Reboots of older TV series seem to be the rage now. Some like Will & Grace and Roseanne have been surprisingly successful. Others like The X-Files not so much. Lost In Space, now streaming on Netflix, is a big leap from the campy Space Family Robinson feel of the 60s show, with more of a darker edge, and Parker Posey an inspired, offbeat choice as the villainous Dr. Smith. Although there’s a special place in my heart for the nelly, devious, creepy way actor Jonathan Harris played the character in the original series. Upcoming reunions like Murphy Brown, Magnum, P.I. and Fuller House are in the works. But if we’re going to go crazy with this why not reboot these classics:
My Mother The Car. In this notoriously reviled 1965 comedy series Jerry Van Dyke starred as an attorney who buys a 1928 Porter touring car only to find it is haunted by the spirit of his dead mother (Ann Southern). Well, better that than a toaster. I’d like to see an edgy, dark take on this. Maybe than can help take down serial killers! Just mow them down at the end of every show, with the mother’s sardonic cackle echoing out of the car radio.
Manimal. This 1963 show was about a shape-shifting doctor (Simon MacCorkindale) who used his powers to help the police solve crimes. But they missed a golden opportunity that could be rectified in the reboot. Have it mostly set in the hospital and every week he’ll be operating and the stress will transform him into a giraffe or an hippopotamus or a Colobus monkey. Think of the hijinks!
Cop Rock. Steven Bochko (Hill Street Blues) created a musical police drama in 1990 which bombed big time. Although it was fun to see a trial sequence where the jury bursts into song with “He’s guilty!” Why not jazz this up Glee-style, with lots of young people rapping or belting out Broadway show tunes while merrily tasing perps who are exposing themselves on the subway.
Paper Dolls. This 1984 nighttime soap opera set amidst the fashion industry in New York starred Morgan Fairchild and lasted 14 episodes before it was yanked. I know what you’re thinking- do we really need a series about models during the #metoo movement? Well what if these models encounter sleazy photographers, salacious agents, horny magazine editors and at the end of every show they beat the living shit out of them. I’d tune in to that every week!
Knight Rider. David Hasselhoff starred in this 1982 series about a high-tech crime fighter with a modified, artificial-intelligence-infused car. They could bring back Hasselhoff, but make the car a wise-ass/Johnny Knoxville-type who gives bad advice, and sends the crime fighter always in the wrong direction to race off piers or straight into brick walls.
Petticoat Junction. This 1963 sitcom was a product of a gentler era when shows like The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres ruled the airwaves. But what if this is set in a survivalist compound where the residents are all paranoid, government-hating, gun-toting crazies who, each week, are all consumed with a new conspiracy theory and are having armed battles with the Feds. What fun!
Honey West. This series premiered in 1965 and starred the fetching Anne Francis as a private detective decked out in a form-fitting animal-print outfits who drove a Jaguar, knew martial arts and had a pet Ocelot. In the new reboot Honey is a strict vegetarian, refuses to wear leather, practices yoga, drives a Prius and has a house filled with rescue dogs. She can still solve crimes, but tactfully, and being vocal about victim’s rights and constitutional law while busting grocery store clerks for offering plastic bags to their customers.