On TV Everything Old Is New Again

On American TV the great age of recycling is upon us.
Networks in trouble try to reinvent old favorites and see if the franchises are still worth anything.
The new season which starts in September will have a newly minted version of Hawaii 5-0.
Jack Lord has died and sidekick James MacArthur is into scientific projects these days so the new cast will be headed by Aussie import Alexi O'Loughlin who already has a few CBS flops under his belt.
Well. sometimes revivals work but mostly they do not. the world has moved on. If the original stars are back it's a shock to see how much they've aged.
NBC had two big misses with Knight Rider and Bionic Woman but this season will have no revised series coming our way.
But it's the British who are now big into revivals.
ITV says it will revive its hit All Creatures great And Small. Stars Christopher Timothy and Robert Hardy are still out there but the focus of the show will now be on the earlier years of veterinarian James Herriot's career.
ITV is saying it may possibly prove the successor to the long running Heartbeat which has been cancelled.
And then there's BBC's latest riff on Sherlock Holmes. The definitive TV Holmes was certainly Jeremy Brett but he has passed.
But BBC has decided to go back to the future. The new Sherlock will be in his twenties and played by Benedict Cumberpatch with Martin Freeman (The Office) as Dr. Watson. And remember there will probably be a sequel to the recent film with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.
The pilot has already aired on BBC and beat out Tom Cruise's appearance along with Cameron Diaz on the series Top Gear on ITV.
So why doesn't CBC get into the game or CTV.
I think a modern rendering of Wojeck would be in order --it could concern the coroner's son --because star John Vernon has passed.
CBC already tried to restart The Beachcombers but with remnants of the original cast in a clumsily made TV movie starring Dave Thomas that went nowhere.
CBC had better luck with the reunion of the Kids In the Hall --how about another miniseries from these guys?
But CTV? Come on! Do you really want to see Littlest Hobo back? Or Police Surgeon?
And Global? Did you even see Global's Loving Friends And Perfect Couples the first time around?