# Shows That Need a Reboot **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [August 8, 2021, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242 "2021-08-08T17:03:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/41 "2021-08-10T14:23:48Z")
> [@Tarataratara](#): > > I’d love to see a Little House on the Prairie series that is accurate to the books, perhaps more of a mini-series. I’d like to see a costume drama mini-series of “An American Tragedy” (although the movie “A Place in the Sun” is pretty good). ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/42 "2021-08-10T14:33:55Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The Patrick McGoohan series was a model of quirkiness, originality, weirdness, and wit. The 2009 reboot wasn’t. > > You couldn’t expect to simply remake the original – we’re out of that whole Cold War Spy thing altogether, but we are definitely in a new era of paranoia, spy drones, monitors everywhere, and social concerns of all types. It’s rich ground, provided you can pull off the kind of mix that the original series had. And you need a compelling central character, a reason he or she was abducted, and plausible contending villains, even if it’s al eventually revealed to be a dream/delusion/simulation/what have you. > > Plus we now have much better effects. Rover doesn’t have to be a bouncing weather balloon – it can be a morphing CGI creation with virtually unlimited capability. > > You need someplace interesting to film it, as the original had Portmeirion. Swakopmund wouldn’t cut it. [There was already a reboot in 2009](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner_(2009_miniseries)). It was deeply uninteresting. I want to see a Whedonesque sequel that refers to - and somehow makes as much sense as possible out of - the original series. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/43 "2021-08-10T14:38:02Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > [There was already a reboot in 2009](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner_(2009_miniseries)). It was deeply uninteresting. And if you had read my entry carefully you would have seen that I already said that. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/44 "2021-08-10T14:38:11Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > > [@DCnDC](#): > > > > I would like a return of the original **Law & Order**. SVU is terrible. All of the other spin-offs were not great. I don’t give a fuck about these peoples’ personal lives.! > > Man, I loved the 90s original L&O where it was truly about the case. While there were some great actors in the roles of the investigators and the prosecution team, each episode was extremely focused on the case and we barely ever learned anything about the teams private lives. Well, except for occasional stuff like Rey Curtis’ troubled marriage. If they did revive Law & Order, they’d probably double down on marital problems, wayward children, failed in vitro fertilization efforts and the like. Julia Roberts (who to my recollection was in a couple of episodes) could be brought back as a tough-but-caring squad captain. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/45 "2021-08-10T14:38:49Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And if you had read my entry carefully you would have seen that I already said that. I blame memory erasure. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/46 "2021-08-10T14:43:36Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Plus, the show ran for 20 seasons, so I think they were just running out of good stories to tell. By the end nearly every episode was “ripped from the headlines” case. It’s fun watching re-runs now and going “oh yeah, I think I remember that news story.” ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/47 "2021-08-10T15:04:49Z")
I assume you mean the traditional problem of most musicals, that the action stops when someone randomly breaks into song? Yeah, the music has to be good enough for that to work. Which my wife and I thought it generally was with Cop Rock, but, again, we were the only ones who thought so! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/48 "2021-08-10T15:11:50Z")
Some musicals manage it just fine - Sondheim is excellent at moving the plot and/or character development along during songs. But Cop Rock was purely “everything stops during the song” - often including other characters just standing there watching someone sing - which meant that plots were simplistic and/or took multiple episodes to resolve. The songs were pretty catchy in themselves but man, they made the show drag. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/49 "2021-08-10T16:06:20Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Well, except for occasional stuff like Rey Curtis’ troubled marriage. It’s kinda fun to spot the little nuggets of the _L&O_ characters private lives, but I’m glad they don’t overdo it. I just saw an episode last night with Max Greevey visiting Capt. Cragen at home, and we briefly see Cragen’s wife. I read somewhere that Lennie Briscoe’s death was referenced three times in the Law&Order-verse; once by each of his three partners. I’ve seen two of those. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/50 "2021-08-10T16:20:08Z")
> [@salinqmind1](#): > > Green Acres remake - I don’t think that would fly today. The countryside seems to be populated with ‘guns and Jesus’ tRumpanzees, family farms are being decimated, and big corporations are growing Monsanto crops. There may be bumbling fools for the city slicker to interact with, but not much charm like GA had. Or worse, it would be on RFD-TV or TNN or some other country-centric channel, and it would be turned around with stomach turning glurge about how the rural life is so great, and how Oliver and Lisa gradually come around to love this fictional country life. The original centered more on a fish out of water story with the added bit of having really weird and surreal country people- Hooterville was not portrayed as “normal” in any way- rural or otherwise. My worry would be that they’d ditch that angle and make the country characters and settings perfect and idyllic, and the city slickers would be the weirdos. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/51 "2021-08-10T17:24:26Z")
> [@bump](#): > > My worry would be that they’d ditch that angle and make the country characters and settings perfect and idyllic, and the city slickers would be the weirdos. In other words, _The Andy Griffith Show_. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/52 "2021-08-10T18:41:25Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > Perfect Strangers: An immigrant as a family member, reacting to American ways. Maybe reverse the plot and have an American family sent overseas. Not that it really matters, but Perfect Strangers is streaming on Hulu or Netflix, I watched the first few episodes a few weeks ago. > [@salinqmind1](#): > > Green Acres remake - I don’t think that would fly today. The countryside seems to be populated with ‘guns and Jesus’ tRumpanzees, family farms are being decimated, and big corporations are growing Monsanto crops But the writer can create whatever background they want. There’s no reason why they couldn’t put them on a farm and have them interact with little more than a small handful of people that aren’t like that. A great example where the background was curated to the show was Schitt’s Creek (and also a good example of a fish out of water story). One thing I noticed throughout the show is that no one ever gave David a hard time about his lifestyle. His parents and family being 100% accepting makes sense. Stevie was pretty open minded, as were many of the other characters, but Roland? I always expected Roland to, at the very least, make fun of him for what he was wearing. In an interview with Dan Levy, he made his intentions very clear. He explained that it seems like every show that has non-straight/cis character, at some point, has them go through an arc where it’s a problem. Usually a problem with other people bullying them. Dan said, and I paraphrase/quote “There will be no judgement in Schitt’s Creek”. TLDR, you can set a show in a stereotypical redneck GOP area, without the characters being stereotypical redneck GOPs. ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/53 "2021-08-10T18:51:03Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > LOL, I was gonna say that sounds like a production cancelled at episode 8 kinda show You’re absolutely right! Apparently it was. People in the 80s did not enjoy dining on this very fine cheese. But since just about everything else from the 80s has been dredged up, reheated in a microwave and served up on a plate, why not more exotic fare? Keep him all Automan-y with his 80sness, but throw him in today’s world. Without going all post-modern about it, I think there’s a lot of room for a genuinely interesting show. But for heaven’s sake, not Manimal. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/54 "2021-08-10T19:02:09Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I read somewhere that Lennie Briscoe’s death was referenced three times in the Law&Order-verse; once by each of his three partners. I’ve seen two of those. I remember two: Rey told Van Buren, at his wife’s funeral, how he talked to Lennie “at the end”. Logan (in Criminal Intent, to his new date) tells how Lennie comes to him in a dream, “I’m not dead, Mike!” What was Ed’s? ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/55 "2021-08-10T19:11:42Z")
How about the show _Reboot_. Its 3D animation is looking pretty dated these days. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/56 "2021-08-10T19:45:48Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > How about the show _Reboot_ . > **[ReBoot: The Guardian Code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReBoot:_The_Guardian_Code)** > > ReBoot: The Guardian Code is a Canadian teen drama science fiction live-action/CGI-animated television series produced by Mainframe Studios. Originally announced in 2013, the first ten episodes debuted on Netflix worldwide (excluding Canada) on March 30, 2018. YTV aired all twenty episodes from June 4 to July 5, 2018. > Four teenaged gamers, who are members of an online game's highest-scoring team, meet in person on their first day at Alan Turing High School. Their enrollment was arranged by Ver... ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/57 "2021-08-10T19:49:50Z")
> Blockquote Carter Country ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/58 "2021-08-10T19:56:54Z")
Schitt’s Creek. - David’s ‘lifestyle’? do you mean his fashion sense? Because if you mean ‘gay gay gay’ - for the billionth time - ‘HOMOSEXUALITY IS NOT A LIFESTYLE’. I am straight, I live my life, but it is not a ‘lifestyle’ - I just AM. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/59 "2021-08-10T20:01:36Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > Perfect Strangers: An immigrant as a family member, reacting to American ways. Maybe reverse the plot and have an American family sent overseas. The American sent overseas plot was done (albeit not with the immigrant as a family member) with the short-lived sitcom _Outsourced_, about an American executive sent to India to run his company’s call center. That sort of fish out of water comedy could be good, but you’d have to be careful that the portrayal of the foreign characters doesn’t come across as racist – some of my Indian-American acquaintances had that complaint about Outsourced. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242/60 "2021-08-10T20:04:13Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > What was Ed’s? It was in Ed’s last episode. He talks about getting back into gambling after Lennie died. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-that-need-a-reboot/948242.md?page=4)