TV reboots: The old shows returning to our screens in 2020
Faced with record competition from cable and streaming services, free-to-air TV networks are going back to the future and banking on the revival of some old classics, like Packed To The Rafters. The Sunday Telegraph what shows are coming back to television.
TV
Don't miss out on the headlines from TV. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Whoever coined the phrase “look forward, never back” obviously never worked in TV programming.
The top trend for Australian TV in 2020 will be the reboot — a name given to a TV show from the past which has been resurrected — with no less than a dozen small-screen retreads being planned.
Dug up and dusted off, shows like Who Dares Wins, Packed To The Rafters, Big Brother and A Farmer Wants A Wife will join the already-revived The Amazing Race, Seachange and Survivor.
Once seen as the TV version of Christmas leftovers, remakes have now become the great ratings hope of networks in a market flooded with content from free-to-air, cable and streaming services.
MORE ENTERTAINMENT:
The movie every young actress wants to be in
Rising stars: Young talents to watch in 2020
At least one top executive, Channel 7’s programming boss Angus Ross, is banking on the lure of nostalgia to declaw ratings monsters like Channel 9’s Married At First Sight and Channel 10’s The Masked Singer.
Ross is overseeing the biggest number of revived shows of any commercial free-to-air network, with the hope that the comfort of the familiar will strike a chord with viewers.
“Reboots at the very least represent an established brand that is instantly recognisable to a large number of people,” said Ross, who pointed to the huge public response that the return of Big Brother triggered.
“They also draw a lot of attention and noise — just look at the reaction to the announcement of Big Brother.
“This organic buzz and excitement can’t be underestimated. It is also worth noting that the Australian free-to-air television market is probably the most competitive in the world — it churns through formats at an unparalleled rate.
“The scheduling patterns can age and spit out formats prematurely but, at the end of the day, a good format is a good format.”
The new-look Big Brother will be the most intriguing of the reboots headed to the small screen. It first debuted on Ten before being rehashed on Nine in 2012.
Now it has landed for a third outing at Seven, with an as-yet unknown host to front a new format likely to be filmed and produced in advance in a style similar to The Bachelor or Love Island.
Then there is the return of Packed To The Rafters announced last week which will see original stars Rebecca Gibney, Jessica Marais, Michael Caton and Erik Thompson all back to reprise their original roles.
Seven will also roll out some “farmer nostalgia” with its new version of A Farmer Wants A Wife, another show plucked from Channel 9’s back catalogue.
Also in the mix is SAS Who Dares Wins — a show similar to the original Mike Whitney-helmed predecessor in name alone.
The new version is lifted from the UK and puts a group of 14 Aussie celebrities through basic SAS training.
But not all reboots are created equal — as can be seen in the US where some have shone (Fuller House, 90210) while others have crashed (Murphy Brown, Roseanne).
The key, according to one of the creators behind the new-look Aussie Big Brother, is the right mix of “old and new”.
“It’s very important that fans of the show feel that there are a lot of loved elements that they recognise about this new version, as well as tonnes of fresh and entertaining surprises too,” said a spokesman for BB production company Endemol/Shine.
SOME OF THE SHOWS COMING BACK IN 2020
* Big Brother (Seven)
* Packed To The Rafters (Seven)
* Who Dares Wins (Seven)
* A Farmer Wants A Wife (Seven)
* Charmed (US network)
* Alf (US network)
* Gossip Girl (HBO)
* Designing Women (US network)
* Lizzie McGuire (Disney Plus)
* Bewitched (US network)
* Rugrats (Nickelodeon)
AND SOME WE WANT TO SEE...
* I Dream Of Jeannie
Who wouldn’t want to see an updated “Me Too” appropriate reboot of this 1960s classic, which flips the premise in favour of a male genie?
* BMX Bandits
Surely Nicole Kidman would happily find time in her hectic schedule as an international movie star to provide a cameo in a reboot of the scrappy Aussie kids show that made her a household name?
* The Young Ones
Imagining which of Britain’s plethora of comic geniuses would step into the shoes of the four original stars of this comedy is fun enough in itself.
* Supermarket Sweep
The ultimate supermarket scavenger hunt is ripe for a reboot. If, for nothing else, the product placement potential.
* The Sullivans
Nostalgia TV at its best, an Aussie period classic re-imagined with our best and brightest.