Today’s Classic Nickelodeon Wednesday will be a little different. Recently I was asked to do an interview in regards to my Classic Nickelodeon Fan Blog ( http://classic-nickelodeon-fan-blog.blogspot.com/ ) and today I am just finishing up my interview questions but I thought one of them might be fun to post here then when Patricia and Kevin post my interview on their blog I will post the link here for all of you to read. (It’s very long, like 8 pages – far too long to post here.
So that being said here is one of my interview questions
with my answer then all of you can post your answers after mine. Have fun!!!
Q)
Recently I (Patricia Miranda) did a podcast of the top 20 Nickelodeon shows
that need to be remade. What shows from Nickelodeon do you want to see remade?
A) This is
such a great question because I had already started thinking about this around
2008 when I first saw H2O Just Add Water. Now these are in no particular order
so here we go.
The Third Eye
I totally agreed with you on this one. I think they should
either remake the original shows that aired on it or add new ones or both. That
being said did you know that Under the Mountain has been remade into a new
movie? I’ve seen it; I own it and I love it! It’s a little different than the
original with the twins being older and Sam Neill now plays the mysterious “Mr.
Jones”. The Wilberforces are back in full force and just for us Classic Fans,
Kirsty Wilkinson, who portrayed Rachel Matheson from the original "Under
the Mountain" on television, made a cameo appearance in the film as Mr.
Jones' Neighbor and Bill Johnson, who portrayed the original Mr. Wilberforce
also made a cameo appearance in the film as Mr. Carpenter. I have to admit that
even I had to go back and check that one. LOL The one, and pretty much only,
problem I have with this new film is that almost every scene with the male
cousin he was all over his girlfriend! And I don’t care if it is an update,
that kind of behavior was totally uncalled for in this movie especially when it
was supposed to be (more or less) a kids movie!!!
I love the charm of The Haunting of Cassie Palmer and
Children Of The Stones; I don’t have a problem with bad acting or perhaps a few
moments of thin scripting because that’s what makes them classics. I own all
four of the original stories, including the Under the Mountain remake and
except for Into the Labyrinth, which I didn’t care, for I love them but I do think that with today’s technology they
could all be updated and made even creepier than the originals.
Now here’s my twist to this, I would also like to add new
programs to this line up. I think H2O Just Add Water, House of Anubis, The
Sarah Jane Adventures and Alien Surf Girls would all fit very well into the
creepy style of The Third Eye. In fact that was the very statement I made to my
mom when we started watching all of these shows. (Yes she watches all of the
same shows I do and she loves them all just as I do. I have such a cool Mom!!!)
Also one quick note, The Witches and the Grinnygog was
announced as part of The Third Eye lineup but never aired, it was actually
shown as part of the Special Delivery program.
Pinwheel
This long time favorite is a perfect candidate for an
update, but not just an update, I think it should be a continuation of the
original series. I think all of the new characters should be related to all of
the original characters but with one small change. Defiantly bring back an
“Aurelia” type character to run Pinwheel House; perhaps her great niece except
that she should be a human character not a puppet.
Jake and Kim’s nieces, cousins or even their children could
come to stay at Pinwheel house just like their family members before them. (Not
have Jake and Kim married to each other but to different people and their
children come back.) Just the same as Sal and Smitty’s son with is new wife
could come back and revive the old “Daily Noodle” that his parents use to run.
Puppeteers Craig Marin and Olga Felgemacher could easily
reimagine new puppets for the show and could recommend others to fill in the
other characters. But I think The Muppets should be left completely out of it;
this needs to be totally separate from The Muppets organization.
I also think that the cartoon / stop-motion shorts could all
be updated and refreshed. I would still want to see traditional animation, very
few computer cartoons, and we should defiantly keep all of the various
stop-motion animations, “puppettoons”, claymations and all of the building
block sequences. They all have such a charm to them and it would be ashamed for
a new generation of children to loose out on that.
Just think of how many new things Jeff could lean in the world today!!!
You Can't Do That On Television
This show screams “update” because again, like Jeff, think about how many new things they’d have to talk about these days! But stick to the “real kids” cast like the original cast was. One of the things I didn't like about the 1990’s version of The Mickey Mouse Club was that the kids were all singers and dancers and I would HATE to see that happen to YCDTOTV. Also, keep the slime thick and lumpy!!! None of that neon green oil that they try to pass off as “slime” these days! – WE WANT OUT REAL SLIME!!!!!
Double Dare & Legends of the Hidden Temple are both perfect for
updating but yes keep the “bare bones” of the shows. Update the rooms and the
giant props and of course the stories and questions. Find a great host and
they’d have it made. Both are still awesome even to this day but they could
also stand a little refreshening.
Kids' Writes
I would LOVE to see Mr. Mairs bring back this show on any network. It was so innovative and creative and it really helped children to learn how to use not only their imagination but also their writing and spelling skills. Have the exact same type of set, bring back Mr. Mairs and have a new cast. This show could ABSOLUTELY work for today’s kids and now that we have the Internet kids would be able to email their stories in as well as physically mail them in.
An Out Of Control movie would be fun. The cast
could get word that their old studio is about to be torn down so they go back
to save it? Hummm, I’ll have to email this to Marty (Schiff who played “Hern
Burford”) and see what he and Dave (Coulier) think about it.
The Tomorrow
People
Now this is a tricky one since there have already been two
updates to this show and a third one has now been scheduled.
The first update came in 1992 and was very unsuccessful. The
show had none of the charm of the Original Series (OS) and indeed seemed to go
in a totally new direction. The characters were flat and undeveloped, there was
no Lab, no Jaunting Belts or Bands, nothing that tied it to the original show
and it was canceled after three years.
Big Finish did the second update in a series of Audio Dramas
(AD) that were, in my opinion, very successful. They returned to the roots of the
show, brought back several of the original characters, brought us new
characters and brought us story-lines that were thought provoking. When I listen
to my ADs I can “see” the story in my mind and it’s so brilliant. Yes they are
a bit edgier but they are so very well written and because of that I didn't mind it. If you are a fan of the OS TP, and if you can find them, I would
highly recommend this series.
Now the CW Network has announced another update of this
series and it both excites me and terrifies me. I’m excited because if the
producers are true fans as they claim to be and will cater to both an old and
new audience and if they stay true to the basic story I think it will be
wonderful. However the idea of an American network taking over is that they
will try to turn it into another teenage soap opera with slutty teenagers (male
and female) with no morals, no values and who do nothing more than sleep around
and back talk their elders. If the CW follows this route the show will be an
epic failure; or at least in my eyes it will be.
