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TV reunion movies you wanted (1 Viewer)

John*Wells

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That never happened?

Mine would be Gomer Pyle USMC. I think it would have happened but for the death of Frank Sutton (sergeant Carter) Remember in the episode Nobody Loves a Sergeant, Gomer suggests a platoon reunion at the Cigar store across from the main gate of the base where they had boot camp
 

Jeffrey D

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spinal tap
Wasn’t there a Return Of Spinal Tap film made a few years after the original?

Yes I just looked it up- a made for TV movie (58 minutes) in 1992. McKean, Guest and Shearer star, and wrote the script.
 

jcroy

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Back when Metallica did their documentary, I was guessing whether Spinal Tap would do a parody version of it.
 

Jeffrey D

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Back when Metallica did their documentary, I was guessing whether Spinal Tap would do a parody version of it.
Are you talking about Some Kind Of Monster? They did this one during the making of their worst album St. Anger.
 

jcroy

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Yeah. It was completely different than the over-the-top spinal tap. I thought it would have been amusing to see what spinal tap would do, to parody it.
 

Jeffrey D

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This Is Spinal Tap is pure comic genius from master improvisers (Reiner says on the Criterion commentary that the guys had a basic idea of what the scene they were filming was supposed to be about, and they did lines off the cuff).
 

sjbradford

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ABC threw all kinds of money at Elizabeth Montgomery in the 1980s for a Bewitched reunion, but she wasn’t interested.

Same with Fred McMurray and “My Three Sons” in the 80s; the rest of the cast was willing but he wasn’t.

I’m sorry the “Family” reunion with Sada Thompson, Kristy McNichol, and Meredith Baxter didn’t happen in the late 80s (they rewrote the script for Baxter, twice, but she still wouldn’t sign on). The story would have focused on the family gathering for the mom’s wedding (James Broderick had died).

There was talk of a follow-up Archie Bunker series in the 1990s, with Archie running a car service since he sold his saloon. It likely would have been a pale imitation of the original, but I would have enjoyed watching Carroll O’Connor play the role one more time.
 

David Deeb

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Many of the comedy TV show reunion movies I remember being not particularly funny: Andy Griffith Show, Green Acres and I Dream of Jeannie come to mind. Part of the problem is they took a 30:00 minute comedy and tried to stretch it to 2 hours. Maybe a 60:00 minute reunion might work better.

Cheers could possibly pull it off. If there was a decent story and a decent reason for the group to reappear. Plus nearly all of the cast is still around and still acting.
 

Kevin Hewell

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I’m sorry the “Family” reunion with Sada Thompson, Kristy McNichol, and Meredith Baxter didn’t happen in the late 80s (they rewrote the script for Baxter, twice, but she still wouldn’t sign on). The story would have focused on the family gathering for the mom’s wedding (James Broderick had died).

I would have loved to see that. It was a great show.

 

sjbradford

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I agree that taking a 30 min sitcom - particularly if one was a three-camera studio audience show - and turning into a two-hour TV movie is a challenge. It seems to me dramas adapt better to that format - look at the plethora of Perry Mason TV movies in the 80s and 90s.

In reality, almost all of these reunions have failed to live up to the standards set by the series. These shows were a product of their time. Remember when Danny Thomas tried to bring back Make Room for Daddy in the 70s, with sideburns and loud fashions and all? Painful. So as much as I would have liked to have seen what Samantha and Darrin were up to, or how the Douglas family was doing, I’m ultimately glad that we didn’t.
 

greenscreened

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I'da' loved one from Everybody Loves Raymond, but with the passing of DR & PB, that put an end to that real quick.

I used to think/wish that after a couple of successful seasons of any given sitcom, they should do a secretive hour long future episode, possibly somewhat campy (because they're younger playing older roles), with appropriate makeup and other potential physical changes, then, never air it until a few years after the series ended.

Then, if all the main actors are still around a few years later, get them together for an actual reunion, and include the never before seen future episode on the next box set, as a bonus feature!
 
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