It’s often said that sequels suck.
Just think movies like Jaws 2, Speed 2: Cruise Control, Wonder Woman 1984 and any of the Terminator franchise.
But hang on, when it comes to reimagining classic TV sitcoms and bringing them back to life, well that’s another thing altogether.
This week, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed a sequel series of 1990s favourite Frasier was officially green-lit by Paramount+ with production on the first episode to begin shortly.
After 19 months of rumours that the Cheers spin-off was set for a complete makeover, US actor Kelsey Grammer will reprise his lead role as the psychiatrist radio host Frasier Crane.
Frasier ran for 11 seasons on NBC from 1993 to 2004, and with some original cast members making guest appearances this time round, the series will be based on the next stage of Frasier’s career in a new city.
Grammer confirmed to Deadline they were “in the final stages of the final script for the first episode of the Frasier reboot and it looks pretty good” with shooting to start this month.
“I’ve had a couple of runs through it, and I cried, so you know, I’m happy.”
And then there’s much-loved 80s hit, Moonlighting, starring Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis.
A cryptic tweet from writer/producer Glenn Gordon Caron this week suggests we’re either about to get a reboot or a streaming service is about to land the reruns.
Tweet from @GlennGCaron
Why?
No new material, no new series worth watching, or were the old shows really just so cleverly written and well produced?
TV expert Steve Molk, from TVBlackbox.com.au, tells The New Daily it’s one part nostalgia, one part lack of new ideas, and one part streaming services picking up the shows as a revenue-raising exercise.
“The general thought is bringing back an old series will draw the old audience and an entirely new one which will mean a double win!
“It’s not always the case, and to those on the fence, it’s absolutely a cash grab, a sign they’re short on ideas and are unwilling to try an entirely new idea because it’s way more expensive and riskier.”
He said “some new viewers will have an idea of the shows, and often it is because of parents or older siblings re-watching”
“Part of the attraction is that it will feel “new” because the original series have not been available on streaming services so ‘what is this new show?’, but elsewhere the media they consume will catch them up … which can work for and against the reboot,” explains Mr Molk.
A quick look at what everyone’s watching and on Netflix’s global top 10 No.1 is about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, then Cobra Kai, The Crown, Stranger Things and Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons.
Prime Video’s most popular is Lord of the Rings, Disney+ subscribers are loving She Hulk: Attorney at Law and Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, while on Stan there’s the Emmy-award winning Hacks, Yellowstone and the Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul.
Apple TV+ has sitcoms Ted Lasso and dramas like Morning Wars.
It worked for Heartbreak High and Lord of the Rings
The homegrown Australian series was re-invented on Netflix after its five-series run from 1994 to 1999 about a bunch of teenagers at a Sydney high school.
Bringing it back to life was a gamble that paid off big time, winning hearts around the world.
“Finding new content is the key for any viewer, and word of mouth helps but it takes a lot for a show to get buzz that allows it to enter the zeitgeist … and that’s when you have a hit … [the] Heartbreak High reboot is a good example,” says Mr Molk.
He said Amazon Prime “took a massive risk” with Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and “it has really paid off for them”.
Can it work for Frasier and Moonlighting?
Mr Molk said Moonlighting was a product of its time, in no small part due to the two leads: “The rumours of their off-screen dysfunction, their success on-screen and particularly Willis’s movie career that took off from it.
“Frasier spun-off one of the most loved and ground-breaking sitcoms of the 80s, so with that heritage it was going to crash or do very well, and luckily it was the latter.
“I think it certainly set the benchmark for spin-off sitcoms and few have measured up since.
Just putting it out there – Friends or a Seinfeld reboot?
Both these series enjoy a permanent fixture on streaming services, and our TV expert says both “would struggle to work with sequel series”.
“The stories all wrapped within their universes, and the Friends reunion showed there is a nostalgic appetite for where those people are now.
“However, I’d offer little interest in a ‘what happened to all those characters and can we have a sequel please?’.
“How would you wrangle either cast or the creatives to participate and, honestly, why would they want to?”.
