“In the history of network television, no remake of a previous hit series has ever become a hit itself on network television.

“Plenty have been tried… Digging through the files of series past, one could perhaps make an argument for some shows spawned from original hits. Star Trek, of course, gave birth to four separate series, but those were all spinoffs. They were not remakes of the original with the same characters.”

– from Why Studios Keep Cranking Out TV Remakes, Despite the Flops – NYTimes.com

We’ve talked about TeeVeeLand’s inability to come up with solid new concepts for a while on Boxcutters. While this New York Times article doesn’t seem to build anything on what we already know, it’s good to see that the studios and networks are aware that all they’re doing is throwing shit at a flagpole, or something.

It’s also good to see the argument that the only good remake was Battlestar Galactica and that might just be because it was on Sci-Fi (as it was called when it launched), a cable channel that may just have given the creators the freedom they required to make a show on its own merits.

Countless television projects try and fail. It’s the nature of the beast. But the problem with remakes of old TV shows is that there is an inherent lack of understanding about what made it popular in the first place. It’s not just about the characters, the actors or the subject matter, but also what its competition was, how people led their lives and what could they be shown that they have never seen before.

There were a number of things that we neglected to cover in the last show or maybe we just touched upon them.

One of those things was a look at the decade 2000-2009. For those pedants who say 2010 was not the start of a new decade (and you know who you are), we’re defining a specific ten year period to look at.*

Other things include a few shows that we’ve said were “great” but might not have expanded upon that.

Programmes like East West 101 and Supernatural, to name just two, deserve a little more analysis.

So we’ll try to do some of that here on the blog during our break and hopefully troughout the year.

And always, feel free to let us know what you’d like us to cover in the comments. We’re more than happy to oblige.

* That one is just for those pedants who wrongly believe one can’t end a sentence with a preposition.

In our last episode for the year we look back at the year with some of our regulars. Wilbur Wilde talks about Hey Hey It’s Saturday’s return, James Talia looks back at the year’s news and Tom Elliott talks more about the death of television.

It’s some interesting conversation and some messy amateurs holding it all together.

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Modern Family, not a black and white like it or not review about the new series from ABC in the US. Intrigued? You should be. It was an intriguing conversation. Also, the Twilight Zone is a beguiling series that we talk about in Things You May Have Missed. There’s News, Letters, Raywatch, Pork, One Thing and maybe some more words with “gu” in them.

Think of it as a guide:

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Continue to the show notes »

Misfits comes from the UK, is filled with unattractive and very annoying characters and is essentially Skins meets Heroes. So why do we find it so strangely compelling? Also, Corin and Toby from Beauty & the Geek give us a review of the remake of The Prisoner in a segment I think we should call “TV Will Eat Itself”.

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Dear Listener,

We present, for your entertainment, Mr Adam Christou, who shares with us a brand new world of adult entertainment based on parodying television shows. Also, we review the new series of Melrose Place.

We investigate the universe’s disturbing quarters so that you can sound more knowledgeable at dinner parties.

Learn something:

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Contact us by sending us email or send us an SMS on 0458 288 837 (0458 CUTTER) Continue to the show notes »

Bored to Death was on HBO in the US and we discuss its merits with almost argumentative tones. OK, they are argumentative tones but with good points. It’s an interesting conversation and you should listen to it.

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This week we speak at length to Craig McLachlan. He tells us all about Neighbours, the record industry, the wilderness and Alan Dale.

He’s a wonderful guest. Listen to it.

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In episode 202 we suggested there should be a action show called “ACMA Squad”. Actualchad agreed, and sent us this:

Community is a new show from NBC in the US about people in community college that is a lot better than it sounds.

Also, John talks about a BBC telemovie called Micro Men.

Hungry Beast could be better.

And, Kim Dalton should resign.

Find out why:

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