9021....Oh look, another Spin-off

If you grew up in the 90's I'm sure you'll remember this. The show about rich kids living in that prestigious zip code. Who could forget the ever-popular Dylan/Kelly/Brenda love triangle or the on again/off again relationship of David and Donna (who did marry each other in the series finale)? For those who didn't watch the show, here was the basic premise: The Walsh family (Parents Jim and Cindy and kids Brandon and his twin sister Brenda) move from Minnesota to Beverly Hills. I personally thought the show should have ended when the last of the Walsh family left good ol' 90210.

Now, it appears that 90210 is getting a full make-over, so to speak.

Spin-Offs and remakes are really nothing new. Popular shows from before such as Laverne and Shirley (Happy Days), The Jeffersons, (All in the Family), and The Ropers (Three's Company) were all spin-offs. There are now several versions of CSI. Law & Order has two successful spin-offs (I don't count Trial by Jury as part of the L&O franchise). But lately, there has been a resugance in spin-offs and remakes. There is a new Knight Rider series, where the new driver of K.I.T.T. is Michael Knight's son. David Hasselhoff even appears in the pilot episode Sadly, the distinguished voice for K.I.T.T. will not be William Daniels from the original series. Val Kilmer is the new K.I.T.T. The Office is based off the original UK version. There's also the Bionic Woman and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

There are big screen versions of Get Smart and Speed Racer that are set for release sometime later this year. Slated for June of 2009 is The A-Team movie. However, there is no cast at this time. John Singleton (Four Brothers) is set to direct.

So I guess if Rob Thomas (of Veronica Mars fame) and the CW want to give 90210 plastic surgery, more power to them. My only question is will the kids look like they are high school students or will the halls of West Beverly High be filled with twenty-somethings? (Gabrielle Carteris was 29 at the start of the original 90210)

I'll be back. (again and again and again)

Whoever would have thought that three little words in 1984 would become such a part of pop culture? Even if you haven't seen said movie (although, there probably aren't too many who haven't) you know where it comes from.

This of course brings us to the latest spin-off, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The series stars British actress Leana Heady as Sarah Connor, Thomas Dekker as a 15 year old John Connor and Summer Glau as Cameron Phillips, a schoolmate of John's who also happens to be his protector from the future.

Here's a quick rundown. It's supposed to take place not long after the events in Terminator 2. So essentially the over all storyline is the same, protect John Connor from robot assassins from the future so he can eventually lead a resistance against those pesky machines.

I sat down to watch the first of the two night premiere. For a spin-off, it wasn't that bad. (I'm a big fan of the Terminator movies. Well, the first two anyway.) In this first episode, Sarah and John are of course on the run again from yet another terminator. However, they decide to take a stand this time. (you have a feeling that SkyNet's unlimited supply of machines may be coming from the same place Wile E. Coyote shops?) So to stop the machines from taking over, John, Sarah and Cameron jump from the 90's to 2007. As a nod to T2, the line "Come with me if you want to live" is thrown in there.

I'm interested to see how this series will progress, especially with the current writers strike going on.

When a movie or show is successful, there's almost surely going to be a spin off. Sometimes they work, other times...not so much. You can check out more about spin-offs here and here.