The first time it happened I was so very excited. SciFi Channel
was going to air a "re-imagining" of Battlestar Galactica. As a child of the '70's I loved Battlestar Galactica and was so let down when the series was canceled. The idea that there were humans in a great convoy searching through the universe for Earth really sparked my imagination. This show was cutting edge for it's time as well, and the most expensive production on television at the time.
At its core, the story of Battlestar Galactica is brilliant. What would humanity look like if it were decimated and was placed in the position of needing to find a new home? The journey can be an amazing one with practically limitless stories of conflict;
not only with external forces, but within the human community as well; and heroism. This makes for great drama. I can see the need to "re-imagine" this story; limited technology and budget in the '70's never were really able to give the idea the treatment it deserved -- the epic feel that we now get to thanks to David Eicks and Ronald Moore. They have done a tremendous job of breathing new life into this story. What is brilliant with what they have done is that they have stayed true to the central tenant of the story... the human race (as our characters know it) is practically destroyed and they are running for their lives. The show has an almost operatic feel that is worthy of the weight of the story.
Next we have a "re-imaging" applied to none other than Miss Jamie
Sommers as the Bionic Woman. Again, as a child of the '70's, I watched this show pretty religiously, as well as the predecessor, The Six Million Dollar Man. As a SciFi fan, I'm obliged to give this new Bionic Woman a shot. The ads make the show seem much darker the special FX look out of this world, never-mind the fact that Michelle Ryan is flat out HOT, as is Katee Sackhoff (aka Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica).
Still, I wouldn't call this a a "re-imagining" of the show 
as much as a reinvention of it. '70's Jamie Sommers: school teacher, girl friend of Steve Austin - the six million dollar man- gets bionic because she is nearly killed in a parachuting accident and is the girl friend of the six million dollar man, bionic leg, arm and ear. 21st Century Jamie Sommers: Bartender, gets bionic because she is nearly killed in a care accident and is the girl friend of the scientist developing bionics, two bionic legs, bionic arm, bionic ear, and bionic eye. They only thing that didn't change is that she now owes the government her life and must work for them. She isn't terribly happy about this.
Ultimately, this show is about the character, Jamie Sommers, and such fundamental changes to the character's back story really make this an entirely different show. Why not simply pick up a bionic story where it left off. Calling this character Jamie Sommers is really just a way to get people who loved the original to tune in. 
I will, but I reserve the right to resent these tactics.
Next we have a modernized Flash Gordon, thanks again to the SciFi Channel. Flash Gordon is a venerated oldie that must see a revival in every time, and apparently now is the time. My own experience with flash is limited to the '80's movie-- "Flash, Flash, I love you, but we only have 14 hours to save the Earth!", and the more important derivative work, Queen's soundtrack. I watched the premier of the "re-imagined" version the other night and found a watchable 1.5 hours of television. I'll make space on my DVR,
but really this brings me to the real question at hand: where has all the creativity gone? Have all the good ideas been taken? This goes way beyond my three examples here on television, but music and movies are victims of this as well.
I really believe that that are some stories that deserve a fresh and updated look, Battlestar, in my opinion is one of those. It's epic nature, and the fact that the story wasn't told as well as it could have been before make it a perfect example. Bionic Woman is somewhat of a cheat. The bionics are a plot device and the character isn't really who they say she is. This one was probably better left alone.
I can see where a step in the creative process might be to re-evaluate an old idea, take it along some new line that the creator may not have envisioned, it just seems like there is too much reliance on old stories. What will be the next great epic? I wonder.
5 comments:
I love that you embrace your inner dorkness. :)
-N
Inner dorkness. I wear it on my sleeve!
Yeah, but the inner dorkness runs far deeper than the one we see. :)
-N
I'm sick of them taking 70s tv shows and turning them into bad movies. And, really, I'm kinda fed up with all sequels in general - we got a call at work today that they might want to film "Ace Ventura Pet Detective 3" at one of our parks. Really? Does the world need a third edition of this series?
It all comes down to one thing. Money. These kinds of show are expensive to make and no one want's to up their money to fund them unless the creators can prove there will be an audience to view them. Using a known property like The Bionic Woman brings with it (they assume) all the fans of the original show. Backers feel more comfortable these days plunking down their cash for stories with pre-determined audiences. That's also why we get so many sequels too. It can be very difficult to get the masses interested in a new property and that's seen as too risky.
I"m not saying this is a good or bad system. It's just the way it is.
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