It seems like television is out of ideas or has realized that viewers will latch on to something that is familiar to them. Such is the case with CBS, who re-introduced viewers to Rush Hour, a remake of the hit action/comedy/buddy cop series that originally starred Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. The TV show reboot is currently on the fence as far as whether or not it is been cancelled or renewed, but this hasn't stopped CBS from brining two other franchises of MacGyver and Training Day to their network.
The Verge reports that the first series to get the green-light was MacGyver, and yes, it is a remake of the actions hero series that lasted seven seasons on ABC. Richard Dean Anderson played the mullet-headed protagonist who never used a gun or his first name, but always seemed to find a way out of his adventures by building something out of junk. It looks like CBS has the rights to him for quite a while, and they have been replaying old episodes of the show on their website for streaming.
MacGyver was a real hero of the eighties when he began in 1985, but had very non-violent and environmental beliefs that helped him get into some of the nineties. The show ended when he met his son in 1992, and this new reboot will have Lucas Till (Havok from the X-Men films) playing the title character. Apparently, this MacGyver will be setting up a secret organization rather than be a part of some existing government group, like the Phoenix Foundation of the original series.
The second show that is essentially a reboot will be Training Day. Apparently, this is based on the Denzel Washington/Ethan Hawke film of the same name that was released 15 years ago, and will reportedly take place 15 years after the film.
In all honesty, this seems an odd move, as (spoiler alert) Denzel Washington's character of Alonzo Harris died at the end of the original Training Day film. It is possible that Ethan Hawke's character of Jake Hoyt could be a principal character of the series, but he would be obviously older by now. Hopefully, Jake did not pick up from where Alonzo left off.
Training Day was a film that really explored the dynamic of the police officer and the criminal. It showed a dark seedy L.A. that was policed by a crooked cop, and a series could explore this more than the original two-hour film. Being on CBS, it won't be able to explore it too well without getting into the film's R-rated territory.
So far, there has been any official release dates of these two series reboots, but if production has started right away, there is no reason why they can't show up during the fall season when new shows will be plentiful. They will be joining the likes of remakes like Lethal Weapon when it shows up on Fox.
