I was watching one of my favorite internet people yesterday
(Click here to check out the video)
and he was talking about ten franchises he’d
like to see rebooted. This idea was intriguing to me, considering most of my
favorite TV shows are now off the air as well as anything like them. Now I’m
not saying these things should be dragged out like the Simpson’s was, I’m just
saying that seeing a newer, modern version would probably be better than most
of the nonsense flooding the airwaves right now. So I’m going to offer my list
(In no particular order) of the top 10 TV shows I’d like to see come back. 
Yeah yeah I know JJ Abrams is doing a fantastic job with
Star Trek in film, but where’s the TV series? Star Trek is more than
high-budget graphics and seeing Chris Pine take off his pants, it’s about
adventures in space, meeting interesting societies, and boldly going where no
one has gone before. Abrams did us a favor in giving us an alternate timeline
to work with, so why isn’t anyone working with it?
Does anyone remember this show? It had half the cast of Star
Trek: TNG doing voices for it and was Disney’s answer to Batman (We’ll get
to
him in a sec.). This cartoon did something most cartoons these days are afraid
to do: It gave kids the credit that they could take complex storylines and
characters without them needing to be watered down. Gargoyles was a fun, unique
show with a great premise with some of my favorite characters growing up. This
thing would look so great today!
Duh.
It started with Batman: The Animated Series, then went into
Superman, then Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, with offshoots
Static Shock and Batman Beyond to round it off. I know Universe got a bit wonky
near the end, especially when it served only to show off obscure DC characte
rs
people stopped caring about around the time the Berlin wall fell, but for a
minute we had a massive cartoon universe with all the DC characters running
around being awesome. What have we got now? DC is releasing YET ANOTHER Batman
cartoon. DC, face facts: You’re not going to make anything better than Batman
TAS, stop trying to remake him and focus on the rest of your universe. 
6: Daria
I have a special place in my heart for Daria. She was kind
of the voice of my generation: A disenfranchised youth who just wanted to
escape the nonsense of high school and get on with real life.
Daria is one of
my first inspirations to become a writer, and her witty sarcasm got me through
a lot of hard times in school. I’d love to see her view of the world now, with
social media, blogging, and super advanced cell phones… Though I may feel
guilty if I end up disappointing my hero. 
Here’s an oldie: A small town cop helping the citizens get
out of wacky adventures. If they can’t bring back Andy Griffith, I’d like to
see at least SOMETHING come up that’s wholesome for the family to watch. We had
Touched By An Angel for a while, but even that got painfully cheesy at times.
Right now we have Once Upon A Time, but that thing can make Days of Our Lives
look like a simple storyline. What happened to TV you can just watch with your
family without a flowchart on hand to understand what’s going on?
4: Ghostbusters
The Ghostbusters cartoon used the movie as a jumping off
point to launch into what I feel is the only logical step for the franchise:
Having the Ghostbusters go through wacky adventures with ghosts. The show was
well written and the dialogue captured the heart of the original four, plus I
can’t argue with a show that would shamelessly have someone riding a roller
coaster in order to fight Cthuhlu. This cartoon was just beyond awesome and is
something else I’d love to see rendered with a touch of the modern.
3: A GOOD Anime
Is there any good anime on right now? When I do flip through
the channels I seem to keep finding the latest version of Yu-Gi-Oh! and some
knock-off of the same. Where’s Cowboy Bebop? Where’s Fullmetal Alchemist?
Whatever happened to that gal who was always with the guy with cat ears? Sure
it’s premise was dumb but at least the animation was above par.
2: MST3K
I know Mystery Science Theater 3000 has found new life
online supplying audio commentaries to the
masses, but why don’t these people
still have a show? MST3K to me was one of the funniest things on TV, and I know
that if they brought it back and put it on a channel you don’t have to pay more
than your house for, it would get more laughs than How I Met Your Mother, Big
Bang Theory or Two and A Half Men combined. In one night. Compared to each of
their entire runs. 
The Muppets got their start on TV, first on Sesame Street
then on The Muppet Show for several years, and both were delightful. Youtube
some of the old skits from the Muppet Show if you don’t know what I mean and I guarantee
you’ll fall in love. The Muppets last movie, The Muppets, is about the Muppets
returning to their roots, and I think a return to TV would be the next logical
step, and I guarantee a massive fan turnout if the trailers featured “Pigs in
Space”.
Star Trek? The Muppets? Firefly? (Okay, haven't watched, but intend to.) A list I can agree to. Especially the Muppets. They need a place in today's world.
ReplyDeleteJust a couple of notes: 7) The DCAU is basically done, especially since both Paul Dini and Bruce Timm have moved on. However, Warner Bros. have been release direct-to-video movies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_DC_Comics#Animated_films.
ReplyDelete3) Are you telling me you aren't aware that Toonami came back and that they've been showing all sorts of stuff? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toonami#Adult_Swim_.282012-present.29 Other than that, anime hasn't really made a comeback mostly because most of its core audience watches it online at websites like Hulu, CrunchyRoll, Funimation, VizAnime, and the Anime Network.
2)MST3K? The only reason that showed worked in the first place was because the television stations they were broadcast on had the rights to the movies they were lampooning. Basically, they exploited a licensing loophole. As long as the copyright laws stand as they are, this isn't ever going to come back. As much as that sucks, it's the truth.
1)The Muppets actually had another television series on the late 90s called Muppets Tonight that ran on ABC and the Disney Channel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muppets_Tonight I haven't seen it, but I know it exists. More Muppets is certainly never a bad idea, but it will be interesting to see how Disney decides to move things forward. Man, Disney has changed a lot in the last five or so years.
I think the DC animated films are hit and miss, thogh I really enjoyed Justice League: New Frontiers and Batman: Year One, but what I liked about the show was that it could be for both adults and kids, something I feel DC's latest animated series haven't been doing enough of, with the exception of the dearly departed Young Justice. I'd love to see a return to this, ESPECIALLY something that doesn't focus so heavily on Batman. :)
DeleteI do concede on your other points. :)