what tv programmes should be brought back.

[George 1978]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

I was recently thinking that This is Your Life would be great to bring back, the earlier shows didn't always have famous people but had an interesting life story, including the women whose experiences in the 2nd World War was the basis of Tenko.

Most of the others would be good, though sometimes having the right hosts had make or break a show.

I don't remember the early ones of course, but I saw the bigredbook.info website, and I thought that it was nice that they did special shows for those who weren't celebrities but those people who have done wonders for the community - nurses, foster mothers etc. Sir Nicholas Winton and Simon Weston would have been two examples of that. No one would ever accuse TIYL of elitism because of that, even though I only remember the celebrities of course.

It's a travesty that Sir Bruce Forsyth was never a subject on This is Your Life when he was alive - he would have made an excellent subject considering what he had done in his entertainment career, not to mention so many people from showbusiness would have turned up in the studio as well.

If it was brought back, then I hope that they do Rylan Clark-Neal as a subject - I think that he is a deserving person.

[George 1978]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

Grange Hill

If they can do clones (or get actresses to fit the part) of Trisha Yates, Calley Donnington and Justine Dean, I would be all for it.

[Moonraker]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

The Six Million Dollar Man. Which starred Lee Majors.
Incidentally, I saw him in an Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode recently called "The Monkey's Paw."

[Jemima]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

Sadly I feel we would never be able to capture the magic of the majority of the programmes we loved from yesteryear if you tried to recreate them today, I think it was very much an 'era' thing, and you just can't create the nostalgic and in some cases 'innocent' feel of those days today. When they try I get excited, but then there is always 'something' missing. But I find it's very comforting being able to dip in to the past and lose yourself there for a while so will keep doing that...

[tex]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

Sadly I feel we would never be able to capture the magic of the majority of the programmes we loved from yesteryear if you tried to recreate them today, I think it was very much an 'era' thing, and you just can't create the nostalgic and in some cases 'innocent' feel of those days today. When they try I get excited, but then there is always 'something' missing. But I find it's very comforting being able to dip in to the past and lose yourself there for a while so will keep doing that...

This is so true, i sight Thunderbirds as a good example of how trying to re-hash those great old shows rarely works...Thunderbirds was a puppet show! both the recent tv show and the ben kingsley movie were dreadful, it's like trying to re-make Ben hur....leave it alone!!

[zabadak]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

I prefer the CGI animated version...

[Richard1978]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

The Six Million Dollar Man. Which starred Lee Majors.
Incidentally, I saw him in an Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode recently called "The Monkey's Paw."

There was talk of doing a remake & calling it "The Six Billion Dollar Man"!

The Bionic Woman did have a brief remake with Michelle Ryan, but it didn't do well & a writers strike finished it off.

[George 1978]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

Would Play Your Cards Right work without Brucie? I know that he was one of the main reasons for its success in the 1980s and 1990s, and there was talk about Brian Conley hosting it before Brucie was brought back in 1994.

The only thing that would be different would be the catchphrases and opening gambits: "you're so much better than last week" would seem so dated as everyone know knows that several shows would be recorded in one day.

I know that they did bring it back for the Gameshow Marathon, although the original half hour stand was better. Now that Emmerdale occupies all weekday 7.00 pm slots on ITV since 2000, there would be no chance anymore that it would happen even with a new host.

[akb48fan]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

I remember there was talk of bringing back Father Ted years ago with Catchphrase host Roy Walker taking over the lead role. Not sure if that would have worked though as Dermot Morgan was so good as Ted. I'm glad that nothing came out of it in the end. It would have been a mistake I think.

[darren]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

I feel if shows we remember were brought back they would be updated using todays technology but the shows themselves might not interest kids of this generation and if the programme is too long like longer than an hour.
they would get bored as i feel kids now not all of them but a lot could not concentrate for an hour or more.
And also would the person/s presenting them be as good.

ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVES KNIGHT RIDER THAT ATMOSPHERIC THEME TUNE STILL GIVES ME GOOSEBUMPS THE SHOW HAS COME BACK AT TIMES BUT DIDNT DO WELL AT ALL NOT A GOOD THEME TUNE ETC.

sadly i feel we would never be able to capture the magic of the majority of the programmes we loved from yesteryear if you tried to recreate them today, i think it was very much an 'era' thing, and you just can't create the nostalgic and in some cases 'innocent' feel of those days today. When they try i get excited, but then there is always 'something' missing. But i find it's very comforting being able to dip in to the past and lose yourself there for a while so will keep doing that...

[80sChav]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

hi everyone.

ive been thinking lately with so many shows finishing the bill,grange hill etc what would you like to see being brought back.

i don't mean showing repeats of the old classics as we see them regular.

but bringing them back with a new cast etc.
and wuld they be as good with a new cast.
for example could anyone play the roile of rigsby as well as leonard rossiter did.
but keeping what made these shows good the theme tunes etc.
here a few i want back.

rising damp
popeye
dempsey and makepeace
minder
the sweeney
price is right
blankety blank
game for a laugh
the bill
juliet bravo
the tripods
play your cards right
challenge anneka
wonder woman
only fools and horses.
rise and fall of reginald perrrin
the young ones
men behaving badly
steptoe and son.
last of the summer wine.

grange hill.probably not be allowed as you would see kids in there shots or in the pool.

did minder not come back a year or so ago.
did not last long did it.

id think a lot more of todays channels if they tried to bring these back with a new cast etc.
at least it would show the beeb and other channels where trying to justify what we pay in our telly licence.

Though Rock and Chips failed for Only Fools and Horses (which probably was due to I could not accept Nicholas Lyndhurst playing Rodney's Dad after Rodders - though he played it well)I feel a Fawlty Towers Spin-off with somebody like James Cordon or Peter Kay playing Basil's Son would be hillarious and especialy if (though I am not sure John Cleese would lend a hand) and kep making occasional appearances by virtue of trying to show his Son/Daugher-In Law or Daughter/Son In Law how he ran a Hotel "in the old Days" and they try to advize him to use Trip Advisor and he ends up insulting all the clintelle or he thinks he can work a Computer - "Mad Max Hargreaves style" from Grange Hill and the then he probably blows it up or something or at least thru trying to mend/fix it!!

[George 1978]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

I can't imagine Rising Damp being remade today - Rossiter and Beckinsale are no longer with us for starters, also the fact that political correctness would get in the way of the Rigsby character, and also the style of the series just wouldn't feel like something made even 30 years ago, never mind now. I am surprised that it hadn't been given the same treatment that Love They Neighbour and Mind Your Language was given to be honest - I thought that it was out of date even when it was repeated in the 1980s. If it had been a BBC sitcom then the chances for a revival would have been increased slightly.

I bet that some stereotypical model turned actress would be playing Wonder Woman if it had been revived - rather funny that Darren listed Wonder Woman immediately after Challenge Anneka in that list - one can almost see the connections there!

There are some series that will not work if brought back - they did that with Crossroads twice in the 2000s - it's like asking Ford to revive the Cortina. If a programme has run its course then it should die naturally rather than be made to stagger on life support and get worse than it had been before.

One can "bring back" series that are still going on television - Coronation Street episodes on ITV 3 are one example.

[Richard1978]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

A few years ago they tried to make a Wonder Woman TV series but it only got as far as a telemovie pilot.

[Smeghead]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

Well they tried to remake Porridge but without the inimitable Ronnie Barker it was dreadful, some things have done there time!

[George 1978]

Re: what tv programmes should be brought back.

Does anyone remember when the BBC brought back The Liver Birds for a new series in 1996? A lot of people thought that it should have been left in the 1970s, and that repeats should only be seen on UK Gold. Bread was probably the 1980s equivalent of it.

Still Open All Hours only partly works due to the fact that it is on Sunday evenings - a time of the week when Yorkshire based series work well. In many ways it indirectly replaced Last of the Summer Wine. The only problem is that now more episodes of Still have been made than what was made in the original series from the pilot in 1973 right up until 1985 - the series has lost its "novelty" aspect in that respect. The original series only had two consecutive series in 1981 and 1982, and I believe that repeats were in the same slot in 1983. In many ways, it does feel that Granville stepping into Arkwright's shoes feels like a parody of the original series.

Also, I am not really fond of that Wentworth series on Channel 5 that feels like a parody of the original Prisoner: Cell Block H series, using original character names like Bea Smith. I feel that it does poor injustice to those who worked on the original series which had its original identity. The series was a parody of itself, and that should have been enough.