Reboot and Revival city; 24 and Prison Break to return to the smaller screen

The brand new X-Files and Twin Peaks mini-series haven’t even hit yet, and already there are more shows set to return to TV screens. Prepare yourself! First up is 24, the Kiefer Sutherland-infused show featuring a race through 24 “real-time” hours to stop terrorists and the like is from blowing up a good deal of people, buildings, and cute cuddly animals (possibly). This iconic series is getting the complete reboot treatment. If you’re thinking that no one but Sutherland could play Jack Bauer, then you’d be right. Evidently the reboot will consist of entirely new characters. Manny Coto and Evan Katz are writing the script, with longtime 24 producer Howard Gordon supervising. Fox Chairman and CEO Gary Newman stated that they “would love to have Kiefer [Sutherland] and we went to him first,” but it was a no go. The network hasn’t seen the script yet, so nothing’s been greenlit.

Moving on, we have a “revival” of sorts with Prison Break, which is returning to Fox in 2016 as a 10-episode event series. This will actually serve as a sequel series featuring the original two brothers played by Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell. If you’re wondering how this could happen, given the ending of the show, Newman had the following to say:

I would describe it as a bit of a sequel. It picks up the characters several years after we left them in the last season of the show. The brothers will be back. Some of the iconic characters from that show will be back. I don’t think [exec producer] Paul [Scheuring] knows exactly where he’s going over the 10-episode arc, but it definitely will address some questions that were set up at the end of the series for a new audience. What [Paul] pitched to us was a very logical and believable — in the world of Prison Break — explanation for why our characters are alive and still moving around the world.

There ya have it! It’s obvious there’s definitely a fanbase for a revival of some of these shows, although the quality of which have yet to be seen. As long as the original creators are involved it seems fair game, so I’ll be curious to see how audiences react when these shows return. As loved as they are, some of them were only good for their time and haven’t exactly aged with grace. Here’s hoping they do them some justice.