Last week, we offered NBC wunderkind Ben Silverman some tips as to which eighties TV shows were as ripe for revival as American Gladiators and Knight Rider. Turns out, much to our pleasure, that several of these shows are already in the development pipeline. For instance, an executive at a production company called Giant Wonder wrote us an e-mail:
My company Giant Wonder and original Max Headroom creator Rocky Morton tried to bring back Max Headroom last year. We took it to NBC. They loved the idea, but when we were ready to move forward, All3Media who are the original rights holders told us they would decide when and if anything would be done.
Apparently, Morton and All3 did produce the above ad for Britain's Channel 4, which makes us want a Max Headroom revival even more.
The Giant Wonder exec also reminded us that The Equalizer is, indeed, returning, though to the big screen rather than the small one. The Weinstein Company bought the rights back in 2005; just a few weeks ago, they assigned writers Michael Connelly and Terrill Lee Lankford to draft a screenplay.
Most exciting, we now have high hopes that Sledge Squad!, our genius idea for a series pairing Frank Drebin and Sledge Hammer, might happen. Or at least something like it. Because, according to an e-mail from Sledge Hammer! creator Alan Spencer, he and Police Squad! co-creator Jim Abrahams have been working together on a series:
Jim Abrahams & I did do "Sledge Squad" in a sense. We developed a sendup of procedural shows for ABC last season and everyone called the script hilarious…except for the network chief who ordered "Cavemen" instead.
Despite Spencer's unnecessary jab at our favorite show, we think ABC made a big mistake in not green-lighting Sledge Squad! (or whatever it was called). Luckily, we have brave Ben Silverman, who we feel certain has already had an assistant print our list out and is feverishly making mind-blowing notes on how each one can be improved in a perfect, writerless future.
Earlier: Ten Shows From the Eighties We'd Actually Like Ben Silverman to Revive
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