Post by jopierce on Feb 1, 2008 14:18:07 GMT -5
I think we could argue about how to make a new show great. But honestly, these things generally don't work.
1) Remakes tend to STINK. Period. There are maybe a half dozen out of the HUNDREDS of remakes that have actually done as well or better than the original. It's possible, but I think it is HIGHLY unlikely.
I think with GAH its even more unlikely, considering it was a series based on the premise of an individual accident. (Losing the book). If he had the book, it would not have been the same show.
That leads to the next point.
2) You can't have the same old gag of losing the instruction book. If I ever saw that happen with the new team, I would turn off the tv and walk away. What is the likelihood of 2 teams losing the book? Before they read it? There is a difference between cheese and lack of originality.
I was joking about losing the belt or the cape, mainly to point out that it is very unlikely that an individual accident that would make the series work would have happened twice, for two teams.
3) You could certainly have a season or two of a team without ANY mention of Ralph and Bill. Much of the new audience may not have a clue anyway. And the old guard like us would be waiting for it... in anticipation... We'd be wondering when they'd show up, or be mentioned.
If it's done poorly, we'd be frustrated. But if the writers had even one ounce of talent, we would be left in suspense, tuning in week after week to see if it would happen.
Then maybe you'd have a cameo or two. Now, THAT has an impact. A mysterious phone call. A hint of the old team in an old newspaper clipping. A rumor...
But the old team having a continued role in the show? Again. Click. I walk away. To what end? Why not just put a 55 year old Katt back in the suit? I am sure Robert Culp wants to be on a series again.
Anyway, that was part of what I hated about Heroine. It was trying to reproduce a dynamic that couldn't be reproduced.
4) There are spin offs that work well. But they are few and far between. And they are usually not the same as the original. They are somehow different.
The Star Trek Phenomenon is a great example. And certainly each series played lip service to the others that came before. Picard talked about Kirk. Sisko talked about (and hated) Picard... Etc etc. So in theory there can be lots of cross over between the 1980s GAH and a new one.
But the difference is that on Trek they were all part of one military organization. Here, the suit wearers aren't supposed to know about one another. There is no reason to automatically have Ralph, Bill and Pam interact with new suit wearers. If, like with Beck, it happens for a specific reason, fine. That's the job of the writers to figure out how.
I am assuming, of course, that they aren't supposed to know about each other. Of course, the last chapter of the lost instruction book may very well have been The Intergallactic Yellow Pages with the names and addresses of previous suit wearers. We can imagine it went something like this:
"Mr. Hinkley. Please call the following people. They all had suits. We expect, in between saving the world from nuclear Holocaust, drug dealers, and motorcycle gangs, you will go on picnics with JJ Beck and all the others. Here is the list...."
JJ Beck actually didn't kidnap the team because he needed help finding the will. Really, he wanted to go on that picnic. He loves finger sandwhiches. We can imagine he was deeply hurt that Ralph never called.
Sorry. Sarcasm. Of course.
1) Remakes tend to STINK. Period. There are maybe a half dozen out of the HUNDREDS of remakes that have actually done as well or better than the original. It's possible, but I think it is HIGHLY unlikely.
I think with GAH its even more unlikely, considering it was a series based on the premise of an individual accident. (Losing the book). If he had the book, it would not have been the same show.
That leads to the next point.
2) You can't have the same old gag of losing the instruction book. If I ever saw that happen with the new team, I would turn off the tv and walk away. What is the likelihood of 2 teams losing the book? Before they read it? There is a difference between cheese and lack of originality.
I was joking about losing the belt or the cape, mainly to point out that it is very unlikely that an individual accident that would make the series work would have happened twice, for two teams.
3) You could certainly have a season or two of a team without ANY mention of Ralph and Bill. Much of the new audience may not have a clue anyway. And the old guard like us would be waiting for it... in anticipation... We'd be wondering when they'd show up, or be mentioned.
If it's done poorly, we'd be frustrated. But if the writers had even one ounce of talent, we would be left in suspense, tuning in week after week to see if it would happen.
Then maybe you'd have a cameo or two. Now, THAT has an impact. A mysterious phone call. A hint of the old team in an old newspaper clipping. A rumor...
But the old team having a continued role in the show? Again. Click. I walk away. To what end? Why not just put a 55 year old Katt back in the suit? I am sure Robert Culp wants to be on a series again.
Anyway, that was part of what I hated about Heroine. It was trying to reproduce a dynamic that couldn't be reproduced.
4) There are spin offs that work well. But they are few and far between. And they are usually not the same as the original. They are somehow different.
The Star Trek Phenomenon is a great example. And certainly each series played lip service to the others that came before. Picard talked about Kirk. Sisko talked about (and hated) Picard... Etc etc. So in theory there can be lots of cross over between the 1980s GAH and a new one.
But the difference is that on Trek they were all part of one military organization. Here, the suit wearers aren't supposed to know about one another. There is no reason to automatically have Ralph, Bill and Pam interact with new suit wearers. If, like with Beck, it happens for a specific reason, fine. That's the job of the writers to figure out how.
I am assuming, of course, that they aren't supposed to know about each other. Of course, the last chapter of the lost instruction book may very well have been The Intergallactic Yellow Pages with the names and addresses of previous suit wearers. We can imagine it went something like this:
"Mr. Hinkley. Please call the following people. They all had suits. We expect, in between saving the world from nuclear Holocaust, drug dealers, and motorcycle gangs, you will go on picnics with JJ Beck and all the others. Here is the list...."
JJ Beck actually didn't kidnap the team because he needed help finding the will. Really, he wanted to go on that picnic. He loves finger sandwhiches. We can imagine he was deeply hurt that Ralph never called.
Sorry. Sarcasm. Of course.