[psmith2.0]

I think that's the built-in problem in shows like that. Reviving/updating something that was once big is a true gamble and not an automatic hit. The world, tastes, sensibilities, rules, comfort levels, etc. have all changed so much. Certain fans will latch on and enjoy, but a lot of them, who appreciated something specific that is no longer present, won't.

I think it would be easier to create a new property from scratch, and do it as well as can be done, than to roll the dice on something from 30 or more years ago and hoping lightning strikes twice. I don't think it ever really does. Murphy Brown, Will & Grace and others have come and gone without much dent. That Roseanne reboot kicked up but its star is such a graceless idiot that she got herself tossed off her own show within minutes, so even it got renamed and is a completely different animal (The Connors, I think...with John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert anchoring it now). And I just saw where Frasier is coming back from the dead. Who knows how that's going to go. But was anyone really asking for it, I wonder?

Some of this stuff is just of its time, and had the right cast, writers, set-up, etc. that it just worked. As much as I love Seinfeld, I never want to see it brought back in any shape or form. That show was just silly and different enough to exist when it did. Trying to do that again would just be sad self-parody and "okay, we can see the strings, guys".

Everything can't - and shouldn't - be a sequel, prequel, update, reboot, spin-off, etc. Yet that seems to be what so much stuff is anymore. And those projects that try to recapture "lightning in a bottle" from 20-30, or more, years ago are just about guaranteed to blow it. The things that made it good, exciting, funny, interesting, scary, etc. on the first go-around probably don't even register/exist anymore. Audiences have changed, the overall mood/vibe of the culture is different, viewers are more jaded (and savvy), nobody has an attention span so you have to shine lights in our eyes/beat us over the head with explosions, T&A or "outrageousness", etc.

I think it's a losing proposition, going back to a (tapped) well. They've got new Star Trek shows based on new characters. How are those doing? I don't follow. Are they faring better than Picard? Is the property dug into/rooted in the culture enough that it can take chances with new characters/crew/ships? A lot of those Trek spin-offs have done well over the years. I guess that's what made them think Picard would be an automatic lock. It just doesn't work that way.