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NBC's 'Rockford Files' Remake Might Be DOA
by Bob Sassone, posted May 14th 2010 10:40AM
Our friends over at the New York Magazine blog Vulture are reporting that NBC might just give up on the 'Rockford Files' remake that has been getting a lot of press lately. The reason? It's stupid to try to replace James Garner with Dermot Mulroney.OK, that's not really the reason. Insiders tell Vulture that the pilot episode that was delivered to NBC executives had "lackluster" direction, looked like it was shot in the 1970s and was more of a direct remake than a new, modern take on the private investigator show -- it was reportedly just bad all around. Producer Dawn Parouse spearheaded a new edit of the pilot that the network liked a lot more, but it might be too little too late.
So could it be completely dead at this point, especially since NBC has already picked up several new dramas for the fall? Well, yes. And also no!
NBC head Angela Bromstad has put a lot of time into getting the remake done, so we might still hear the words "NBC has picked up the remake of 'The Rockford Files'" when NBC has its upfront presentation on Monday. But it's looking less likely that will happen than it looked a couple of months ago.
'The Rockford Files' was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid. I even looked for the same car that Jim Rockford drove when I bought my first car. So when I heard they were making a remake, my first reaction was a cringe. When I heard Mulroney was going to star in it, I didn't cringe, but I certainly scratched my head. Mulroney in James Garner's role? I just didn't see it. I liked the casting of Beau Bridges as his dad though, and as someone who loves the private eye genre, I look for any reason to have shows like that on. But why a remake of a beloved show? Why not cast Mulroney in a new private eye drama?
Well, probably because 'The Rockford Files' is a beloved show and carries with it a fan base and name recognition. But like a lot of remakes of old shows, I wonder what audience they're going for. Older TV viewers who remember the original and loved it will be irritated by a remake, and younger viewers who really don't have any connection to the original won't care anyway. Remakes of TV shows are always a dice roll.
This show could still be given the green light. A lot of people don't know that two of the producers on the show are Steve Carell and David Shore, producer on 'House.' Maybe having those two names attached to it will make NBC want to work things out. We'll probably have a better idea of what's going on with it next week.
But it could be another 'Marlowe.'
Are you looking forward to a remake of 'The Rockford Files'?
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