Do you remember The Mod Squad?

I mean the original series that ran on ABC (you know, the hip network?) from 1968 to 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Pete Cochran,"Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes and Clarence Williams III as Lincoln Hayes" It was a joint (pardon the pun!) venture between Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas.

In case youre wondering what theyre doing now, I did some on-line research for you.

Michael Cole is still alive and acting, did some theater after the series ended. Peggy Lipton passed last year of cancer, having had a successful return to TV in Twin Peaks, and, of course, marrying producer Quincy Jones and giving birth to two daughters, one of whom (Rashida Jones) is TVs Angie Tribeca.

Clarence Williams III has done the most work following the show. He memorably played Princes father in the movie Purple Rain as well as parodying himself in movies like Im Gonna Get You, Sucker! and Half Baked. His many, many appearances on TV include a bit on Twin Peaks, as well as appearances on Justified, Law & Order and Miami Vice. Youre never quite sure how hes going to play a role and its always a delight to see him.

Peggy and Clarence had cameo appearances in the awful 1999 movie that starred Claire Danes, Omar Epps and Giovanni Ribisi.

WHATS THE MOTIVATION?

Some things, you cant get back again. Too little, too late.

Joan told me recently that theres a reboot being planned for Party Of Five, where the parents dont die, theyre just deported. And Im thinking .Mod Squad!

Because, when The Mod Squad debuted in 1968 (a year ahead of Easy Rider, by the way), at lot of us youngsters (I was 18 at the time) saw it for what it was a blatant attempt by ABC to co-opt our culture and use it to sell us crap.

Network shows have sponsors and sponsors sell you stuff and call out the script writers for having Link kiss Julie (a friendly kiss, by the way!) because that wont sell soap suds in South Dakota. Nobody bought the premise or the scripts (which were typical cop procedurals) or the dialogue. Not until many years later when 22 Jump Street revived the put the young looking guy in school and get him to bust kids routine. Like Dan Akroyd says in It Came From Hollywood: Must be tough being the only 35 year old in high school!

My question is: Why? Why are so many TV.shows and movies getting the old reboot? Lack of originality or talent? Shakespeare got all the good plot twists and witty rejoinders? Lack of any new ideas?

Nope. Money.

Its called the audience recognition factor and it guides about 150% of everything you see on a screen. Thats why there are musicals of movies and, in the case of The Producers, a movie that was turned into a musical that was, in turn, turned into a movie. I love Mel Brooks, but I cant afford to send him my entire paycheck!

Thats why Broadway is constantly doing revivals instead of doing new material like Hadestown or Dear Evan Hansen.

Thats why weve had three reboots of the Spiderman franchise in under twenty years. That, and the fact that Brad Pitt gets twenty million deposited in his bank account whether the movie is a classic or Troy.

Money.

Now, as a musician, I always like to get paid for my efforts and nobody is saying that the good folks that make television and movies dont deserve their huge paychecks anymore than athletes who have a shorter shelf life do. Im just saying that when profit is the deciding factor instead of some intrinsic artistic goal things usually tend to suck.

Think of the last great movie you sawthe one that had a lasting effect on you, one that you talked about for days after.

Did you think The Irishman or did you think Avengers: Endgame?

And, I know Im baiting the Scorsese haters here, but, seriously. We know the difference between a blatant money grab and a picture with heart and soul. But, even projects that started out with the best intentions can get, shall we say, caught in the cultural windstorm.

Ive been in productions where a characters sex did not determine who should play the character. Thats only right and fair. All actors should have access to all roles. But, a female Bobby in Company?

It wasnt bad enough that the original Bobby was a commitment-phobe, we have to put that on an actress? If Dame Judy wants to play King Lear, well, she gets to do it because shes Dame Judy! Shes a national treasure! But, the constant urge to reinvision a play or a production to fit in with modern concerns is a bit maddening. As myself and some of my friends agree, the reason people still go to see Shakespeare is because his stuff is GREAT! and it will always be great, because he was a great writerwhoever he really was! Its not because they actually get a humpbacked dwarf to play Richard III!

Joan and I watched Showboat on TCM recently, the Irene Dunn version. And I swear, all I could think of was This is the next big revisionist production! The last one was in 1994, overseen by Hal Prince. A whole lot has happened since then.

And somebody is gonna make a buck on it. But, nobody at Disney is cutting a check for the author of The Lion Sleeps Tonight, are they?

Hold those grey heads up!

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The Old Guy: On money as motivation for T.V., film reboots - SILive.com