Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, April 10th, 2024:
IS THERE SUCH A THING AS TOO MANY REBOOTS?
I understand the business incentives that make the reboots of familiar TV and movie projects irresistible. For the studio, streamer, or network, a reboot comes with a certain amount of built-in buzz, and in the current climate, content discovery is perhaps the hardest job for any project. Reboots are pre-marketed and while that brings its challenges, there are worse problems to have.
And for the original creator, it's an easy sell. You'd be hard-pressed to find a series creator who isn't interested in revisiting a past glory. And that attitude also translates to actors associated with familiar titles.
Today brought news of three different reboot ideas and let me work my way through them from top to bottom.
Unless you have children of a very specific age, you might not be familiar with the series Yo Gabba Gabba! It was a hip-hop-centric mix of live-action, animation, and hip-hop music that aired for four seasons in the early aughts on the old linear kids channel Noggin. It was wildly creative, completely original, and a cornerstone of what is arguably Noggin's Golden Age of original programming. The show co-starred rap icon Biz Markie and hosted a dazzling range of musical guest stars including Weezer, The Killers, My Chemical Romance, The Roots, Erykah Badu, The Shins, MGMT, and Mos Def.
The series is being rebooted for Apple TV+ as Yo Gabba Gabbaland! and it will feature a new 12-year-old host Kamryn Smith. On the upside, it will also include original characters Brobee, Foofa, Muno, Toodee, and Plex. There's no guarantee it will be as entertaining as the original, but the upside is worth the risk. Now if someone will only reboot Jack's Big Music Show.
In the less-hopeful category is the news that a Melrose Place reboot is in the works, and starring original stars Heather Locklear, Laura Leighton, and Daphne Zuniga are set to return. While the idea certainly COULD work, there are many ways it could go horribly wrong. And I think an indication of how difficult a sale it might be is that producers are leaking the idea before any network or streamer has decided to pick it up for production.
The least likely reboot to end up going well in this trio is yet another rejiggering of Heroes. It had one spectacular rookie season and three meh ones in its original run. Then NBC brought it back with a new set of characters as Heroes: Reborn. And now series creator Tim Kring is out there pitching Heroes: Eclipsed, which is "set years after the events of the original series as new evos are being awakened and discovering powers that will change their lives. Featuring familiar villains and new enemies who once again will be attempting to suppress this next step in human evolution, it will be up to this new group of heroes to save the world.
Maybe the reboot will work. Kring is a talented writer. But this one seems like a long shot, especially given the number of ways previous versions have struggled to find a steady approach.
But you know the series I would reboot if given the opportunity? Keep reading below.
A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS
The members of the late ‘90s girl group Girls5eva – Dawn (Sara Bareilles), Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry), Summer (Busy Philipps), and Gloria (Paula Pell) – have reunited and recorded a new album, Returnity, so it’s time for the next logical step: a comeback tour. With no plan, tour manager, or venues secured, the ladies pile into a van and hit the great unknown, doing their damnedest to promote their album and get back on top. In the process, Girls5eva will grapple with life on the road, see their relationships tested, play a billionaire’s birthday party, sow their oats, confront parents they believe held them back, cross paths with the biggest pop star on the planet, and question if they really want “the big time” again. Will Girls5eva fast-track their comeback and sell their tour documentary in the process? Or will the road destroy them?
Stream Season 3 of Girls5eva on Netflix or by visiting UniversalFYC.com and enter code USGFYC2024 to watch.
WHY ISN'T DISNEY+ DOING A 'LOST' SPIN-OFF SERIES?
If you're not super familiar with the series, here's a quick overview. The show centered around the occupants of a plane who survive after it crashes on a mysterious island somewhere in the South Pacific. Throughout the six seasons, a mind-numbing collection of supernatural and sometimes just odd people and situations are introduced. Including a mysterious Dharma Initiative, which seems to have been conducting experiments on the island for decades. By season six, there are dual timelines and mysterious battles between good and evil that will impact the future of the island. The series finale ends with some of the survivors and other characters from the island "moving on" to what is apparently the afterlife.
Not surprisingly, this ending did not please many of the fans who were more interested in the mythology than in seeing the island as some metaphor for purgatory. I think it's fair to say that for better or worse, there are a lot of "Lost" fans in the #TeamMythology camp who would like to see the world of the Island explored in more detail. And that's where a new show would come into the picture.
So what would a Lost spin-off series look like? Well, one possibility would be the storyline that the Lost co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse laid out in the 12-minute long epilogue "The New Man in Charge," which was released on the season six DVD collection. The short contained two storylines and both of them build on the backstory of the original series. In segment one, Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) visits two Dharma Initiative workers in a warehouse in Guam. He shuts down their operation, which had been shipping packages and food to the Island. He tells them the Dharma Initiative has not been in existence for over twenty years. Before he shuts down the warehouse for good, he shows them a DVD presentation from the Dharma Initiative that explains some of the events that took place on the Island (including the reason for the polar bears).
Segment two has Ben visiting the Santa Rosa Mental Health Institute, where he convinces an institutionalized Walt to leave with him. Once they reach Ben's van, they find Hurley and he tells Walt it's time for them to return to the island. As the three men drive off, Hurley also tells Walt he might have a job for him.
Some of the footage was originally set to air as part of the television series, but regardless of why it never aired, it's clear Lindelof and Cuse had at least considered what Lost might have looked like had it continued past "The End." And Disney+ could certainly try and lure back some of the original cast, in an effort to cobble together some faux Lost sequel series.
But I'd like to see any potential spin-off series be as ambitious as the original incarnation. Create some new characters and storylines that would fit into the familiar Lost mythology while not trying to just update the original classic. It's the difference between Enterprise and Star Trek: Discovery. Both of those shows cover some of the same ground, but Discovery reinvented the mythology in a way that respected the original while not simply being a cover band version of the source material. I have my ideas of what that might look like, but my theories about the show don't matter. What does matter is that a confident writer with stones the size of Buicks can successfully bring back The Island while still dealing with the inevitable friendly fire that will be headed their way for daring to take on the project.
That passion is why bringing back the Lost Universe makes sense for Disney+. Like some other familiar Disney-owned properties, Lost already has a built-in fanbase and one that is passionate and often pushy. In other words, these are exactly the people who would obsess over every episode of a new Lost series and would write (or rant) about every new episode. The only thing that would be more controversial than a Lost-inspired series would be one featuring Jar Jar Binks as a secret Sith Lord. And given the latter will likely never happen, let's go with some more adventures on The Island.
ODDS AND SODS
* The original cooking series Sounds Delicious With Carnie Wilson premieres Tuesday, April 16th on AXS TV.
* The 97th Oscars will air Sunday, March 2nd, 2025 on ABC, live from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.
WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10TH:
* Anthracite: Secrets Of The Sect Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Chucky Season 3B Premiere (Syfy)
* Date A Live (Crunchyroll)
* Hapless Series Premiere (Peacock)
* KONOSUBA -God's Blessing On This Wonderful World! (Crunchyroll)
* Sand Land: The Series (Hulu)
* The Challenge: All-Stars Season Four Premiere (Paramount+)
* The Hijacking Of Flight 601 (Netflix)
* The Many Sides Of Voice Actor Radio Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* Tryouts Series Premiere (ESPN+)
* Unlocked: A Jail Experiment (Netflix)
* Viral Hit Series Premiere (Crunchyroll)
* What Jennifer Did (Netflix)
THURSDAY, APRIL 11TH:
* As The Crow Flies (Netflix)
* Baby Reindeer (Netflix) - [first look video] [photo gallery]
* Building Off The Grid Season Premiere (Magnolia)
* Elkhorn Series Premiere (INSP)
* Fallout Series Premiere (Prime Video)
* Heartbreak High Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
* Lovers & Liars Series Premiere (The CW)
* Midsummer Night Series Premiere (Netflix)
* Patti Stanger: The Matchmaker Series Premiere (The CW)
* Roommate Regret (LMN)
* The Barnes Bunch Series Premiere (WE tv)
* True Crime Story: Smugshot Season Finale (Sundance TV)
SEE YOU ON THURSDAY!