The mantra in Hollywood certainly must be “Breathe and Reboot,” as there are scads of old “new shows” coming our way. Yes, that sounds
like an oxymoron, though not like Donald Trump, he’s just the latter portion of that
word...Mmmkay. Your TV screen is heading into a time warp and we will be reheating some TV dinners that are probably past their expiration dates. Not surprisingly, the recent big screen success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens wasn’t so much a wake-up call that nostalgia can break box-office records; it was more of a reminder that there is still gold in them thar already mined hills! With the X-Files reboot proving to be a ratings winner for Fox, even though some episodes were (cough, cough) better than others. I’m talking right to you Were-Lizard...You comin’ at me, bro? Trust me, I ain’t scured. Now the floodgates are open for more visits from the “Ghosts of TV Shows Past.” Let’s see which ones have the potential to leave us awe-struck and the others that will leave us pale and screaming “Boo” at the screen?
Fantasy Island was a place you could visit on Saturday nights
for seven seasons, as Ricardo Montalban’s Mr. Roarke and diminutive thespian, Hervé Villechaize as Tattoo, welcomed Hollywood stalwarts such as Sonny Bono, to fulfill their deepest
desires...Like a paycheck. CBS thinks it’s time to dust off ye ol’ premise, however, there won’t actually be an island. It’ll just be a company called Fantasy Island that does the wish fulfillments and Mr. Roarke will be a woman—hear her Roar-ke? Sounds flawless.
Keep an eye out for two Another getting-the-sequel-as-a-TV-show-treatment; is ABC’s
proposed My Best Friend’s Wedding. It’s a continuation of the misadventures of Julianne Potter and her gay bestie George, as portrayed on celluloid by Julia Roberts and Rupert Everett.
STOP ME IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE
In a much simpler time, television was
more of escapist fare, especially during the ’70s and ’80s. I mean how many rich couples playing detective do you see nowadays? That was the premise of Hart to Hart, which starred Robert Wagner and Stefanie Pow- ers. That’s Mrs. H., she’s a knockout! The show is getting a very new life on—take three guesses—NBC, with a major change in store. The couple in question will now be gay, with attorney Jonathan Hart and investigator Dan Hartman as lead characters. Umm, wouldn’t that make it Hart to Hartman? The show’s tagline: “When they met, it was murder,” will probably be changed to, “When they met, it was fabulous!”
other reboots in talks. Mak- ing a possible comeback, will be both MacGyver and The A-Team, hoping to get the go-ahead for a series order. “Pity the fool” that doesn’t know how to disarm a nuclear bomb with a paper clip! Prison Break is also looking to “break out,” not as a reboot, but as a story continuation of hot, TV inmate brothers Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell. Maybe Miller’s coming out as gay in 2015, can be worked in to the Fox revival? If I ask, “Pretty please,” would it help?
One of TV’s most surreal
shows had to be Twin Peaks, which delved into the question of “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” Clue: Her dad did it! (You’re welcome.) Though it took Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) to figure that out. Now, Showtime and director and series creator David Lynch
surmised the time was ripe to bring back old faces, mixed of course, with some new ones. MacLachlan will reprise his role, as will many in the original troupe. Lara Flynn Boyle however, will not return as Donna, as is the case with Michael Ontkean as Sheriff Harry S. Truman. This will be “season three” of the series and is set to debut in the first part of 2017, with Laura Dern, Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Naomi Watts joining the fractured fray. Hopefully, they have brushed up on how to speak in dwarf... And saved room, for sweet cherry pie and some damn fine coffee.
We shall see, literally, which remake might achieve the reboot success of Hawaii Five-O and which may...Ahem... Flame out like Heroes: Reborn.
MARCH 2016 | RAGE monthly 39
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