Thursday Thirteen

Upon learning recently that ABC will offer a remake of Charlie's Angels in an upcoming season, I thought I would list 13 TV shows that I liked and might watch if they were to be remade. One hopes that such shows would be well-produced and well-acted in order to keep the viewer watching.

Sometimes when I am watching an old show, I think about how the plot lines might be different because of technology. Today we have cell phones and no phone booths. I wonder where Superman changes his clothes? How does this impact these old shows when they are being remade?

Please remember that I don't watch a lot of TV, so I might have to reach back a ways to come up with 13.

1. Cagney & Lacey. This is one of my favorite all-time TV shows. Great acting, excellent scripts, lots of drama. It made me cry, it kept my attention, it gave me goose bumps.

2. Hunter. I enjoyed this show tremendously because of the chemistry between Fred Dryer and Stephanie Kramer. Could two new actors pull it off?

3. Magnum, PI. I honestly didn't watch this much - I couldn't get the channel - but I think I would like to see it updated, with some cute yet down-home guy in the lead.

4. Scarecrow and Mrs. King. I am a big Kate Jackson fan, so I watched this because of her. I would like to see the show updated with someone like, oh, I don't know, Drew Barrymore or somebody like that.

5. Moonlighting. Another show with character chemistry.

6. L. A. Law. Another show I watched because I was a fan of an actress. This time, it was Susan Dey, who I loved as a Patridge.

7. X-Files. Okay, I confess. I have never seen the original of this, not even one single episode. I could not get the channel when it first came on and never caught it afterwards for unknown reasons. It always sounded like something I would like, though. So let's remake it so I can catch up!

8. Captain Planet and the Planeteers. Yes, I like cartoons. I liked this one in particular. By all your powers combined, I am Captain Planet! The power is yours!

9. Whose Line Is It Anyway? This was an improv show that kept me laughing. I enjoyed it in all its incarnations. It was the first show I watched on Comedy Central.

10. Star Search. The forerunner to the American Idols and their ilk of today, this show was more of a variety show and it didn't have evil judges.

11. Quantum Leap. This was a show about a doctor lost in time. He'd jump into the body and life of someone else. He'd have to solve a problem or set something right in order to leap out. Lots of variety and interesting acting.

12. Sliders. This show bombed out around season 3, but its first two seasons showed such promise that it deserves a revisit. The characters in the show visit parallel universes in search of their own, with each universe different from their own world.

13. Wonder Woman. This actually was slated to return, but this article indicates the show was not picked up by NBC as anticipated. Wonder Woman is a superhero with a golden lasso and an invisible airplane. I read the comics and followed the TV show religiously when I was (much much) younger.

There are, of course, a lot of other shows that I enjoyed but might not want to see updated. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess come to mind. I am not sure I want to see those shows improved. I would also like to see a new Star Trek series of some kind. I want less reality TV and more story, but I am wondering if story is a thing of the past where TV is concerned.

Anyway, that's my TT for today! Hope it brought back a memory or two.

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 192nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.