TV Trend Alert: Revivals and Reboots
Murphy Brown
Nearly two decades after the original series ended, CBS has ordered 13 episodes of the Candice Bergen–led newsroom comedy for the 2018–2019 season. Creator Diane English is also back as showrunner, but no word yet on the rest of the cast. The show was always topical—star reporter Murphy was even criticized by Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992 for becoming a single mother. What buttons will the show push now?
Sabrina The Teenage Witch
The ABC/WB series showcased the lighter side of Sabrina Spellman (Melissa Joan Hart) as she dealt with being a half-witch/half-human with her aunts and talking cat. A still-untitled Netflix remake will take inspiration from the comic book The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and show the teen (Mad Men’s Kiernan Shipka, above) going down a darker path. The drama already has a two-season order.
Mad About You
Paul and Jamie (Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt, above) spent seven seasons navigating married life on the NBC comedy. But what came next for the couple (even though the series finale touched on their future, thanks to a flash-forward)? Reiser and Hunt are in talks with the sitcom’s studio to reprise their roles, as the couple deals with empty nest syndrome after their daughter, Mabel, heads to college.
Party of Five
The ’90s series—about the quintet of Salinger siblings left orphaned after their parents’ fatal car crash—launched the careers of Scott Wolf, Neve Campbell, Matthew Fox and Lacey Chabert (above, from left). Its creators, Chris Keyser and Amy Lippman, are hoping lightning strikes twice. Freeform has ordered a pilot for an update that will follow the five Buendias children, whose parents are unexpectedly deported back to Mexico.
Amazing Stories and The Twilight Zone
Long before Black Mirror, anthology shows The Twilight Zone and Amazing Stories (above) told self-contained tales about humanity. CBS All Access has teamed with producers Jordan Peele, Simon Kinberg and Marco Ramirez for a new take on The Twilight Zone; Hannibal’s Bryan Fuller and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television are behind Apple’s 10-episode reboot of Amazing Stories for its video platform.
Following the success of CBS’s MacGyver and NBC’s Will & Grace, revivals and reboots remain the hottest TV trend.
With classic titles constantly being unearthed—ABC just ordered a pilot for Get Christie Love, starring Pitch’s Kylie Bunbury; Hulu has two seasons of a new animated Animaniacs in the works; The CW is developing Charmed and Roswell updates—we check the status of some comebacks.
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