Television has given us so many excellent stories over the years, and some of them have come to be considered truly iconic. Many of the best TV shows secure themselves substantially long runs and dedicated fanbases, leading them to earn a considerable place in society’s collective pop culture consciousness. Some of the best shows manage not only to impress audiences during their original run, but also to remain relevant for years or even decades after they originally ended. Iconic TV shows have a way of surviving the test of time, being fondly remembered by many long after they’ve left our screens.
The modern entertainment industry has developed a divisive way to keep beloved franchises alive: reboots. There have been several TV show reboots and revivals that have gone on to substantial success, such as Doctor Who‘s 2005 revamp and Cobra Kai actually managing to surpass their predecessors in the opinion of many fans. However, for every success story, there are other failed attempts to revive a popular show. In the following cases, attempts to reboot iconic TV shows flew well under the radar, and many fans likely won’t even know that it was ever attempted at all.
3) Knight Rider
When it comes to awesome sci-fi shows from the 1980s, few names spring to mind as quickly as Knight Rider. While David Hasselhoff’s adventures with his trusty talking car KITT might not have aged perfectly, the original show remains a truly beloved piece of television history thanks to its considerable vehicular action and exciting premise. Several attempts have been made to continue the franchise since the original show ended in 1986, but the reboot that most people don’t remember at all is the 2008 TV show. Off the back of a feature-length pilot, 2008 saw the premiere of Knight Rider, a rebooted continuation starring the son of Hasselhoff’s Michael Knight. The show was unsuccessful, and its run ended after just a single season. The short-lived attempt to bring the iconic show back to our screens has since been widely forgotten, and 2008’s Knight Rider remains hugely overshadowed by the beloved original series.
2) Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island first aired between 1978 and 1984, securing itself a lasting place in pop culture during that time. Ricardo Montalbán starred as the unforgettable Mr. Roarke, the host of the titular island, who in each episode welcomed new guests to the mysterious resort where their wildest dreams and fantasies would come true, usually with a dangerous caveat of some kind. Considered one of the greatest fantasy TV shows of its era, Fantasy Island‘s narrative variety secured it massive popularity with viewers. Unfortunately, multiple attempts have been made to reboot the show, none of which earned any real success. A single-season revival aired in 1998 starring Malcolm McDowell as Mr. Roarke, and a sequel series aired for two seasons between 2021 and 2023. Sadly, neither recaptured the magic of the original, and most viewers forgot all about their existence. While the original show remains iconic, the attempts to reboot its success have since been widely forgotten.
1) The Bionic Woman
Airing between 1976 and 1978, The Bionic Woman was itself a spin-off from another popular show, The Six Million Dollar Man. The awesome 1970s sci-fi show gripped audiences around the world during its three-season run, sharing a near-identical premise to that of its parent show. As a byproduct of its success, The Bionic Woman secured itself a lasting place in pop culture history, but its short-lived reboot certainly didn’t. 2007 saw the release of a remake series of the same name, and while its first few episodes showed some promise, its run was halted by the Writers Guild strike. The reboot never recovered from that lost momentum and was cancelled with just eight episodes having aired. Whether the reboot would have achieved success had it not been halted mid-season is hard to gauge, but it certainly never lived up to the original. While The Bionic Woman of the 1970s remains a well-known piece of television history, the failed eight-episode reboot is a series that very few people even know about.
Leave a Reply