Movie and TV remakes are released in a constant stream these days, and while some of them are fantastic, nobody needed these seven TV remakes. Rather than focusing on new ideas, some studios are instead pulling old shows and reinventing them for the modern era. While some old concepts absolutely deserve another time in the spotlight, the desperation to remake known brands leads to some projects getting unnecessarily regurgitated, as is the case with these seven shows.
7) Bel-Air
Of all the shows on this list, Bel-Air is the black sheep, as the remake is actually good. Season 1 of Bel-Air was released in 2022, and from simply viewing a trailer, it isn’t easy to tell what it is a remake of. Bel-Air is a serious drama, but it is actually a remake of the 1990s hit Will Smith sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. As far as I know, nobody was asking for a gritty reboot of the show where Alfonso Ribeiro does the Carlton, but I guess an executive at Peacock thought otherwise.
To the surprise of almost everyone, however, Bel-Air is actually good. Although it definitely is fitting a different niche than the show it is a remake of, Bel-Air takes the concept and effectively reinterprets it under a different lens. This just goes to show that a remake can be great even if nobody is asking for it. Much more often, however, this is not the case.
6) The Powerpuff Girls
Image courtesy of Cartoon Network
Craig McCracken’s The Powerpuff Girls is one of Cartoon Network’s most beloved cartoons, with it being one of the premier animated superhero series not based on a pre-existing comic book character. However, the same cannot be said for the 2016 remake series. The Powerpuff Girls 2016 is considered to be one of Cartoon Network’s worst shows, with it being critically panned across the board. It is odd even in concept, as I’m not sure who would want a nearly two-decade show to come back with worse character designs and constant references to dated memes.
Surprisingly, this is the most faithful remake of The Powerpuff Girls. In 2006, a 52-episode anime remake titled Powerpuff Girls Z was released. It was more well-received than the 2016 remake, but not as great as the original. The CW also developed a live-action The Powerpuff Girls remake series in 2020, but it was cancelled before release.
5) Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop is one of the most beloved anime of all time, with it being praised for its gorgeous animation and character designs. Like many studios in the 2020s, Netflix decided to take this wonderful animated world and make it a bit more boring by translating Cowboy Bebop into live-action. The show was critically panned upon its release in 2021, with it completely missing the aesthetic of its source material.
The series was canceled after one season, mostly thanks to the incredibly negative reception. However, this is just one entry in an extensive saga of Netflix remaking anime in live-action. The Netflix Death Note movie shows what this practice can be like at its worst, while the One Piece series proves that live-action remakes aren’t always bad.
4) Charlie’s Angels
Despite many aspects of the original Charlie’s Angels series being dated, the franchise has lived on past its initial ending in 1981. The franchise famously received a 2000 movie adaptation, as well as sequels in 2003 and 2019. Well past the franchise’s prime in 2011, ABC premiered a Charlie’s Angels reboot TV series. Unsurprisingly, the show was critically panned and received low ratings, leading ABC to cancel it after only four episodes had aired.
3) Thundercats Roar
Surprisingly, The Powerpuff Girls isn’t the only Cartoon Network remake on this list, as ThunderCats Roar is an even more mind-boggling remake. ThunderCats Roar took the epic 80s action cartoon ThunderCats and turned it into a comedy series with an entirely different tone and art style. Compared to the beloved and faithful 2011 remake, Roar is a major step down that left many fans of the franchise scratching their heads.
2) Saved by the Bell
2020’s Saved by the Bell is a strange mix between a remake and a sequel, with the characters from the original 1980s and 90s series being the parents of a new cast of high school characters. While it was a major success when it was first released, the original Saved by the Bell is incredibly dated. The characters are beloved, but the premise is just that a group of friends go to high school, meaning that it was only remade in order to cash in on the profitable brand name.
1) The Bionic Woman
The 2007 series The Bionic Woman is a remake of the 1970s series of the same name, which itself is a spinoff of The Six Million Dollar Man. The 2007 remake was a bizarre choice by NBC at the time, and when it was released, it became one of the worst-reviewed TV remakes of all time.
The Bionic Woman was criticized for its bad performances, boring storylines, and poor translation of the campy nature of the original show. The dated original series didn’t need a remake, thanks to its fairly simple concept, yet NBC decided to make an unpopular series based on it.