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Which "new" or updated shows were hits?

J

johnbasalla

I was watching a re-run of "The Monkees" when I thought of the update failure, "The New Monkees" which was in syndication for something like 13 episodes. Then there's the case of "The New Dick Van Dyke show" which limped along for 3 seasons in the early 1970s, apparently unable to find a substantial audience.
Which ones of these new updates were successful?

The only two I can think of off the top of my head is "What's Happening Now", a re-birth of "What's Happening" which, I think, lasted the same number of seasons as the original show, and "Still The Beaver" which seemed to have a pretty good run.

What other ones were there?
 
Other than a few game shows (notably "The Price Is Right," "Jeopardy!",
"Match Game," "Name That Tune," and "Tic Tac Dough"), I can think right
offhand of only two: the current version of "Hawaii Five-O" and the late-'60s
"Dragnet" (with Harry Morgan instead of Ben Alexander), even though it became
something of a joke because of Jack Webb's increasingly hard-line conservative
point of view.

I don't know if you count "Newhart," which lasted even longer than "The Bob
Newhart Show" (eight years vs. six), but I'm putting it in because, like "The New
Dick Van Dyke Show," it had a different cast and setting from the original.
 
Strictly speaking, 'The New Dick Van Dyke Show' and 'Newhart' were not 'updates' of their stars' older shows, in the way that the 60s 'Dragnet' or 'What's Happening Now!' were.
 
I agree. If a star comes back to do another show as another character, it's not an update. Newhart becomes a gray area with dream thing but even so...

The New WKRP in Cincinnati ran two seasons. Not really a hit but it did better than most revivals.

The late 60s Dragnet is currently on ME-TV but the original is seldom scene. That's a shame because it was a much better show - a real cop show and not a PR film for the LAPD.

Hawaii Five-O is probably the only really successful come-back. Now, we'll probably see a lot more attempts.

Someone will mention Star Trek but that's more of a sequel than a come back or revival.
 
'Star Trek' almost had a 'comeback' in 1978, when Paramount was considering launching a ne network(years before UPN); the initial offering was goingto be 'Star Trek Phase II' with Shatner and at least some of the original cast. That project fell through, and Paramount decided to do a movie instead.
 
bpatrick said:
Other than a few game shows (notably "The Price Is Right," "Jeopardy!",
"Match Game," "Name That Tune," and "Tic Tac Dough...
Click to expand...

A lot depends on the version. The updates of TPIR and Jeopardy have definitely done better than the originals. Match Game 7X did better than the original, but none of the remakes since have done as well. The 1990 version was probably the next best, and the 1998 version was terrible. I've seen a few episodes of the 2012 Canadian version on You Tube, which is more like the 1990 version with one less Match Up round,  but I never really liked that part except possibly for use as a tie breaker. It's done well enough for a second season, and I wonder if this version could end up on in the US, but it still doesn't seem to  be as good as the 70's or 1990 versions.

I also liked the various updates of Password over the years with Super Password (1984-1989) being the best. And the various versions of Family Feud have done well because they have stayed with the same basic rules, except for when they ran the Bullseye round in the early 90's.

Also, would the latest version of Let's Make a Deal qualify?
 
sshuffield70 said:
Thanks, bpatrick. Your post got me to looking at some of the old Newhart.

Of course, I'd seen the finale originally, and it's in the linked video. But there was another scene that quite surprised me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Etwz8s0NCE
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting that! I haven't seen the clip of Larry, Darryl, and Darryl from the Bob Newhart reunion show (Which took place the day after the dream) since it was on in the 90's. Thanks! :)
 
Much earlier than the entries mentioned above, George Burns in the late '50s tried resuming The Burns & Allen Show formula with The George Burns Show.

George's show was an attempt at milking the comically successful formula of B & A after Gracie's retirement. Unfortunately, even the return of all supporting characters wasn't enough to overcome the absence of it's chief foil. After one season, GB folded. As Burns later Observed, "(The Audience) was always expecting Gracie to walk through the door..."
 
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