Fri-Yay: Reboot Fever Continues with Talks of Designing Women and Frasier Reboots; E! Gets Busy...Philipps

Friday, August 17, 2018

Fri-Yay: Reboot Fever Continues with Talks of Designing Women and Frasier Reboots; E! Gets Busy...Philipps

It's time for another edition of Fri-Yay! That means we will take a look back on some sitcom happenings in recent days or weeks or other fun sitcomy stuff. It's a sitcom lover's paradise! Happy Fri-Yay!

Frasier

by Vincent

Just when you thought reboot fever might be dying down, it's back again. That's right...reboot fever is back in action with talks of a Designing Women reboot as well as some "murmurs" of a Frasier revival.

We'll start with the Frasier reboot, reports of which surfaced a few weeks ago. Deadline reported that Kelsey Grammar is interested in the idea of a Frasier reboot that would "explore the idea of Frasier in a new city." Although no deal seems imminent, talks are that Grammar is shopping the reboot at different networks, and it seems to be at least a possibility. The Designing Women reboot is in similarly nascent stages, although it seems a bit further along as it has Sony on board. Supposedly, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony has tapped on original series creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason to re-create the series in a way it speaks to "the politically divided state of our current nation" (which is interesting as the original Designing Women never seemed particularly political.) It seems as if the Designing Women reboot would be more of a fresh reboot with a new cast a la the new One Day at a Time rather than a continuation like the new seasons of Roseanne and Murphy Brown.

Personally, it really seems to me as if this is getting a bit out of control. Of these two remakes, the Frasier remake makes at least a little bit more sense, as Frasier has gained some surprising momentum as a Netflix favorite for millennials. But I'm still unsure that either of these long-running series are exactly dying to be revisited. I really wish the TV industry would focus a bit more on fresh ideas rather than drudging up the past. Nevertheless, more remakes and reboots are set to come to TV this fall - the new season of Murphy Brown will be premiering on CBS in the fall, as well as a rebooted version of Charmed on The CW. Whether I like it or not, it certainly seems as if reboot culture is here to stay.

Busy Philipps

E! brings viewers all the best in pop culture as the new late night talk show, Busy Tonight, hosted and executive produced by actress and social media sensation, Busy Philipps (Cougar Town), premieres on Sunday, October 28 at 10pm ET/PT. The half hour talk show, airing every Sunday through Wednesday, will feature everyone's favorite unfiltered Hollywood best friend giving her hilarious and outspoken opinions on the latest pop culture stories and trending topics with candid celebrity guest interviews and original comedic segments. The network has also tapped former Co-Executive Producer of Bravo Media's Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Caissie St.Onge, to serve as showrunner.

Longtime writer and producer, Caissie St.Onge, joins Busy Tonight after nine years with Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and has previously worked on popular, Emmy-winning talk shows such as The Rosie O'Donnell Show and The Late Show with David Letterman.