Since we offered up a “New”-themed movie list to kick off the new year, it seemed like a reasonable idea to put together a TV-related list as well, but when we looked back and saw the number of series which featured the word “new” in their title, we noticed a recurring theme: many of the “new” series didn’t come anywhere close to living up to the standards set by the shows which inspired them. These are but ten examples, but rest assured that there are many more which could’ve made the cut.
10. The New Leave It To Beaver (1985): You may recall that this show was entitled “Still the Beaver” when it premiered as a Disney Channel original series, but when it transitioned over to TBS for its second season, that’s when the “New” title kicked in. It’s possible that it doesn’t really belong here, since it’s been ages since I last saw it (the rights to the series are sitting in limbo at the moment, which means that we won’t be seeing it in syndication anytime soon, let alone on DVD), but my recollection is that, although the TV movie that inspired the show was pretty great, the show itself often wasn’t. Still, while “The New Leave It To Beaver” may not come anywhere close to matching the perfection of the original series, it deserves a certain amount of credit for being the most successful series revival / sequel of all time, bringing back virtually every single surviving member of the cast: Tony Dow (Wally Cleaver), Barbara Billingsley (June Cleaver), Ken Osmond (Eddie Haskell), Frank Bank (Lumpy Rutherford), and, of course, Jerry Mathers as the Beaver.
9. The New WKRP in Cincinnati (1991): Given the success of the original “WKRP” in syndication, it’s no wonder that someone had the idea of bringing the show back, but while the new version did manage to corral a few of the old cast members – Gordon Jump (Mr. Carlson), Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek), and Richard Sanders (Les Nessman) all came back – the folks who opted out of the series were replaced by tepid new characters who couldn’t hold a candle to those whose shoes they were filling. Given how disappointing “The New WKRP” was, it really should be higher on this list, but I’m keeping in this slot because the show did manage to convince Loni Anderson (Jennifer Marlowe), Tim Reid (Venus Flytrap), and Howard Hessman (Dr. Johnny Fever) to make guest appearances at various points.
8. The New Avengers (1976): Fans tend to be split about the merits of the return of John Steed with two new partners, Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt) and Purdey (Joanna Lumley), but you can hardly blame them, given how iconic a figure Emma Peel was. It’s said that the reason Steed had a pair of partners this go-round was that producers weren’t entirely confident that 54-year-old Patrick Macnee could hack the work regiment anymore, but he managed to pull it off pretty well, all things considered. Nowadays, it’s no wonder that the original series is the one which stands the test of time best: “The Avengers” had a look which helped define a decade, whereas “The New Avengers” has a look which is defined by its decade. Mind you, it doesn’t exactly help that you can’t look at Purdey without thinking, “Hey, it’s Patsy from ‘Absolutely Fabulous’!”
