Return of the Mac? (The ten TV programs you would like to see return)

Member Name: skittle

Product:	The ten TV programs you would like to see return
Date:	09/11/07 (83 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: More of some real classics

Disadvantages: Possibility they should have stayed buried

I can see already that this is going to be another difficult one to write, only in that I hate to limit myself to ten. There are so very many programmes out there that I’d love to see come back for another series or two, that it’ll be really, really hard to choose which ones to go with. Blackadder, for instance, is one that I’d love to see another series of, but the last episode of the final series was so poignant, with the main characters going over the top of the trenches. I think in a perfect world that this one should remain as the final image of a fantastic show.

Then, of course, there are those programmes you remember fondly from childhood, like MacGyver, The A Team or Airwolf, but if they were to come back now you’d wonder what you ever saw in them. Sigh, it’s a hard life writing opinions, but I’ll do my best.

- Angel
I never really understood why this show got cancelled, if I’m honest. The last series was, in all honesty, such a mixed-up, messed-up, muddle that I don’t think the programme makers knew either. First of all there were popular old characters being killed off (Cordelia) then one being killed but coming back as the same person, practically (Fred) then in the last couple of episodes everything just went into fast forward, and suddenly Wes is on the floor in a pool of his own squishy bits, and the few of the gang that are left are running out into certain death… There was no logic to it and it all just felt really rushed, as if they’d only decided just before filming the last couple of episodes that they weren’t going to bother with a new series. I’d like to see a new series if only just to tie up the loose ends of how the last one ended, although that’d be pretty difficult now with half of the main characters definitely dead, and the other half probably gone too. Mind you, they could always do a JR and all wake up in the shower together to find it was all a bad dream…

- Young Ones
I’d really, really love to see a return of the Young Ones, now that they’re all grown up. Of course, nowadays they’d have to call it the Old Ones, but it would be really cool to see how the housemates and their bizarre friends and families turned out. Maybe not even a new series, but a one-off charity special or something similar would be great – this is just one of those programmes from when I was a youngster that I really find hard to let go so easily, it was groundbreaking stuff, back then.

- Baywatch
There’s one reason and one reason only that I’d love to see this diabolical programme return – I want to see the Hoff running along the beach again, perm wafting in the breeze as his oh-so-manly chest bounces up and down in a rhythm all of its own (and completely out of time with the rest of his body). He’d do it, too, even at his age, I bet you!

- Littlest Hobo
Yeah, ok, so this will be a difficult one with reference to the cast, as the Littlest Hobo himself will have gone to doggy heaven quite some time ago, but surely there must be some canine lookalike out there somewhere that could attempt to fill his paws? I loved every second of this show from the theme music onwards, it was something from another age, much more innocent than kids programmes today. Even a modernised version of the Littlest Hobo is something that isn’t really being done on kids TV nowadays. As the theme tune said ‘There’s a world, that’s waiting to unfold, A brand new tale, no one has ever told…

- Green Wing
This programme only ran for two series, with a one off Christmas special to tie up all of the loose ends, but I still want to see more. To be absolutely honest, the Christmas special was really quite bizarre, but it was also a very clear and definite ending to this story, and I want more, more, more! It’s not often nowadays that I watch a TV programme that leaves me feeling this way, normally I can take or leave TV but Green Wing left me feeling bereft at the end - ‘it can’t end like that’ was the plaintive cry my hubby heard when the titles had rolled, and it really shouldn’t, if you ask me. Dr Todd floating off into the sky clinging onto a bunch of balloons is just too surreal and weird an ending. She could always wake up in the shower and it’s all been a bad dream, couldn’t she? Oh, hang on, I’ve already used that one in this review.

- The Comic Strip Presents
Now this is probably too much to ask for, but if the Comic Strip Presents came back, with Ade Edmondson, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French and the rest of them, even just for a one-off red nose day special (now there’s an idea) I’d be an incredibly happy bunny. Just think of everything that’s gone on since the ‘Comic Strip’ stopped presenting that they could parody – Harry Potter is the one that immediately springs to mind, now that could be fun. I dread to think how difficult it would be to get all of those comedy legends together again for a new series, but it’d be worth watching if they could.

- Quantum Leap
Now this is a hard one, because I loved Quantum Leap to bits, but I do think it would need to be modernised for it to be successful on TV today. I’d keep Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett – there’s no reason why he couldn’t still be jumping around from body to body all these years later. Al would still be there too to ‘help’ him every time he leaps – but the technology has come on so much since back then that everything else could be enormously different, and much more slick. Come on, think about it, it worked with Dr Who!

- Spaced
Of course, now that Simon Pegg has moved into movies and all but broken America, by the look of things, going back to TV is probably not a move he’s going to be considering in the near future. Personally, though, I so wish he would. Spaced is one of those modern comedies like Black Books that only run for a series or two and leave you wanting far, far more. That’s probably a good thing in most cases, to be honest. Compare Spaced to a similar comedy, Coupling, that very definitely ran for a season too long in my opinion. The last series, the one without Jeff, was nowhere near as brilliant as the earlier ones. Coupling is definitely a case of a show that should have ended a series earlier, but I honestly believe that with Spaced, so long as they original cast are all available, there is space for one more.

- Black Books
Bernard Black, with the help of his assistant, Manny, runs Black Books – the worst book shop you’re ever likely to enter. If you knew Bernard Black in real life, you’d hate him, and I’m sure he exists out there. I’ve met a few people who show definite Bernard tendencies. But in this show he’s a comedy godsend. Well, to be honest all three of the main characters are fantastic, Tamsin Greig plays Fran to perfection too, she’s a bit neurotic and a bit of a bitch on the quiet. Manny is a big cuddly puppy that’s really only there for Bernard to kick occasionally. That’s basically all there is to this series, these three main characters in the book shop with occasional visits out, but it works so well. Like Spaced, this programme finished too early, this time after series three. Yes, I know that three series sounds like a pretty respectable run, but as each series was made up of only six episodes, it’s left me gagging for more.

- Phoenix Nights
I’m sure that this is one series that requires no introduction. Peter Kay is just an ordinary looking Northern bloke, who would’ve believed he was such a comedy genius? I love his stand-up and I’ve watched his dvd’s more times than I care to remember, but Phoenix Nights is just something special, and again, it’s over after only two series. Why, Peter? Why? I’d love to see a return of Phoenix Nights to TV, again, a comedy special one-off would be perfect, but a third series would be even better.

So that’s my ten – there were many others I could’ve included of course - Red Dwarf, Midnight Caller, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Chorlton and the Wheelies, Jamie and the Magic Torch and Monkey to name just a few.

Summary: That's all, folks