I watched it religiously for all 3 seasons. I LOVED it. I loved the theme song. I loved everything about it. I loved the fact that a regular Joe Schmo could become a super hero and not be very good at it, that he just kind of fought crime by accident.
Premise of the show: A public school teacher named Ralph Hinkley(William Katt) is given a red suit by Aliens and told to collaborate with FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp) to help solve crimes. The Attorney who handled Ralphs divorce, Pam Davidson(Connie Sellecca), sometimes accompanies the boys on their adventures.
The Red suit gives Ralph super human powers when worn, unfortunately, Ralph hates the suit and loses the instruction manual. He can fly, but has no skill at landing (so every flying episode usually involves him crashing unceremoniously into a heap). The powers tend to kick in randomly often with comedic results.
As the show progressed we find that Hinkley was not the first to be given a red suit (another agent had but used the suit selfishly so he had it taken away), and that the Aliens (whose own home planet had been destroyed)were trying to protect the Earth as it was one of the only remaining Garden States.
So I heard a rumor that they were going to remake this classic show, and I don't really know how I feel about it, It was a GREAT show when I was a kid, can it really translate well into todays mindset? Here is what I think the biggest hurdles will be with this reboot- (please note I am not saying I have anything against climate change, military personnel, nerds, the gay lifestyle or liberal vs conservative agendas. This is just what I think they will do because to be quite honest most producers have very little original ideas left in their brains and many of todays shows are all the same)
Protect the "Garden State"- Can the producers do it without relentlessly harping on the whole "Climate Change" and "save the Earth" and "Humans are the biggest Threat to our Planet" theme that they throw into EVERY movie now. I, for one, just want to watch a show or movie that doesn't have some sort of underlying political agenda.
Cast of Characters: Can we keep the characters kind of the same without injecting the whole overdone/overused Hollywood equation into it? Please don't turn Ralph from a Special Education teacher into some sort of Uber- Brainy/awkward College Professor of Astronomy or something like that.( And they will probably rename him something "nerdy" or "brainy" like Sheldon or Leonard, or Howard or...oh wait, wrong show). Don't make Bill Maxwell(probably now called Rob or Ryan) some sort of Jack Bauer/Homeland/Counter Terrorist Unit guy with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove after returning home from a useless war over oil in the Middle East. I can see the flashback scenes now...
, Pam Davidson (Attorney at Law) is now Pete Davidson and he has a secret crush on Ralph. Peter probably handled Ralph's divorce and has been harboring feelings all the while trying to get Ralph to reciprocate. Oh, and he will also be the sassy friend to help spruce up the Red Suit. ("mmmm red spandex is Soooooo 1980's. It's time for a makeover!!" )
Can we just keep it as close to the original storyline? Is that even possible?. Sadly this country is a different time and Era from 35 years ago so my beloved show will definitely get mutilated and revamped beyond repair to mirror more closely todays sensibilities
(And I swear if you get They Might be Giants or Bare Naked Ladies or someone like that to do the intro theme song-I'm out. )
WHO WOULD I CAST?? If i am trying to keep it as close to the original as possible(based on looks from original Casting, here are my picks.)
Jon Heder as Ralph. (Mostly I thought of his Napoleon Dynamite hair). But he is a goofy charming sexy in his own weird way.
Timothy Omundson as Bill Maxwell. He has been Detective Carlton Lassiter on Psych for many seasons now and has the whole "FBI thing" down.
Sarah Lancaster as Pam Davidson. She was Ellie Bartowski in Chuck.
Who would YOU choose in the new reboot??
