Belated Spinoffs

I apologize for the lateness of today's post. I thought my cold had gone away, and I even made it to my biannual dental cleaning and checkup yesterday. But last night, after I got home from church, I started feeling achy again and passed out early, waking up a few hours later struggling to breathe. I hate when colds settle in my lungs, and even though that's historically the last place germs stop before I'm rid of them, it's my least favorite symptom second only to the sore throats that always signify the beginning of an infection.

I need to make an effort to go to the gym every day. I used to get sick 1-2 times a year before I exercised regularly, and now it's been well over a year if not longer since I felt this bad. In my struggles to get back on track at work, I've skipped gym a few times in the last month, and I think I'm paying the price now. Two paragraphs of whining is probably two too many, but it also ensures that I can play the delirious card when people question what I've written.

About two weeks ago, I pondered potential belated sequels, really bad movie ideas based on originals now several years old. It's a fun little exercise that may have a sequel of it's own someday, but for now I'm shifting my focus to television. What if some of the forgotten shows of yesteryear made a comeback today? It might look a little something like this:

1) The Bailiff: Richard Moll makes a triumphant return to television playing Bull Shannon, the role which made him famous on Night Court. His friends and coworkers have long since moved on to other things since he left Earth with some aliens in the series finale. Now he wanders the country in this dramatic turn, helping those in need, but never able to stay in any one place for too long, lest people think him mad. Yet if his journey was a delusion, then why is his IQ tripled, and where has he been all this time? Unraveling that mystery will be just one of the ongoing plot threads to explore as he makes new friends and enemies, and maybe runs into a few old ones along the way...

2) Jake 2.0 and the Fatman: Remember Jake 2.0, the short-lived series about a boy infected and enhanced by nanotech? It's a good bet no one else does either, but pairing that show's protagonist with one Hugo “Hurley” Reyes is a sure formula for success. One is athletic and fast healing. The other is the survivor of some freaky island. Some might question the wisdom of featuring Hurley in a spinoff while his fate has yet to be resolved on the original show, but his character was in a mental institution and it has been suggested that the island was a product of his imagination. He's not sure what's real, and that includes his new partner with the microscopic robots in his bloodstream....

3) Knight Singer: Retired from crime fighting, trading in his high-tech car for a microphone, Michael Knight now works as a lounge singer, utilizing the vocal talents of the actor who portrays him, David Hasselhoff. But old habits die hard, and alongside his colorful coworkers he occasionally goes after offenders, minor, real, or imagined, at the casino where he works. This quirky dramatic comedy from the creators of Ally McBeal also stars Pamela Anderson, Carl Weathers, and DJ Qualls, with William Daniels as the voice of a very unique karaoke machine...

4) The Old Team: The A-Team is back! George Peppard may no longer be with us, but he isn't forgotten as Dwight Schultz, Dirk Benedict, and Mr. T all reprise their roles. No longer fugitives wanted for a crime they didn't commit, the trio now enjoy life in a veteran's retirement community. But when their neighbors are in trouble, when no one else can help or are willing to believe the elderly, maybe they can call...the Old Team. In an interesting twist, Schultz' Murdock is now sane and the leader of the group, while Benedict's Face believes he once served on the crew of a space ship and often rants that Katee Sackhoff “stole” his job, which is why the others try not to let him watch too much television. I pity the fool who misses this show!

5) Head of the State: Howard Hesseman portrayed a teacher on Head of the Class, but now his character is a senator. He thought his teaching days were a thing of the past, but with many of his former students on his staff, he just might have a few feverish life lessons left in him. Also stars Robin Givens, Dan Frischman, Khrystyne Haje, Brian Robbins, Jory Husain, Jonathan Ke Quan and Rain Pryor.