Archive for August 8th, 2011

The Story’s The Same?

Posted August 8, 2011 By Dave Thomer

I may be repeating myself here. If so, consider it an added bit of meta-commentary, because I think the time is right for this conversation again.

In the last ten to twenty years, the reboot has joined the remake as a source for new programming. Serialized stories, from TV shows to movie series to comic books, have had their story continuity restarted, sometimes but not always with some kind of link to what has gone before. Examples include the Star Trek movie from 2009, the Battlestar Galactica series that aired on Syfy, Daniel Craig’s James Bond films, and every third week of DC Comics publishing. Many of these stories are well-received, but there is also a certain stigma attached – a reboot is considered a sign of laziness, or inability to come up with something new. I wonder if that stigma is deserved.

This came to a head in the last few weeks because of two events. A couple of months ago, DC announced that they would restart all of their comics from new issue #1s in September. Many, but not all, of the previously-published plot points would be wiped from the storylines. And then J. Michael Straczynski, creator of the cult-favorite SF series Babylon 5, announced that he had been in negotiations with Warner Brothers to reboot that show along the lines of the Battlestar Galactica reboot. The premise would be kept, everything else would be up for grabs. Actors from the original series might be used, but perhaps they would play new roles.

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