TV Revivals / Sequel Series that were Scrapped

[JamesG.]

It was revealed that Reba McEntire's new sitcom "Happy's Place" was originally going to be a revival of "Reba".

"Happy's Place" creator Kevin Abbott — who previously served as an executive producer and showrunner on "Reba" — said, “It all started from a reboot. We worked on a reboot, and we spent about a year on it. We had it fully worked out.”



“I pitched it to all the old cast members, they were all on board… I pitched it to Disney, which owns the rights to Reba, and they were on board. They discussed it internally — that was right when Disney and Fox were merging, so there was a lot of uncertainty as to who was doing what — and when that all calmed down it came down to a business decision, and they decided not to do the reboot.”

At that point, McEntire turned to Abbott and said, “‘Let’s do another show.'”

https://tvline.com/lists/reba-reunio...ace-preview-1/

[JamesG.]

Announced in April 2024, CBS was working on reviving "Cold Case" with original creator Meredith Stiehm. It would have been set 15 years after the final episode focusing on a new team of detectives.

CBS said in Sept. 2024 that they were no longer working on it.




Also, a new "Degrassi" series was announced for HBO Max in January 2022. It was to be helmed by showrunners Lara Azzopardi and Julia Cohen for a 2023 launch and was going to have hour-long episodes featuring new characters.

HBO Max announced in November 2022 that the plans were cancelled.

[JamesG.]

Susan Olsen said that CBS expressed interest in doing a new "Brady Bunch" series after the success of HGTV's "A Very Brady Renovation" in 2019. According to her, CBS stopped plans due to her political beliefs and her disapproval of some characters.

She said that she was questioned during the show’s early development about her politics by the revival’s showrunner Lloyd J. Schwartz, the son of original series creator Sherwood Schwartz.

"I did have a phone call with my [TV] siblings and my agent. Everybody was saying, ‘We’re sorry, but they just won’t budge. They just will not have you in this.’ I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve been canceled.’ A role that I’ve played for over 50 years, I can’t play it now because I’m too dangerous. I was like ‘Well, okay guys, good luck, I hope you can sell it.’"



She revealed that one of Jan’s children was going to be trans and one of the Bradys was going to have a Black spouse.

She responded to that with, "Come on, let’s not be so obvious. Let’s make this Black spouse somebody who has a really close relationship with another Brady, and that’s how this Brady met them. Give them a foundation so this isn’t a token position.'"

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/bra...rt-1236189909/

[Wildcat2000]

Wow just read about the Brady Bunch. That would have been cool. Disappointing about Susan Olsen. Seems like there's a lot she said and stood by it.

They did re-cast her in the Christmas movie so I guess they could again if they really wanted to but it would be better to have all the original kids return.

[JamesG.]

It was announced in December 2020 that ABC, with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, were developing a primetime update of daytime soap "All My Children" called "Pine Valley".

Robert Nixon, the son of creator Agnes Nixon, was also on board as an EP.



The new series would feature a young journalist with a secret agenda coming to expose the dark and murderous history Pine Valley, only to become entangled in a feud between the Kane and Santos families.

Nothing has ever happened with this.

[JamesG.]

HBO announced in 2020 that they were developing a new "True Blood" series. "Riverdale" creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and "NOS4A2" creator Jami O’Brien co-write the pilot and Alan Ball, the original series creator, was also on board as an executive producer.

Original cast members said at the time that they had no idea about its development until fans started bombarding them with questions when the plans were officially announced.

HBO chief Casey Bloys said in 2023 that the plans had been called off.

[JamesG.]

Jaleel White discusses with Andy Cohen turning down a reboot of "Family Matters"

Why Jaleel White Turned Down "Family Matters" Reboot - YouTube

[JamesOttoSweetHeart]

^^^ I saw it said somewhere that Jaleel eventually suffered voice issues because of the way that he had to speak when doing the Family Matters filming and so I can't blame him for not being up to bringing back the show.

God bless you and him always!!!

Holly

[JamesG.]

Originally Posted by JamesG.

Blair Underwood was supposed to reprise his "L.A. Law" character Jonathan Rollins in a new series. Stephen Bocho was working on it before he passed away.

Corbin Bernsen was also supposed to reprise Arnie Becker. ABC recently passed on it.

I met Corbin Bernsen at Hallmark's Christmas Con over the weekend and asked him about the 2022 "L.A. Law" reboot that didn't go forward. He said, "It was bad, that's putting it mildly. Terrible."

I asked him if anything was filmed and he said, "Oh yeah, we filmed it. Then the footage got destroyed." I don't know if he was serious or joking.

[JamesOttoSweetHeart]

^^^ If I were to meet that man, I would ask him about the show named The Glades from the A&E network. He had a role during the final season of the show in 2013. He played the father of the show's lead character and to me, the show deserved a conclusion since it went for four seasons.

God bless you and Corbin and the other cast members always!!!

Holly

[JamesG.]

A "Hogan’s Heroes" sequel series was announced in 2019 with original series co-creator Al Ruddy, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, and Rough Pictures.

The new series was said to be a single-camera action adventure comedy series set in present day focusing on the descendants of the original heroes, now scattered around the world, who team up for a global treasure hunt.




A new version of "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" was announced in 2021 for TBS w/ "Schitt’s Creek" actress Emily Hampshire.

Norman Lear was also onboard as a producer and praised Hampshire for being perfect in the new role.

There have been no updates and Hampshire was recently cast as E.D.I.T.H. in Marvel's "Vision" series.




John Cleese and his daughter, Camilla, were working on a new "Fawlty Towers" in 2023 w/ Rob Reiner producing. It was to feature Basil Fawlty navigating the modern world with the daughter he never knew he had.

Cleese was clashing with the BBC at the time and said that his new series would not air on it as they were "too woke". He also commented against them removing "offensive" episodes, such as 'The Germans'.

[JamesG.]

Mayim Bialik has confirmed that plans for a proposed reboot of "Blossom" have been halted.

According to Bialik, she and "Blossom" creator Don Reo discussed revisiting the series shortly after "The Big Bang Theory" ended in 2019. Reo quickly whipped up a script that brought everyone into the modern world, and as Bialik recalls, “He found our characters exactly where many of us find ourselves — funny, lost, wandering, meandering, and torn. The script is beautiful.”



Unfortunately, following multiple mergers within the entertainment industry, new executives were put in charge of developing such things, and Bialik “was told the project was no longer able to be produced.”

She and Reo met with the new executives and, “For no particular reason, we were told ‘no,'” Bialik says. “We asked for the rights so that we could let the market decide if audiences might want to see these characters all these years later. We were told Disney reserves the rights in case they ever want to do a reboot of Blossom.

The reboot we all wanted to do was now, with Don’s script. We will likely never know … why they would not let us bring these beautiful stories to people who love 90s nostalgia and who have a special place in their hearts for Blossom.”

https://tvline.com/news/blossom-rebo...on-1235492494/

[Samus Aran]

Originally Posted by JamesG.

I met Corbin Bernsen at Hallmark's Christmas Con over the weekend and asked him about the 2022 "L.A. Law" reboot that didn't go forward. He said, "It was bad, that's putting it mildly. Terrible."

I asked him if anything was filmed and he said, "Oh yeah, we filmed it. Then the footage got destroyed." I don't know if he was serious or joking.

How bad must it be for Corbin Bernsen to say it's bad?

I think the NYPD Blue pilot that never got picked up was doomed from the start. How do you base your entire revival around the off-screen killing of the heart and soul of the original series?

Do backdoor pilots happen anymore? Where an episode of a TV show is suddenly about characters you've never seen before or the focus is entirely on a supporting character as the lead (but it feels like a completely different show)?