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A reboot of the acclaimed Battlestar Galactica space saga is among the announced offerings of NBC Universal’s upcoming streaming service, which has been named Peacock. Sam Esmail, the creator of USA Network’s Mr. Robot and an executive producer on HBO’s Homecoming, is behind the reboot, it was announced on Tuesday morning. No other details were made available. Other, previously announced drama series on tap for Peacock include Dr. Death, based on the true-crime podcast and starring Jamie Dornan, Alec Baldwin and Christian Slater; Brave New World, based on the dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley and starring Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A...

What is dead may never die. This is a religious oath recited often by the people of the Iron Islands on Game of Thrones. It is also increasingly the guiding ethos of Hollywood development, where any familiar title, no matter how sacrosanct it might have once seemed, is ripe for a sequel, a prequel, a reboot or all of the above. This includes Game of Thrones itself, which is due to end next year but has a prequel in active development, and several other potential spinoffs waiting in the wings if that one works out OK. Showbiz has been gripped...

With reboots being the biggest craze in Hollywood, it might be fun to predict which classic (and not so classic) shows might be rebooted next. 1. Mister/Miss Ed. In this reboot, the famed talking horse is gender fluid and trans species. On some days, the horse identifies as male, and others as female. He/she/xe also identifies as a cat, a penguin, and a rooster on occasion. 2. Punky Brewster In this reboot. Punky, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico is separated from her parents at the border. Her parents are deported and Punky is adopted by Henry, her new foster father....

Sony Pictures Television, which owns distribution rights to the sitcom, is in early talks to reboot the Diff'rent Strokes spinoff that originally aired on NBC for nine seasons and more than 200 episodes. A network is not yet attached and a search for a writer is underway. Sources say Leonardo DiCaprio and Jessica Biel are in early talks to exec the reboot via their respective Appian Way and Ocean Films production companies. Sony TV declined comment. The series, which starred Charlotte Rae, Lisa Whelchel, Kim Fields, Mandy Cohn and Nancy McKeon, is one of the longest-running comedies of the '80s...

Norman Lear continues to defy convention about career longevity and age. The TV icon, who today celebrates his 96th birthday, and his Act III production company have signed a two-year first look deal with Sony Pictures TV. The pact includes the option to re-imagine titles from Lear’s extensive library including All In The Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, among others. “I couldn’t be prouder and more excited about joining Sony Pictures Television, who has the guts to go with a kid,” Lear quipped. Sony Pictures TV, which owns the Norman Lear library, has been...

CBS is adding a twist to the classic TV character of Thomas Magnum in his return to television. I hear CBS’ intention is to pursue a non-white actor for the title character in its Magnum P.I reboot, a role originally played by Tom Selleck. Additionally, I hear Lacey in CBS’ reboot of Cagney & Lacey, also is likely to be non-white. The character was written in the pilot script as a woman of color, sources say. In the Emmy-winning original, the title roles were played by Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless. The trio of witches at the center of the...

CBS picked up six pilots for the 2018-2019 season, including reboots of “Cagney and Lacey” and “Magnum P.I.” “Magnum P.I.” is described as an updated version of the original series that follows Thomas Magnum, a decorated ex-Navy SEAL who, upon returning home to Hawaii from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator. Tom Selleck played the mustachioed Magnum in the original series. Peter Lenkov, the writer and producer behind current CBS reboots of “Hawaii Five-O” and “MacGyver,” will serve as the writer and executive producer on the new version of the classic 1980s series, which had previously...

Miami Vice is eyeing a return to NBC. The network has put in development a reboot of its signature 1980s action crime drama, with the Fast & Furious duo of Vin Diesel and Chris Morgan producing. The remake, which had been in the works since last season, will be written by Peter Macmanus (The Mist, Satisfaction) and produced by Universal Television, Chris Morgan Productions and Diesel’s One Race TV. No executive producers have been locked in yet, but Morgan and Ainsley Davies of Chris Morgan Productions are expected to serve as EPs along with Diesel and Shana Waterman of One...

Each month brings a fresh headline containing Hollywood's favourite new buzzphrase, "franchise fatigue." As big-budget sequels from The Mummy to Transformers: The Last Knight stutter to a halt, the consensus reached by news coverage suggests a collective, audible yawn from audiences, as they grow weary and tired of recycled and repackaged films. But is franchise fatigue really a pressing issue for movie studios to address, or is it nothing more than a buzzphrase, a product of anti-franchise bias? The full story of #boxoffice trends is complex and impossible to define in two words alone (lucky for you, this article has...