s series in which a pre-Baywatch David Hasselhoff talks to his crime-fighting car) were high-profile disappointments for NBC in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The one-two punch of failure would be the cautionary tale against remaking TV classics—had attempts at reviving Get Smart, Love Boat, and Melrose Place (among others) not tanked spectacularly before them. Given the graveyard of TV remakes haunting Hollywood, why do networks keep churning them out?
Because familiar brand names are worth something, particularly when trying to launch a new show in the fall. And while the batting average isn’t great, several shows have worked, including 90210, Battlestar Galactica and Hawaii Five-O.
One could argue that the reboots Fallon lists simply weren’t very good (though I enjoyed the new Melrose Place).
For example, V was a slo-mo car crash of lizard sex and muddled religious allegory. The only reason it stuck around for a second season is that V is in its very DNA kind of awesome.1
Look at it from a network president’s point of view. You’ve ordered pilots. They’ve been shot. Now you’re trying to decide what you want on your schedule.
Given two shows that seem roughly equal in quality, wouldn’t you pick the one with a pre-sold name? Do you want a comedy with a witch or Bewitched?
TV reboots will continue. Most of them will fail. But that’s because most TV shows fail. That’s TV.
- I watched every episode of V. But then again, I would watch Elizabeth Mitchell boil water. When I close my eyes, Juliet is still living in her Dharma Initiative bungalow, waiting for her reading group. ↩