Top 10 TV Episodes that Can't Be Remade in This Day
Some episodes age life fine wine that would be divine anytime. They're timeless classics that you can watch over and over again even years later. However, there are some episodes that were a product of their time and either revolve around technology back in the day or dealt with issues that people have a different opinion about nowadays. These are those kinds of episodes. And if there are any episodes that you feel can't be remade in today's world, feel free to add them.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The title says it all. After Will and Carlton get money from an ATM, an unknown robber holds them at gunpoint and tries to kill Carlton, only for Will to jump in front of him and barely survive. Carlton decides that he can't trust the justice system and gets a revolver instead, much to Will's disgust. What makes this episode particularly controversial is that the robber is never caught and we're unsure if Carlton decides to give up the gun or not. Realistic? Pretty much so. But good luck trying to recreate this episode without your inbox getting full of angry emails.
During a parent-teacher meeting at night, Mrs. Krabappel tells Marge and Homer that they might be too soft on Bart and need to punish him to correct his behavior. Homer continues to be soft with the lad until Bart lets Maggie out of his sight and she goes on a joyride with one of the cars. Homer finally puts his foot down and forbids Bart from going to see the new Itchy and Scratchy movie in theaters. While it might have worked back in 1992, Homer would definitely have to find a new way to discipline his son in today's world. There are Netflix, iTunes, and you can even rent movies from YouTube and Amazon. It's not the 1940s anymore. There are plenty of ways Bart could've watched the movie without Homer knowing.
In this episode, the Griffins visit a 1950s diner and Peter gets hopelessly addicted to the song Surfin' Bird. He takes the record home and plays it so much, Stewie and Brian finally snap and destroy it. While trying to find a copy of the record, he meets Jesus Christ running a record store and the two become good friends. This wouldn't work in today's world because the vast majority of songs are available on iTunes, including Surfin' Bird.
It's an episode centered around Arnold and Dudley who befriend Mr. Horton, the bicycle store owner who gets a little too close for comfort. He gives them pizza and wine and even shows the boys a nudie magazine and X-rated cartoons. To put it bluntly, it's an episode about pedophiles.
Aisha is reunited with her childhood friend Shauna, but there's friction between the two because they didn't stay in touch. Lord Zedd decides to use this to divide the Power Rangers and has Goldar kidnap Kimberly and Shauna in hopes that they would blame each other, which they didn't. This episode would be impossible to remake today because there are social media websites like Facebook and Twitter where friends can keep in touch with each other, no matter how far away they are. In all honesty, I'm glad that's the case because this was one of the laziest episodes I've seen.
I'd be surprised if any episode gets airtime these days because Cosby himself is unlikely to be featured on TV ever again.
For the most part, Saved by the Bell is a wholesome sitcom teenagers can enjoy without their parents getting overly concerned. This episode, however, makes us wonder how it was even given the green light. During heritage week, Lisa discovers her ancestors were slaves, and Jessie discovers that her ancestors were slave traders. But the biggest controversy was when Zack discovers that he might be of Native American descent and his presentation was done in very bad taste. After his presentation bombed, he has a tutor who is of true Indian heritage. This episode would never be able to be remade today because of all the controversy surrounding it. I mean, take a look at Johnny Depp's role as Tonto in The Lone Ranger. Need I say more?
In this episode, Stan finds out that his new dog Sparky is actually homosexual and isn't accepting of it. After Sparky runs away, Stan finds him at a retreat for homosexuals run by Big Gay Al. When this episode aired in 1997, our culture was less accepting of homosexuals than it is now, and the episode was designed to make them less fearful about coming out. If this episode was remade today, it just wouldn't be the same.
After some friction between Phoebe and Ross, the group leaves Ross to go on a ski trip to Phoebe's sister's cabin but runs out of gas along the way. They then call Ross to bring them more only for the battery to die. When this episode aired in 1997, very few people had cell phones and all you could do was talk. But now, we can look up towing companies able and willing to come to the middle of nowhere, we have CAA, AAA, and the like. Just one of many Friends episodes that wouldn't work today due to how technology has advanced.
The Newcomers
In this episode, Max is fed up with having to bucket fish for minnows in the yard while Pete and his family get to go to exotic locations. He decides to enter Goofy in America's Most Painful Home Videos with Pete's help and camcorder to win a trip to Hawaii. Although Goofy does win first place, Pete impersonates Goofy and steals the prize from him. While the others are able to convince Pete to relinquish the trip with an elaborate play, this would've been avoided in today's world. How many people reading this still use camcorders to record videos? Even with Goofy's budget, Max would've had some kind of smartphone or Android device to not only record the video but also upload it to some kind of cloud storage so Pete couldn't get his mitts on it as easily as a videotape.
In this episode, a diversity consultant comes to Dunder Mifflin Scranton on reports that Michael made a very culturally insensitive joke. Michael, who is mad they came there in the first place, holds a "Diversity Day" which is basically a really racist game where you get a piece of paper with an ethnicity on it, and the employees have to act stereotypically to that race. Overall, it is a very tone-deaf episode that most likely wouldn't be made today.
The message is great, but John is kind of a bad gay stereotype that would've made this episode uncomfortable if not for the fact he's played by a gay person, so I gave it a pass.
This episode is one of three mini-episodes in the episode "Elephant Issues." While "Why Dizzy Can't Read" and "C.L.I.D.E. and Prejudice" did a good job with their respective themes, "One Beer" pretty much tripped at the finish line. Buster convinces his friends Plucky and Hampton to partake in one bottle of beer. They soon become alcoholics, dress poorly, and steal a police car, which is then driven off a cliff to their 'deaths.' While it's revealed that it was all just an act and no one really died, the way the message was delivered was in very bad taste. While it's still possible to make episodes that deal with the subject of underage drinking and impaired driving, people will have much higher standards than what was on display here.
