On Sat, Aug 13, 2011 at 12:47 PM, Wesley McGee <[email protected]>wrote:
> (SNIP) Anyway, I think the original Battlestar Galactica was a bit silly
> where the update executed the idea better, which was I was trying to argue
> in my point. If you try to remake a show where the idea was already executed
> pretty well, unless you execute much better you wind up with "The Batman".
> ("Batman:TAS" and related shows was pretty much lauded as the best animated
> portrayal of Batman. It pretty much colored fan perceptions of "The Batman"
> so much so that in trying again they did the completely opposite show in
> "Batman: The Brave and the Bold".)
>
> (SNIP Now, why "Bewitched" instead of "Witch and Mortal married in
> surburban America" or "Charlie's Angels" instead of "She Spies" (thanks NBC)
> or "Hawaii Five-0" instead of "CSI: Hawaii", it is (a) marketing on familiar
> name which may still be recognized by people, and (b) there are probably
> items they hope to use which are specific enough to the original shows that
> writing around them would make folks more conscious of their absence. Also,
> "CSI: Hawaii" would be a different show as it would probably focus far more
> deeply on the forensics team than the cops.
>
> Now, back to Bewitched, what may be a problem is the show was very much a
> product of its time, when there was very much anxiety about women's
> liberation. The premise of the show is that the wife is more powerful than
> the husband but she masquerades as the subordinate because... that's what
> women are supposed to do, right? (Not to say we're still not hashing this
> stuff out in 2011, but the cultural landscape is different enough now that
> we can have ABC do a not-remake of "Bosom Buddies" called "Working It"
> premised on the dubious idea that women get all of the breaks. Much of what
> is specific about "Bewitched" is specific to it because of the time and
> cultural landscape it was made.
>
I think the original BG was a lot silly; the decision to remake/re-imagine
that show seemed odd to me for a long time (until I watched it). They could
have just started from scratch, but they liked the underlying idea of the
original, and wanted to execute it better (and they did). But television has
always repeated old ideas endlessly, so I don't think it much matters if
they remake/reimagine Greatest American Hero or do a new show called Chuck.
Of course, it would be nice if they would just try new, original ideas, but
what I have realized is that their failure to do that is unrelated to
explicitly remaking old shows.
I don't know the law in Hawaii, but in some jurisdictions, CSIs are police
officers (they address this explicitly in the various flavors). In many ways
the original Five-0 was a direct ancestor of the recent crop of police
procedural shows, and very much in the CSI lineage. I think a CSI: Hawaii
would look not too much different from what we have with the new Five-0.
I agree with you about the feminist context of Bewitched (though whether it
was pro or counter-revolutionary is less clear). There was also a kind of
Mad Men vibe to the show, and a subtext that advertising was modern magic.
And of course, Samantha was a stone cold fox (you can have your Jeanie in a
bikini, I will take Sam in those mini-skirts).
--
TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People!
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "TV or Not TV" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected]
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
