Apropos ABC’s remake of Cupid, joethefinancier writes:
On one hand, I’m glad that Cupid is getting a second chance, on the other hand, I’m almost positive that this version is going to be the Knightrider remake all over again. Bobby Cannavale is NO Jeremy Piven, and I will have to reserve my opinion on Sarah Paulson, but Paula Marshall set a pretty high bar. And can the writing be the same quality? What’s next for TV Primetime remakes? Hillstreet Blues? Golden Girls? Sports Night?
Sounds like a TV Poll! But let’s make it a little more specific. Seems to me you could distinguish between the 90210 / Knight Rider school of remake (new versions of past successful shows) and the Cupid school (second tries at past not-so-successful shows).
Let’s look at the latter. What brilliant-but-canceled show would you like to see remade? Freaks and Geeks is perhaps my favorite such show of all time, but I’m not sure I could bear a remake, even if creator Paul Feig (now a producer on The Office) could be brought back. (Forget Judd Apatow, but my fellow Michigander Feig conceived the show and the characters.) That show was so dependent on the outstanding casting that I’m afraid even a faithful remake would seem like an abomination.
On the other hand, I could see, for instance, a second shot at EZ Streets, which I also loved but I think could survive the re-casting of Ken Olin and Joey Pants. Likewise, I could go for the return of Wonderland (not Wonderfalls), the 2000 ABC Peter Berg drama set at a mental hospital… if any network were, as it were, crazy enough to try it.
Your candidates?