TV development executives are in the business of finding the great ideas that walk among us -- or more specifically, the great ideas that walk into pitch meetings.
There's no shortage of writers (and others) in Hollywood eager to take those meetings. So why does it seem like there's at least as much, if not more, energy expended these days on remakes of older TV and film properties and spinoffs than on finding the next big (really) new thing? Is the town really so bankrupt of original concepts?
The answer is, well, no and yes. Brain waves and ingenuity still pulsate through the creative community. The biggest factor driving the bull market in remakes and spinoffs can be summed up in one word: marketing.
With nearly 100 channels on the average TV dial (and that's not counting the Internet), it's becoming an increasingly expensive, some say increasingly impossible, task to pique viewers' interest in a brand-new property. But nets have a head start in promoting the revival of an established TV title or an extension of a successful series.
Given the austerity measures being implemented in Hollywood amid the bleak outlook for the economy, nets and studios are likely to seek any measure of insurance before committing $20 million-plus on the launch of an hourlong series.
The CW proved the value of name recognition last fall in its "reimagining" of "Beverly Hills, 90210" for the post-Shannen Doherty generation. With all the attention the return of "90210" received and the credible ratings it has sustained, it came as no shock when word surfaced that the net is eyeing a redo of "Melrose Place" for next season. Nor was there any surprise that the C-Dub is working on a spinoff of its teen sudser "Gossip Girl."
"If somebody had pitched me an idea last year saying, 'We've got this great show about a family that moves from Kansas to Beverly Hills,' I don't know that I necessarily would've picked it up," says Thom Sherman, CW's exec veep of drama. "But because of the pre-existing ('90210') title, and because we know the vast majority of our demographic will have heard of the show, it gave us the promotional advantage and the marketing advantage to give it a leg up."
CW isn't alone in mining the recent past to help build its future. CBS is poised to book a pilot for a remake of "Hawaii 5-0," and it has designs on a spinoff of its procedural crowd-pleaser "NCIS." Fox is trying yet another Yank take on the Brit-com "Absolutely Fabulous." ABC is considering unleashing the alien invasion of "V" in primetime once again. And NBC may want to get happy with "The Partridge Family."
ABC is also fielding scripts for adaptations of the movies "Maid in Manhattan" and "The Witches of Eastwick"; CBS is flirting with a smallscreen rendition of the Will Smith starrer "Hitch." Adapting pics for TV has traditionally been a tough sell to auds. You can count the true successes on one hand, most notably "MASH" and "Alice" (based on the 1974 Ellen Burstyn starrer "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore").
Remakes are attractive to network-studio congloms because they represent an opportunity to squeeze new profits out of an existing asset. (CW co-owner CBS Corp., for example, controls the rights to "90210" and "Melrose Place.")
But therein lies the rub. As NBC learned the hard way with its 21st century spins on "Bionic Woman" and "Knight Rider," just because a property has built-in brand-name value doesn't mean viewers will stick around if the show isn't compelling.
In some respects, the bar is higher for remake properties because viewers tune in with certain expectations. Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" has become the gold standard of a series that has commanded far more critical acclaim and fan loyalty than the original ABC series from the late 1970s ever did.
Creative execs say the key is to bet on the right showrunner with a well-defined vision for what the show is, where the storytelling can go and who its target aud will be. That's pretty much the prescription for any TV series, new or remodeled. What sold the CW on the idea of a "Gossip Girl" spinoff so soon in that show's lifespan was the well-articulated creative blueprint outlined by "Gossip" creators and exec producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.
The spinoff aims to capitalize on the growing trend of '80s nostalgia by following the wild teenage years of the mother, played by Kelly Rutherford, of one of the lead characters, played by Blake Lively. That plan has the advantage of not disrupting the core ensemble while adding depth to the backstory of Lively's character.
"Stephanie and Josh had such a strong take on what they wanted to do. It was their passion and their ideas that drove this," CW's Sherman says. "They blew our doors off with the idea to create a wholly different (show) while still honoring the original show. If Josh and Stephanie come in and tell me they think it's a good idea, I'm hitching my wagon to them."
Contact Cynthia Littleton at
cynthia.littleton@variety.com