Ben Robins with 5 cult TV shows that deserve a reboot…
Despite something of a critical bollocking, Dwayne Johnson’s tongue-in-cheek Baywatch reboot is set to take on a huge portion of the summer box office takings. And considering that it’s very much following in the footsteps of similar cult TV reboot success stories like 21 Jump Street, it proves that there’s definitely a market for all those other giants of the small screen, quietly waiting in the wings, ready to take that final big leap into blockbuster territory. In fact, there’s so many of these already in active development, that this feature got more and more difficult to research as it went along, with all of the best ideas seemingly already snatched up.
So, from that other well-known Hasselhoff project, to some straight-up risky bids, here’s a collection of potential big money reboots that we could see happening just about any day now.
Knight Rider
Chances are, some executive somewhere is literally reading a script for a Hollywood reboot of this classic Hoff vehicle as we speak. There’s already been numerous follow-ons, from a post-apocalyptic mid-90s TV movie (set in the far-off dystopia of 2010), to the short-lived 2008 mini-series of the same name, but we’re still yet to see an update that does the cheesy 80s detective drama justice. And in a post-Baywatch movie world, why the hell not.
To those still somehow unaware of its set-up, Knight Rider saw a pre-beach body Hoff tackling the forces of evil alongside a hyper-intelligent (and practically indestructible) robot car called K.I.T.T., that, aside from pretty much doing most of the criminal-catching legwork, could speak and sling a one-liner faster than any able-bodied action hero could ever muster too. If that’s not a great set-up for another self-mocking comedy right there, I don’t know what is. You could even cast Dwayne Johnson again and set up a whole Hasselhoff-centric cinematic universe. With the right script and voice talent, it could be the next big thing.
Cagney & Lacey
On a totally different, much more progressive note – Cagney & Lacey is the ultimate reboot-waiting-to-happen. With plans already in place for a female-lead Jump Street spin-off, and news hitting even just this week of an apparent Rihanna/Lupita Nyong’o buddy movie, female-focussed cop dramas are inches away from becoming all the rage. So why not give a nod to the 80s TV show that arguably got the ball running all those years ago?
All it takes is the right pairing and a slightly more driven plot than the likes of the otherwise hugely successful The Heat, and we could be onto another winner. It will probably have to beat those other rival projects past the post though, so a quick development is key.
Xena: Warrior Princess
Because there’s only so many buddy cop-comedies the market can manage, why not give new life to a totally different beloved female icon of the 90s instead? No, not Buffy (one exceptional case of a cult TV reboot being a terrible idea). Originally a spin-off of the Sam Raimi-produced, live-action Hercules series, Xena: Warrior Princess developed a totally insane cult following of its own, running for 6 Emmy-award-winning seasons and even earning its star, Lucy Lawless, one of the most memorable Simpsons cameos to date.
Especially with Wonder Woman set to open the door for a totally new breed of female warrior, a Xena movie could be a clever move for a studio looking to find their own way into the new-look swords-and-sandals trend. The lacklustre performance of the last several Hercules movies probably won’t do it any good, but considering just how much the original show totally outshone its male counterpart, there’s nothing stopping the Hollywood movie equivalent doing the exact same.
Airwolf
Albeit a bit of a bold choice, one 80s TV “classic” that could benefit massively from even just a mid-budget movie update, is the bonkers sci-fi drama Airwolf. Starring Rick & Morty fan favourite Jan-Michael Vincent in the midst of his short-lived heyday, it’s very broadly about an expert pilot’s adventures with his ultra-advanced black ops helicopter, pulling off some of the most insane and unusual aerial manoeuvres and dogfights imaginable.
There’s no ignoring the fact that t’s super silly and there’d need to be a lot retooling to the old-school cheesy plotting, but the very basic central idea definitely has a lot of potential.
Fringe
And finally, an extremely recent piece of cult TV; Fringe was always so much bigger than the dwindling platform Fox gave it on the small-screen. Even though it only ended a handful of years ago in 2013, there’s so much room to give it a second-life (and hopefully an even more impressive run) at the movies. Dealing with some of the densest and most exciting alternate-reality science-fiction, it not only had all the right characters, but all the right writers too, spearheaded by Hollywood hero J.J. Abrams and his then Bad Robot cohorts Alex Kurtzman (who directed the new Mummy) and Roberto Orci (who wrote Star Trek its sequel, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2).
Hell, if a big-money movie follow-up seems like too weird an idea so soon, Abrams and his team could even just chop and change the show’s best bits and muddle them into their growing Cloverfield universe somewhere instead. Either way, it would be great to see more of Fringe, no matter the capacity.
Ben Robins / @BMLRobins
DianaL says
I like many of your choices as long as your definition of “reboot” means “with original casts and continue the plots”. Big Fringe and Xena fan. I cannot imagine anyone else playing those parts AND there is NO LOGICAL reason to support recasting and de-aging to rehash plots and simply try to pull in the fans thinking we are so dense as to watch just because the NAMES have not been changed to protect the guilty. The shows are popular over other shows of the times BECAUSE of the casts too. We don’t need the original plots reimaged to better the effects, add grittiness, remove the campiness, nor add more explixit relationship data. Those original actors and actresses took the written material and put their souls into creating complex personas going well beyond the script. They’ve spent decades on and off the screen supporting fans of those characters and shows. John Noble and Lucy Lawless are irriplaceable LEGENDS in their roles for sure. I’d also LOVE Sharon and Tyne to take on Cagney and Lacy again. It takes MORE effort and imagination to let the character mature as the role player and plot has. If you revive a show you better bring it back original cast in original roles (as we don’t fall for cameos, reincarnations). Reboots (in movies and TV) are going down while X-Files, Twin Peaks, and others WIN and we will ask for MORE! If you want to support “similar shows” partially mimicking characters and plots then call it by some other name and let it stand on its own to be judged. Star Trek did a great job of spinning off other series and characters into new shows within the Star Trek universe.
Agent 86 says
Now that Javier Grillo-Marxuach has departed the Xena: Warrior Princess, I’m not holding out much hope. Sure, NBC may proceed (although they’re also trying to reboot Witchblade), but I suspect that if they do it will only be because of the popularity of Wonder Woman so they’ll rush it into production, cast it poorly and do their best to titillate the teenage, male audience with costumes and innuendo. The result will be less than great and probably tarnish the original series (which I’ll admit, remains my favourite TV series to date).
A new Cagney and Lacey would be pretty cool to see, although I’ve never seen the original. I’m not so sure about the others though.
Alpha Whiskey says
I’m working on the screenplay for the Airwolf Reboot…stay tuned…. 🙂
nytehawk tawadi says
When Jan Michael Vincent left Airwolf they should have had a series finale instead of another season. The last season was crap. Unfortunately with Ernie Borgnine gone and Jan Michael Vincent in such poor physical and mental health and probably in his final months of living he won’t be in any reboots. Would like to see a another 2 years or more of Fringe. The writers could say there is another parallel Earth that scientist from both Earths have found and it makes the original parallel Earth look like a playground. They could introduce all kinds of new bad guys and threats. This world could be run by ET’s and the Observers and Humans have become partners to fight the alien threat. The Aliens have found a way to go to the Original and Parallel Earth via another portal and are threatning both of them.