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7 Classic TV Shows That Need A Reboot

With the upcoming release of a film based on the hit 60s show The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and the popularity of reboots of any number of great TV shows from the past, one does begin to wonder what other series might be worthy of a contemporary remake. It's always good to have some originality on TV, when you can get it, but there are some shows whose innate qualities lend themselves to the landscape of contemporary television.

Dark Shadows

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We could talk about the attempt that Tim Burton made to turn this into a feature film, but you know and I know that no one wants to discuss that. Instead, let us consider the possibilities of a Dark Shadows reboot more along the lines of the original show that ran from 1966-1971, combining soap-opera plotlines with vampires, werewolves, and witches.

The original Dark Shadows began life as a mostly real world (if Gothic-tinged) soap opera about the desiccated Collins family. It did not really get going, however, until the producers decided to introduce Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid), a Collins ancestor who just happened to be a vampire. From there, the show became an amalgam of contemporary themes and Gothic decadence, tossing in vampires, werewolves, witches, and even a parallel universe. It spawned several films and a massive fan-base that still exists today

Dark Shadows has already received one reboot, when NBC did it again in 1991; then Tim Burton tried to Burtonize it with Johnny Depp as Barnabas with predictably poor results. I say that it’s time to give it another shot though. With the current popularity of Gothic-themed television shows – and the opportunity to make this bloodier, crazier, and even darker than the original – a new version of Dark Shadows is practically a gimme. We all love tortured romantic vampires, now don’t we?