Remakes…When Everything Old Is New Again…And Again…And Again.

You would think, given my unrelenting fear of change and distaste for surprises, that I would be a HUGE fan of remakes; that everything old being new again would make me really happy. And yet, you would be wrong.

In the land of remakes, the original is usually better than the reinvention of the wheel. There are exceptions to the rule (that I just made up), but not enough of them. I am of the humble opinion that if something is good, don’t mess with it. And, if something is average, don’t cast some hot, young thing in a remake in a futile attempt to make average…awesome.

Granted, original ideas are hard to come by. I mean some other joker is probably writing a blog about remakes as I type. Good material is hard to find…So why not repackage the old stuff? I guess that’s the prevailing theory with remakes. Frankly, that theory is insulting; particularly when the stuff they are remaking wasn’t even good in the first place!

I’m sure you aren’t waiting to see Colin Farrell play a character that Arnold Schwarzenegger played more than 20 years ago, yet it’s already in the works, with a remake of Total Recall coming out in 2012.  Maybe some people are really excited about it…I am not among them.

In the last few years, Mr. Farrell starred in S.W.A.T. (remake of 1975 TV series, 2003), The New World (remake of Pochohontas, 2005), Miami Vice (remake of 1980’s TV series, 2006), and Fright Night (remake of 1985 film, 2011).  If you are doing the math, that’s five remakes for one actor in a short amount of time.

Here’s a list of some of the bigger remakes (TV shows that became movies) of the last 25 years.  Maybe you and yours have even seen the original and the remake. In most cases, I say, “Lucky you!” with more than my usual amount of sarcasm.

- The Adam’s Family
- Alvin and the Chipmunks
- The Avengers
- Batman
- The Beverly Hillbillies
- Bewitched
- The Brady Bunch
- Car 54, Where Are You?
- Charlie’s Angels
- Dragnet
- Doctor Who
- Dukes of Hazzard
- Fat Albert
- The Fugitive
- The Flintstones
- George of the Jungle
- Get Smart
- Inspector Gadget
- I Spy
- Josie and the Pussycats
- Land of the Lost
- McHale’s Navy
- Miami Vice
- Mission: Impossible
- The Mod Squad
- The Muppet Show
- Police Squad (Naked Gun)
- Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
- The Saint
- Scooby-Doo
- Star Trek
- Starsky and Hutch
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Transformers
- The Twilight Zone
- The Wild Wild West

The list goes on and on and these are just the movies that were remakes of popular TV series.  Some good, some bad and some really ugly (Bewitched, we are talking to you).

So are bad remakes of the familiar better than completely original ideas? Gosh, John Boy, I sure hope not. Maybe you have a completely original idea… Or at least an idea that does not involve chipmunks?

My advice: We’d love to see it!

Until Next Time … Stiletto Showgirl