Murder, They Copied

I don't know what happened to NBC. When I was growing up NBC was always the highest-rated network thanks to a steady stream of successful shows. However, for the last few years they have really been slacking, thanks almost exclusively to a bad string of decisions. Whether it was putting on shows with convoluted plot lines which had no chance of long-term success ("Heroes") or totally bungling the Leno/Conan "Tonight Show" transition, they have had more than their fair share of tough luck even if some of it was self-made. Even the shows which the critics seem to love ("30 Rock") are the ones which get labeled "The Best Show You're Not Watching." Considering TV is meant to be watched that is not exactly a compliment. Every network has its ups and downs but NBC seemed to be going through a prolonged slump that has lasted for most of this century. Then have even tried the last, desperate act of a company out of ideas - the reboot - when they brought back "Knight Rider" a few years ago and it was universally considered a disaster. Well, facing the bottom of the barrel they went and found a new barrel by rebooting a show which previously aired on another network. This afternoon NBC announced Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer has signed on to be the lead in a new version of "Murder, She Wrote", a show which aired on CBS for 12 years.

I have long maintained that a franchise reboot is like the creative offices office of a company waving the white flag. I guess the reason they bother me so much is that television and movies are the only industries which are not only dumb enough to try this move, they manage to pull it off. Originality is in short supply and even worse, no one appears to be in any hurry to look for more. There are roughly 700 shows on TV right now about people looking to buy something (whether it is land, a house or a bar), they all have the exact same format (the people on it are given three choices) and every show has the word 'hunter' in the title. That need to bleed an idea completely dry and then go back for seconds should not be rewarded. How profitable would Apple be if they tried re-releasing the iPhone 2 right about now? Sadly, thanks to that low bar the idea of packaging a show as having to do with a once-loved favorite even though there will be almost no connect to that show other than the title is as close to original as you can hope to get. I just worry that there is no place for this franchise to go but down. The original run of "Murder, She Wrote" was on for 12 years and regularly pulled in tens of millions of viewers. Times are different now and people have more channels and choices than ever, so there is absolutely no way for the reboot to pull in those kinds of numbers. Even if it turns out to be better than the original it will never have the cultural impact.

That is not to say reboots are all bad. It all hinges on effort. If you just throw the same crap out there it will feel tired and recycled but if some thought is put into the project and an old idea is given a face-lift the results can be great. I thought the "Star Trek" franchise reboot was very well-done and rebooting a TV should actually be easier because there is more material to work with and time to develop new characters. When it is done well it can be very successful and actually expose a whole new audience to the original series, resulting in more DVD sales or downloads. On the surface something like "Murder, She Wrote" should lend itself to be rebooted nicely. Not only is everyone in the world familiar with the premise thanks to world-wide syndication deals, at its core the show is just a simple murder mystery show and there are dozens of those chugging along with no signs of slowing down. Really, how hard is it to come up with 22 plotlines a year, especially when you have 12 previous seasons to "borrow" from? Also, Octavia Spencer is a very good actress, so she can clearly handle the work. Unless NBC does something very stupid like put this show up against Monday Night Football or "American Idol" (entirely possible since they haven't really cleaned house at the upper levels of the network despite all the failures of the past decade), there is nothing to indicate this show will be cancelled after four or five episodes like most of their recent pilots.

The only thing which concerns me about a "Murder, She Wrote" reboot is making sure it has an audience. Sure, it was a hit when it first aired in the early-80s but it was popular with a decidedly older demographic (the show was taken off the air for skewing too old), most of whom are no longer with us, so you can't count on them tuning in for the updated version. Much like "Golden Girls" the show does have a special place with younger hipsters, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. Here's the thing about hipsters - they are not loyal to anything and half the time they only pretend to love something to appear different from the other hipsters. I have long maintained that many of these TV executives don't understand the difference between having nostalgia for something and following through on plans to actually watch it. Hipsters are great at the first, terrible at the second. It is like when you or I go to a yard sale and see a toy from our childhood - we'll pick it up and yell out, "I used to have one of these!", then put it down without ever considering buying it. That is what hipsters do about everything. Sure they may own a shirt with Angela Lansbury on it, but they bought it ironically and couldn't tell you what the last show she worked on was. With that in mind if these TV executives think they can count on a chunk of these people to tune in every week and build a strong foundation of fans they could be in for a rude awakening. So could the fans who used to love the original series and are excited for its return because they could find out this experiment is dead on arrival.