ZOMBIE TV!
Reviving oldies like ‘Roseanne’ is digging too deep
Hey, NBC, ABC and CBS: The 1990s called to say they want their sitcoms back.
As network executives gather in New York this week to reveal their new fall lineups to advertisers, a trend has emerged: resurrecting once-great comedies. The latest? “Roseanne” and “Will & Grace.”
Really? This is how you’re going to compete with the rise of streaming networks? At the risk of stating the obvious, a new fall schedule should feature new fall shows. But while insurgent broadcasters like Netflix and Amazon continue to run the table with original hits like “House of Cards” “Daredevil,” “Transparent” and “Mozart in the Jungle,” old-school executives are answering the challenge by resurrecting long-dead hits.
In recent times, CBS has tried it with “MacGyver” and “The Odd Couple” (again!), Fox has done it with “The X-Files” and even Netflix has gone there with “Fuller House” — but it’s the people selling “Will & Grace” and now “Roseanne” who seem to be the most excited about the trend.
NBC and ABC officials are just giddy. “Why wouldn’t it work now?” an ABC exec said Monday before presenting plans for the show to Madison Ave. executives.
“The Conners’ joys and struggles are as relevant — and hilarious — today as they were then, and there’s really no one better to comment on our modern America than Roseanne,” Channing Dungey, the network’s entertainment boss, told advertisers Tuesday. Uh, no. Both shows deftly handled huge and important issues through characters and stories that we all fell in love with.
Which is why they should be left alone.
In their time, both shows broke new ground — something a reboot, sequel or rehash by definition cannot do.
“Roseanne” offered viewers one of the most authentic portrayals ever of an American family on television and tackled some of the hot-button issues of the time — including one of the first samesex kisses seen in prime time. In 1994, that was considered scandalous. Now it’s pretty run of the mill.
“Will & Grace,” of course, was one of the most-watched sitcoms ever and is credited with helping to improve public opinion about the LGBT community.
Heck, there’s a strong argument to be made about a direct line from that single girl-kiss episode of “Roseanne” to “Will & Grace” to Amazon’s groundbreaking “Transparent.”
So how are the networks planning to answer “Transparent” and take the conversation to the next level? By bringing back “Will & Grace.”
It was so sharp and so funny — more than a decade ago. And that’s why we have repeats.