I'm hearing some rumours that a reboot of The Avengers TV series is being planned.
According to RadioTimes.com Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, the creators of a TV series called Industry, which is a co-production by the BBC and HBO are penning an Avengers script, with Ben Taylor who has worked on Netflix's teen show, Sex Education, directing the pilot.
I can't say what we might expect, as I rarely watch modern BBC drama nowadays, and as my teen years have long past I've never felt the need to tune into Sex Education.
There has been several attempts to bring back The Avengers. Anyone remember the awful Avengers 1998 box office bomb, which failed to capture the mood of the original TV series, not helped by the total miscasting of Ralph Fiennes, as John Steed, and Uma Thurman as Emma Peel. Original Steed, Patrick Macnee has a cameo, but only as a disembodied voice!
Personally, I think most rebooted vintage series just don't work in these modern times. On top of that they might have an issue with the title, as a modern audience might confuse it with Marvel's costumed superheroes.
To paraphrase Steed , " Mrs Peel - a rebooted series? - NOT NEEDED!"
If someone was to relaunch 'Police Surgeon' if would fit in nicely with current or recent British crime series and would be a chance to recreate the Steed character. A realistic story line such as the original b/w Avengers stories would work.
ReplyDeleteAny attempt to recreate the humour of the later Avengers stories will end up as awful as the movie, especially as TV shows can now have expensive CGI effects.
Even when Patrick McNee was available the feeble New Avengers showed the format couldn't be repeated.
Police Surgeon didn't feature Steed, Terra, it was a separate short lived series prior to The Avengers. I assume you're talking about the original B/W Avengers stories which featured Ian Hendry, and the stand out mysterious character of Steed. Yes I agree with you,that would translate reasonably well to modern audiences, but would it capture the original spirit of the Avengers that we began to see in some of the Cathy Gale episodes, and fully formed in the Emma Peel episodes?
DeleteI do think the surreal and comedic style of some of the Tara King episodes wouldn't work too well nowadays.
I suspect to most people it's the Steed and Mrs Peel Avengers that remains the most popular, but for me both those characters are firmly tied to the social aspects of their times.
The New Avengers certainly wasn't feeble, and was a reasonably successful spin off. However, that series should really be seen as a separate entity firmly set in the seventies.
Totally agree Scoop. Even the New Avengers in the 70s while good fun as not as popular or as cool as the orginal. You can't replace Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg who were just perfect for the roles. The 90s movie was dire and even the recent Man from UNCLE movie was terrible and a box office bomb. Reboots, remakes, sequels is all we seem to get these days. Come on Hollywood think of some original new ideas.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Yorkie, Steed and Mrs Peel are THE Avengers. I enjoy The New Avengers, but as you say it couldn't replace the original series. Like The Avengers, I think the Man from UNCLE is also problematic as both series, in my opinion are subject to zeitgeist.
DeleteMost certainly not in favour. Good shows should be left alone, there is no need to remake them. The only successful reboot I can think of was the remake of Battlestar Galactica and that's because they picked a mediocre show to start with so there was room to make it better. On a side note, I like the New Avengers!
ReplyDeleteI reckon most people aren't keen on remakes, Kev, which begs the question why do them? They rarely equal the original, let alone better them. As Yorkie says, let's have some new ideas!
DeleteNot into sequels or reboots. Keep quality shows in production, and launch original works. But that isn't how production works. They believe just reusing a known premise is going to work.
ReplyDeleteI suppose producers reckon it's easier to promote a new series that the public are already aware of, Baron.
DeleteLOL, I AM a producer... The classic misunderstanding is because the value of an existing IP is the fans who like it. Whereas the sequel or reboot is bound to annoy at least some percentage of an existing fan base. So you may please some of the old guard, and you may pick up new fans -- but you're just as likely to succeed on those terms with something original. And using an existing IP usually entails extra expenses. So, my feeling is to just make something original.
DeleteAn interesting analogy, Baron. So having an existing fan base to help promote something doesn't really make a difference in the long run.
DeleteI am filled with horror at the thought of a remake of The Avengers. That was a magical show, with a brilliant cast and crew. Any remake would be a disaster. At least The Man From UNCLE movie tried to get the feel of the original show, but most remakes have nothing but contempt for the originals, and use only the title and a few character names, changing everything else. Leave The Avengers alone.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Paul. I hope this doesn't get the go ahead. I've got all the original episodes on DVD and Blu ray, I'm quite happy with those.
DeleteI’m with Paul. Some classics are sacrilegious to tamper with, and The Avengers is one of them. The cast, the scripts, the music, the aesthetic - NONE of these could be improved upon, only diminished by a “new” treatment. SFZ
DeleteCouldn't agree more, Zigg.
DeleteI agree with Paul Adams and everyone else. I feel of The Avengers was so much of it's time that a remake would have to go in a different direction and would not be the same show anyway. The settings, with that odd post-war English countryside and it's depopulated villages would be almost impossible to recreate. I agree with Kevin D that the Galactica remake worked so well because there was room for improvement.
ReplyDeleteSadly there are also plans to remake the Galactica remake too, so nothing is sacred.
It seems new ideas are at an all time low...
The Avengers presented a picture postcard view of a surreal sixties England. I think modern writers and producers would struggle to recreate that especially with all the progressive values which must be included in current scripts. The latest Indiana Jones film appears to be a victim of this.
DeleteTo say that a reboot of The Avengers could NEVER work is too strong.
ReplyDeleteWith the right producer, scripts, direction, music, and above all, in this case, casting, a truly inspired reboot may be possible.
But woah, what a difficult task.
It's been done successfully with Bond, Dr Who (not recent), Batman (Michael Keaton), and maybe Star Trek (the new movies), but it's REALLY rare.
Who could be the new Patrick MacNee ?! Who would be the new Diana Rigg ?!
Do you go for a 60s reboot, or a contemporary update ?
Can you reset the context (Cold War, sexual revolution, respect for, but decline of, the upper class ruling elite ) or not.
For our generation, the answer is probably not.
For us, it's best left alone, I think.
As you say, Mish anything is possible, but Mission-Highly Improbable!
DeleteYour examples of Bond, Batman and Star Trek are good examples of when a reboot works, but to be fair these franchises have developed over time, whereas, apart from the forgettable film, The Avengers has only has the original repeats on TV to watch.
That's a good point Scoop.
ReplyDeleteThey haven't so much been rebooted, as 'evolved' since the 60s.
Absolutely Mish, although thinking about it, Tim Burton's Batman is a possible exception as , unless you read the comics most people associated Batman with the 60's tv series. Burton convincingly and successfully reinvented Batman for the nineties. So for me, this was a reboot that did work.
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