Whenever a remake is announced, fans of the original get tense. It seems nearly impossible to create something that is new yet still resonates with audiences. Sometimes you’re really just better off not messing with a good thing. Try telling that to the networks though! They seem to operate on the premise that if it worked once, it’ll work again. Sadly, ABC’s reboot of Charlie’s Angels ended disastrously, adding itself to the growing list of reasons why producers should perhaps be looking for fresh ideas instead.
Released in 2011, the Charlie’s Angels writers made a valiant effort at sidestepping the temptation to make a kitschy replica of the bangin’ original. However, it seems they stripped too much of the camp 70s fun from the old classic. As USA Today explained, the original Charlie’s Angels “had energy and glamour and a self-aware sense of frothy fun, all of which are missing from this lugubrious update.” With TV audiences in steadfast agreement, the show was dubbed a failure after just four episodes and pulled from the air. With eight episodes filmed in total, this means four are still lurking somewhere, never having shone their light on the eyes of an expectant audience.
2009: Mental
Premiering in 2009, Mental was a medical-mystery-drama that managed to cling on for a full season before rapidly hemorrhaging ratings got the better of it. The show’s protagonist, Dr. Jack Gallagher, was like a less appealing version of everyone’s favorite TV doctor: Gregory House. Like House, Gallagher had unorthodox ideas about diagnosis and treatment. He also had a “more than just friends” kind of relationship with the hospital administrator. Unlike House, Gallagher was employed in a psychiatric ward where his mean streak just couldn’t playoff in the lovable way that House’s could.
Actor, Chris Vance, also didn’t stack up charisma-wise compared to the inimitable Hugh Laurie. With all this stacked up against it, the show was an awkward, slow-dying fail. As The New York Times explained, “the creators of Mental couldn’t take Gallagher any further up the mean-spirited scale, so instead they went too far in the other direction and ran smack into cliché.”
2010: $#*! My Dad Says
This sitcom was inspired in such an interesting way, it seemed destined to be a success. After the viral success of Justin Halpern’s Twitter feed entitled, “S*** My Dad Says,” Warner Bros. was keen to get in on the action (and, of course, monetize it). So, in 2010, they were hyping the s*** out of a sitcom inspired by the Twitter feed. It seemed to have all the makings of a hit, even snagging William Shatner in a lead role. Sadly, $#*! My Dad Says, ended up being slated by critics and viewers alike as, shall we say, a pile of s***.
The Los Angeles Times had an interesting take on just why this might have been: “oddly, at 79, Shatner comes across as too energetic and youthful even for the 72-year-old he’s playing.” So Shatner was just too darned sprightly? Apparently there was a bit more to it than that. The LA Times continued: “the bigger problem is that he’s given nothing to do or say worth the doing or saying. He gets better mileage from a Priceline commercial.” Seems it’s not so easy to transfer Twitter success to TV ratings. As we’ll soon see, a similar problem is faced by producers who attempt to translate the success of old shows into revamped versions.
2012: Guys with Kids
Sitcoms are so hit and miss. When they’re great, they can carry on for years and even decades. When they’re a flop, however, they’re so unbearable they’re lucky to make it through even one season. Airing in 2012, Guys with Kids is another one to add to the fail heap. On the surface of it, there’s nothing wrong with the premise: three guys go through the day-to-day struggles of raising their kids, all set in the kind of modern environment we can all relate to. It could be hilarious, right? Well, maybe in a parallel timeline. Unfortunately, in our timeline, the show was so dismal it was canned after just one season. Critics accused the writers of being painfully bland, creating stereotypical characters, and padding the show with reams of unfunny dialogue. Despite a few shining moments, even the usually hilarious, Anthony Anderson, couldn’t salvage this train-wreck of a sitcom.
A writer for The San Francisco Chronicle expressed confusion at “the unfathomable reaction of the studio audience,” suggesting they were being cajoled into fake and excessive reactions to the unfunny content. The writer continued, “the show certainly couldn’t survive on the basis of its humor because there is none.” If you thought that was harsh, wait til you see what Newsday had to say about it: “nothing to see here. Move on.”
2013: Dads
As we’ve just seen, dad-centric comedies may well be a hitherto unrealized curse within the new era of television. Adding some support to this conspiracy theory is the Fox show, Dads. Released in 2013, Dads seemed on the surface to have all the makings of a hit. The cast included Seth Green, of Scream, Robot Chicken and Family Guy fame, and a solid bunch of lesser known but talented actors. It was, perhaps the premise that tripped them up. The sitcom was to center on a pair of video game developers who fall into the strange predicament of having both their fathers need to move in with them at the same time.
While this is an unlikely setup, it’s not the weirdest we’ve seen in the world of sitcoms. However, when paired with “lazy writing,” critics and audiences just weren’t buying it. TV Guide Magazine didn’t hold back in its denigration of the failed show - “Dads would love to be as offensive as its promos promise, but what’s most off-putting about the show is how lazy and stale it all is.” It seems, perhaps, that the 2000s heralded in a new era of sitcoms, one that has no time for stale old dad jokes.