Revitalize a franchise

[Techwright]

What stagnant, possibly dead, possibly long-forgotten fiction franchise that had a visual representation in the past (TV, movie, internet) and fitting the topic of this forum (Comic, Hero & Villain Culture) would you like to see revitalized, updated, generally given a new chance at life?

 

I can think of several, but I think the first one I'd name would be The Wild, Wild West.  The 1960s TV show was considered both "proto-steampunk" and the precursor to most "weird wild west" stories, and was just great fun.  The 1990s film, though very clever in some of its steampunk material and definitely having some moments reminiscent of the TV show (such as the room with lifesize "pictures"), was not that fun, and completely killed the fine franchise established by the TV show.  I'd like to see a new work, preferably a series, that sticks closer to the TV show while building upon it, and using more special effects for an expanded steampunk world, but not so that they overpower the story and acting.

 

Expanding that thought:

Regarding "building upon it", I could see a somewhat darker show, not so much that it doesn't become a "family show" (which the movie was not) but enough to give some good scary moments.  I'd also like the inclusion of a 3rd and 4th agent to be (initially) unknown to West and Gordon, namely the two men operating the Wanderer's engine.  Until his death, I used to say that Michael Clarke Duncan would have been superb for one of these roles as the train's stoker.  Sort of a John Henry type with muscle to back the team in an emergency, and the ability to move through the African-American population of the Old West, observing and gathering intel in ways two white guys could not.  This stoker would actually be a highly-educated man, appointed to the position secretly by President Grant himself (and answering directly to the president), but asked to pretend to be a mere stoker and to keep his true nature secret as long as possible to gain advantage by being overlooked.  With MCD's sad passing, I think Henry Simmons ("Agents of SHIELD") could nicely fill this role.  This is not to say the team becomes a full squad of four main characters, but that the engineer and stoker will play stronger secondary roles than the TV show had.

 

A revitalized work would also bring back Dr. Miguelito Loveless, and I'd love for Peter Dinklage to take the role.   Even better (to my thinking at least), keep one thing from the failed 1990s movie: the name Arliss Loveless, just the name, and give it to Warwick Davis.  Have the character appear first in the series, simply called "Dr. Loveless", but when he fails and is arrested, have the audience discover his name is "Arliss", then in a tag scene, show the "real" Dr. Loveless singing with Antoinette and receiving word of Arliss' arrest.  He then laments his "inferior" relative's actions but feels duty bound to break Arliss out of prison.  This sets the stage for the eventual clash between the Secret Service team of the Wanderer and the forces of Dr. Miguelito Loveless.

[biostem]

4 hours ago, Techwright said:

What stagnant, possibly dead, possibly long-forgotten fiction franchise that had a visual representation in the past (TV, movie, internet) and fitting the topic of this forum (Comic, Hero & Villain Culture) would you like to see revitalized, updated, generally given a new chance at life?

Maybe more sci-fi than superhero, but I'm rather fond of the cartoon series, (only ran for 1 season), "Mighty Orbots" - I thought it had an interesting take on group dynamics, with their creator kind of being aloof, the smallest/weakest/least powerful robot being the literal "key" to their ability to combine, 2 of the female robots having the most dynamic powers, and they even had an episode where the assumed slovenly/lazy/fat robot shown as having a critical role to play.  The big bad was kind of lacking, but I'd love to see the series given new life and/or otherwise continued...

 

 

*Also, the theme song is pretty darn good!

 

Edited Sunday at 02:33 AM by biostem

[Techwright]

7 minutes ago, biostem said:

Maybe more sci-fi than superhero, but I'm rather fond of the cartoon series, (only ran for 1 season), "Mighty Orbots" - I thought it had an interesting take on group dynamics, with their creator kind of being aloof, the smallest/weakest/least powerful robot being the literal "key" to their ability to combine, the 2 female robots having the most dynamic powers, and they even had an episode where the assumed slovenly/lazy/fat robot shown as having a critical role to play.  The big bad was kind of lacking, but I'd love to see the series given new life and/or otherwise continued...

 

 

*Also, the theme song is pretty darn good!

 

I remember that show.  I was always mystifed by the fat robot, but I did enjoy the show.

[biostem]

1 minute ago, Techwright said:

I remember that show.  I was always mystifed by the fat robot, but I did enjoy the show.

He's basically the power plant for the group, when combined - he can eat anything, and turn it into energy for them.  But, yeah, him being depicted as fat doesn't really make sense for a robot, (I suppose if you really wanted to get into it, he could be converting the materials he ate into mass for himself, then convert that to energy when needed)...  *** shrugs ***

Edited Sunday at 02:36 AM by biostem

[Mopery]

22 hours ago, Techwright said:

I can think of several, but I think the first one I'd name would be The Wild, Wild West.

They should have Will Smith reprise his role, I've heard he slaps! 😏

[Techwright]

21 hours ago, Mopery said:

They should have Will Smith reprise his role, I've heard he slaps! 😏

From what I've heard of Red One, he'd have been perfect for Krampus.

[TTRPGWhiz]

 

[Techwright]

7 hours ago, TTRPGWhiz said:

 

 

In the words of Yello:  Ooh yea!  

 

I occasionally here talk about the best animated theme song from the past.  1990s X-men theme song frequently comes up, sometimes GI Joe: The Movie's theme.  While rightly so for both, the Galaxy Rangers' theme is my go-to mention. 

 

I'd really like to see them update this, while still feeling like the original.  I watched a few episodes again a couple of years back, and it was wonderful...however, the editing was poor by today's standards and the gaps between comments in the conversations were wide.  I'd really like to see a modern edit to the old show, tighten it up a bit, in addition to creating a new modern version.  They'll also need to update Doc.  His tech was straight out of TRON, which was considered amazing for the time, but they'll need to re-imagine it so it doesn't look lame in an era where A.I. does exit.  There's some other tweaks I'd like as well, such as explanation (perhaps a visual montage of the team's operations) as to why four different powersets with different origins require the same tapping of the badge to activate them.  (Yes, as an adult I know understand it is tapping into a temporary "battery" of bio-energy to supercharge their "innate" abilities until they either turned it off or drained the "battery", but as a kid that explanation when right over the head.)

[Voltor]

 

Airwolf

 

Automan

 

Super Force

 

Knight Rider

[ShardWarrior]

Space Battleship Yamato (aka Starblazers in the US). 

 

This one has it all.  Compelling drama, interesting, well fleshed out characters, aliens, epic space battles, and a ship among the pantheon of greatest sci-fi spaceships of all time.  I literally ran home from the bus stop when I was a kid to watch this.  At the time, it was one of the most popular English-translated anime series here in the US. 

 

 

 

It got a live action treatment back in 2010.  It wasn't bad, but didn't quite do the story justice in my opinion.  Still very cool to watch though, especially for the absolutely stunning Meisa Kuroki who is just so gorgeous.  ❤️❤️❤️❤️

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoPZW1Y0A24

 

 

And let's face it, the Wave Motion Gun is just epic!

 

 

 

Still quite popular among Japanese anime enthusiasts!

 

 

 

I always thought Space Battleship Yamato would make a great base for an epic MMORPG!

 

Edited 17 hours ago by ShardWarrior

[Techwright]

12 hours ago, Voltor said:

 

Airwolf

 

Automan

 

Super Force

 

Knight Rider

Airwolf - absolutely! Though how to update it in a drone combat world where even the jet fighter pilots wonder as to their future, I don't have a clue.

 

Automan - um,  yeaaah.  Not really sure how to bring that back without it looking even cheezier.

 

Super Force - I've never heard of this one.

 

Knight Rider - They actually tried to bring it back once as an ensemble show.  I never could pin down a viewing time so watching was hit or miss.  I would be for a new Knight Rider.  I can think of a couple of directions:

 

1. Michael as the new director.  He was designated heir to the founder, replacing Garth Knight.  He's too old to be in the field now, and Devin has passed away.  He's the perfect choice to lead the team.  Following the founder's tactic, Michael handpicks an heir, trains him and sends him or her out with the latest version of the KITT A.I.  (maybe even a pair of drivers.)  One thing I'd like to see from this version:  K.I.T.T. or its replacement as a mobile A.I.  with the ability to pull the A.I.'s computer much like one would pull out a car radio/music system to keep it from being stolen.  That gives the A.I. the ability to take control of any of a fleet of jacked-up cars under Knight 's Law Enforcement division.   

2. A complete reboot with David Hasselhoff playing the elderly Knight who founded the program. 

 

Regardless, I'd like to see a bit more behind the scenes of the Knight automotive business.  Based on the comments in the original show,  the elder Knight was one of the big auto producers in the early half of the 20th Century.  We should be aware of automotive factories, offices, etc.  With the Law Enforcement program, we should see more than just a team of three or four.  There should be an R & D team that came up with both the A.I. and the vehicle itself.  The mobile base mechanic should be just the field tech, so to speak.

5 hours ago, ShardWarrior said:

Space Battleship Yamato (aka Starblazers in the US). 

 

This one has it all.  Compelling drama, interesting, well fleshed out characters, aliens, epic space battles, and a ship among the pantheon of greatest sci-fi spaceships of all time.  I literally ran home from the bus stop when I was a kid to watch this.  At the time, it was one of the most popular English-translated anime series here in the US. 

 

 

 

 

Starblazers was one of my first delves into Japanese entertainment alongside Robotech, and live action shows Ultraman and Space Giants.  While I was always puzzled how a rotting ship hulk would be considered a good framework for a powerful space ship, I otherwise enjoyed the show.   The question I'd have is:  how do you think a modern show should proceed?  Should it reboot the franchise, or continue on?  And if the latter...in what way?

[Voltor]

Forgot to mention:

 

Forever Knight

 

Never did like the Romeo/Juliet murder/suicide ending of the series