# Has a show/movie ever been revisited? (further explanation inside) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 25, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841 "2006-10-25T14:43:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/41 "2006-10-26T21:54:11Z")
Of course, we’ve all forgotten the original “revisited” special that sparked off the whole syndrome of reuniting-old-tv-show-casts-and-showing-what-happened-after-the-show-was-cancelled phenomenon: “Escape from Gilligan’s Island” (or “Rescue from…” or “Return to…” or something or other). That was a mini-series, IIRC. It’s huge ratings prompted a TV movie in which the island is at last discovered, charted, and turned into a resort by the castaways. The Harlem Globetrotters dropped by for a visit! Then there’s “the Brady Bunch Variety Hour”…but the less said about that the better. Slightly better was “the Mod Squad” reunion. In fact, is there a tv show that _didn’t_ get revisited??? I expect to see an updated “Seinfeld” any time now, showing what happened to the gang after they got out of jail. (It WILL happen! You know it will! Accept it!) ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/42 "2006-10-26T23:07:03Z")
Star Wars Episode VII. (Subtitle: “George Lucas didn’t realize how easy it was to burn through 100 billion dollars.”) Or maybe I dreamed that. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/43 "2006-10-26T23:29:14Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] **National Velvet** 1944 Elizabeth Taylor as the 12-yr-old Velvet Brown. **International Velvet** 1978 Nanette Newman as the 46-yr-old Velvet Brown. [/QUOTE] If it’s a different actress, then it doesn’t fit the criteria. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/44 "2006-10-26T23:48:03Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] Also The New Leave it to Beaver. [/QUOTE] And then of course there was the new Leave it to Beaver, also. I think it was set in the 80s and called Still the Beaver but I really have nothing to go off of. Does anyone else remember it? ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/45 "2006-10-27T00:37:05Z")
_Mary and Rhoda_, a 2000 made-for-TV movie reunited Mary Tyler Moore and Valeie Harper as their characters from _The MTM Show_. No other regulars from the tv series apeared in the movie. [http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0137937/](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0137937/) ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/46 "2006-10-27T07:35:54Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Patrick MacNee returned as John Steed in **The New Avengers**. Nobody else came back, though. I understand Diana Rigg made a guest appearance in one episode, but I must have blinked – I missed her. [/QUOTE] I forget the ep title, but it was actually ten-year-old footage of Rigg which had been edited out of one of her original episodes, not an actual newly-filmed appearance. Her dialogue in the clip was ambiguous enough that they were able to pretend she was speaking of whatever was currently occuring in the new episode, or something like that. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/47 "2006-10-27T07:39:09Z")
To the OP: There were a couple of **Father Knows Best** reunion telefilms (shot on videotape, iirc) in the late-70s. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/48 "2006-10-27T09:20:16Z")
[Maverick](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050037/) and [Bret Maverick](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081837/) fit your criteria I think. There were a few one-offs in between and since. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/49 "2006-10-27T10:57:22Z")
The Beverly Hillbillies came back for a one-episode reunion special in, I think, 1984. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/50 "2006-10-27T12:44:50Z")
_The Wild Wild West_ had 2 reunion movies I think, as did _I Spy_, the latter being alot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/51 "2006-10-27T13:00:08Z")
The Twilight Zone’s [It’s a Good Life](http://www.tzworld.com/ITSAGOODLIFE_EP.html) and the New Twilight Zone’s [It’s Still A Good Life](http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue304/screen3.html) ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/52 "2006-10-27T13:18:34Z")
One interesting cross medium example is the Smiths song “This Night Has Opened My Eyes” continues the action of the great but impossible to find in the States UK film “A Taste of Honey”. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/53 "2006-10-27T14:17:10Z")
The New and Improved Superman writes: \> Of course, we’ve all forgotten the original “revisited” special that sparked off \> the whole syndrome of reuniting-old-tv-show-casts-and-showing-what \> happened-after-the-show-was-cancelled phenomenon: “Escape from Gilligan’s \> Island” (or “Rescue from…” or “Return to…” or something or other). Is this really true? Was _Gilligan’s Island_ the first American TV show to have a special (i.e., a TV movie) in which the cast was reunited? There were certainly cases before it where a character (and the actor) was brought back for a new series that was more or less a sequel (like _Dragnet_, which ran 1951 to 1959 and then was brought back to run 1967 to 1970). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/54 "2006-10-27T14:22:46Z")
I think he may be right. While **Dragnet** went from radio to TV to movie and finally back to TV, I think the only constant was Jack Webb. There had been spinoffs (December Bride\> Pete and Gladys, Danny Thomas \> Andy Griffith \> gomer Pyle \> Mayberry RFD), but that’s different. There had been a reunion of Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, but it was a TV special, not a recreation of the series, and no other cast members were present. The first I can really rcall of a TV reunion show was that “Gilligan’s Island” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/55 "2006-10-27T22:43:30Z")
^^^^Nope, **Father Knows Best** did it in 1977. > **[Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas (TV Movie 1977) ⭐ 7.9 | Comedy, Drama,...](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319404/)** > > 1h 28m | TV-PG Sir Rhosis Another to add. **Cannon** returned around 1980/81 with a two-hour movie, again starring William Conrad. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/56 "2006-10-27T23:19:13Z")
The new animated Scooby Doo movies are followups to either the Scooby Doo Mysteries TV show or the various old movies. The first one, which either takes place in Massachusetts or Lousianna, shows all the characters in their current jobs (Velma runs a book store specializing in mystery books, Scooby and Shaggy work airport security, Daphne is the host of a TV talk show and Fred is the producer of the show. Scrappy Doo is presumably still upstairs cleaning his room.) These are notable just because the gang is now old and cynical, and first assumes that whatever mystery is the cause of things like smoke and mirrors and such (in **Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost** , they even solve the mystery as such within a few minutes of arriving in town, only to have an actual ghost appear soon after). Of course, my favorite thing about Scooby Doo and the Witches Ghost (in spoiler tags): One of the special guest celebrities turned out to be the villian ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/57 "2006-10-28T03:11:25Z")
Can’t believe I didn’t think of this one before: Francois Truffaut had a long series of films showing the life of the character Antoine Dionel, all played by Jean-Pierre Leaud (US titles): **The Four Hundred Blows** (1959) **Love at 20** (1962) **Stolen Kisses** (1968) **Bed and Board** (1970) **Love on the Run** (1979) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/58 "2006-10-28T12:39:55Z")
If we’re counting songs, then Nina, Pretty Ballerina on ABBA’s “Ring Ring” grew into the “Dancing Queen” on “Arrival.” ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/59 "2006-10-28T18:21:44Z")
In 1973, Richard Lester directed [The Three Musketeers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072281/) and [The Four Musketeers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073012/), based on Alexander Dumas’ novel, _The Three Musketeers_ In 1989, Lester re-united most of the original cast to make [The Return of the Musketeers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098194/), which was based on Alexander Dumas’ sequel \*Twenty Years After \* ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841/60 "2006-10-28T19:03:58Z")
_Spenser For Hire_, a series starring Robert Urich and Avery Brooks (based on my favourite guilty pleasure, the Spenser series written by Robert B. Parker), was brought back as a series of TV movies after it was cancelled. Almost all of the same actors were in it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-show-movie-ever-been-revisited-further-explanation-inside/377841.md?page=4)