Call it Recycle TV.
These days, the broadcast and cable networks and syndicators are adding new life to old series by remaking them in altered, though recognizable, form. More than ever, producers are reaching back, in this case to the ’70s and ’80s, for tried-and-true formats to boost ratings.
Last season, CBS resurrected “Candid Camera” and “Kids Say the Darndest Things” while UPN launched an updated version of “The Love Boat.” This fall, ABC will debut a new “Fantasy Island,” and the game shows “Hollywood Squares” and “Match Game” will join the daytime lineups of local stations, which already are airing new versions of “Love Connection” and “The Newlywed Game.”
Seems like old times.
There are several reasons for the move to recycle old shows. At a time when there are six broadcast networks and countless cable outlets pumping out original fare, fresh ideas are hard to come by. The old shows already have a connection with viewers. And, ultimately, it’s much easier to market a remake than it is to launch a new show.
“There is a brand-name quality to all of this stuff,” said Syracuse University Professor Robert Thompson, who heads the school’s Center for the Study of Popular Television. “There is all of the enormous cultural equity built up in these titles.”
Each winter, the networks produce hundreds of sample dramas and sitcoms in hopes of finding a half-dozen or so to add to their schedules. Only a few will become hits. And even fewer will survive to a second season.
“It’s easy to look back on something that worked and see if there is a contemporary version that can be done,” said Greenblatt.
He suspects that unless the new remakes can offer a distinctive twist, they won’t make it.
Paul Schulman, head of the media buying firm that bears his name, agrees.
“If you’re trying to get people to sample your show, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a credential,” he said. “But the show has to be good for it to work.”
The overall effect on the direction of future television production is unclear. TV is a copycat business, and if one idea hits big you can expect dozens of imitators. Some suggest that a resurgence of past shows could keep developers looking backward rather than forward. “I think the risks are having this feeling that we don’t know where to turn, therefore we’re going back to the old annals of television history.”
“Network television is just running so scared now,” said Thompson. “They’re trying to bring back the glory days.”
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