If Beatleborgs got a reboot

[Buzz Rules]

If Beatleborgs got a reboot and made for teens/adults rather than a younger audience, would you watch it? Would you want it to be a tv show or turned into a movie series? Who would want in the cast? What station or company would be best suited to do the reboot properly?

 

[superme80]

Do not ruin perfection. That show was wonderfully cheesy. Don't touch it!

 

[Mysterian]

Oh I remember Beetle Borgs. I would love to see the pitch meeting for this. "Ok, we're going to have another Power Rangers type show, with a bunch of kids that turn into cyborg things, and there's also this stupid house of Spirit Halloween monsters, including a Jay Leno/Elvis-looking ghost named "Flabber".

The whole show was a wonderful train wreck of ideas. I liked the Beetle Borg designs. Apparently the Borgs were basically pulled from Kamen Rider footage, but I guess the American studio decided that what the Japanese show lacked was:

I agree with @superme80 on this.

 

[superme80]

Oh I remember Beetle Borgs. I would love to see the pitch meeting for this. "Ok, we're going to have another Power Rangers type show, with a bunch of kids that turn into cyborg things, and there's also this stupid house of Spirit Halloween monsters, including a Jay Leno/Elvis-looking ghost named "Flabber".

The whole show was a wonderful train wreck of ideas. I liked the Beetle Borg designs. Apparently the Borgs were basically pulled from Kamen Rider footage, but I guess the American studio decided that what the Japanese show lacked was:

I agree with @superme80 on this.

I was way too old to be watching it, but it just worked somehow. I need to introduce my boys to it. LOL

 

[Mysterian]

I was way too old to be watching it, but it just worked somehow. I need to introduce my boys to it. LOL

Same, but once you happen across the show, the rest is morbid curiosity. The showrunners may have had some recreational drugs involved in the writing process.

 

[superme80]

Same, but once you happen across the show, the rest is morbid curiosity. The showrunners may have had some recreational drugs involved in the writing process.

I think there was more than SOME! LOL It was a total mind trip.

 

[BrianL]

Do not ruin perfection. That show was wonderfully cheesy. Don't touch it!

While I wouldn't call the show perfection (and am not even a fan), what I don't like is when some creator comes along and takes a thing that is something simple for young audiences and tries to make it more serious and targeted at the 18 to 45 year olds. Man, EVERYTHING is targeted at 18 to 45 year olds now and anything that isn't is basically ignored or derided. There is NOTHING wrong with a simple kids' show, basic morality plays with some fun and goofy action. I know a lot of people have these great memories of shows they watched as a kid, but now they are like, "Wouldn't it be cool if He-Man chopped a guy's head off with that sword?" No, actually it wouldn't. Taking it more seriously does not make it automatically make it better - in fact it often makes it worse because some concepts are just so out there (like Beetleborgs) that they wouldn't even make sense if targeted at an older, more serious minded audience. Leave kids' shows for kids - OR the kid in all of us!

 

[Mysterian]

While I wouldn't call the show perfection (and am not even a fan), what I don't like is when some creator comes along and takes a thing that is something simple for young audiences and tries to make it more serious and targeted at the 18 to 45 year olds. Man, EVERYTHING is targeted at 18 to 45 year olds now and anything that isn't is basically ignored or derided. There is NOTHING wrong with a simple kids' show, basic morality plays with some fun and goofy action. I know a lot of people have these great memories of shows they watched as a kid, but now they are like, "Wouldn't it be cool if He-Man chopped a guy's head off with that sword?" No, actually it wouldn't. Taking it more seriously does not make it automatically make it better - in fact it often makes it worse because some concepts are just so out there (like Beetleborgs) that they wouldn't even make sense if targeted at an older, more serious minded audience. Leave kids' shows for kids - OR the kid in all of us!

Uh, I think you're safe on this one. This is Beetleborgs, again, there's an Elvis-Leno ghost named "Flabber". I don't think anyone going to say "We really need a mature story arc with FLABBER." This will never reach the point where there's a social media outcry from grown 90's kids chanting "#NotMyFlabber". Hey if they did remake this and cast Bruce Campbell as Flabber, we're good.

 

[BrianL]

Uh, I think you're safe on this one. This is Beetleborgs, again, there's an Elvis-Leno ghost named "Flabber". I don't think anyone going to say "We really need a mature story arc with FLABBER." This will never reach the point where there's a social media outcry from grown 90's kids chanting "#NotMyFlabber". Hey if they did remake this and cast Bruce Campbell as Flabber, we're good.

Oh, you'd be surprised though. Look at the attempts to reboot Power Rangers into something more serious. This will often take on a comic book form - they rebooted tons of old 80's and 90's cartoons and, yeah, you guessed it, many were full of violence and death and other such things that don't suit the worlds they were based on. Now, Beetleborgs was never quite so popular as Power Rangers, so it lilkely isn't a good candidate. I just don't like when they do take something and say, "Boy, that old property could be so good if it weren't so stupid - let's 'fix' it!" They don't need to be fixed!

 

[Mysterian]

Oh, you'd be surprised though. Look at the attempts to reboot Power Rangers into something more serious. This will often take on a comic book form - they rebooted tons of old 80's and 90's cartoons and, yeah, you guessed it, many were full of violence and death and other such things that don't suit the worlds they were based on. Now, Beetleborgs was never quite so popular as Power Rangers, so it lilkely isn't a good candidate. I just don't like when they do take something and say, "Boy, that old property could be so good if it weren't so stupid - let's 'fix' it!" They don't need to be fixed!

Power Rangers has a pretty deeply-invested fanbase, and they take it pretty seriously. Since they take it all so seriously, I can see where fans push for the series to move in that same direction- and that's perfectly fine for those fans. The same kids who watched Bunk and Skull and a bunch of wacky villains grew up and wanted to see PR be taken as seriously as The Avengers. So it's a double-edged sword: Fans want something new from a franchise, yet they want the same old thing too.

I see the same with TMNT and Masters of the Universe fans. He-Man and MOTU was never a serious show either, but boy, fans got up in arms about the new Netflix series. To me, I could care less, because the original show, which is still available to see forever, was all meant to sell toys anyway. I like some of the characters as fun icons, but unlike the die-hard fans, I don't need to see Skeletor's inner feelings about things. I just need to see him laugh and call people "imbecile" and "ninny".

 

[BrianL]

But, see, that's what I don't get. Why do they need the franchise to "grow up" with them? What even is Power Rangers without Bulk & Skull and the other cheesy elements? It's just any other mecha-action product. It's fine to take your fandom seriously, but you should recognize that the fandom is for something that has those elements in it. Star Wars fans are the absolute WORST about this. Power Rangers is less serious than The Avengers are, but in an ideal world, BARELY.

When they made the new MOTU series, one thing the co-writer told Kevin Smith was, "Don't give in to the urge to make fun of the original show - treat it like Shakespeare." Yeah, they did age it up some with some extra violence (too much if you ask me), but they also embraced the sillier elements, like the Bashasaurus vehicle and othe crazy toys that were shown in that world. They didn't go so far as to break the universe, especially since the writing was pretty basic on it. TMNT is a little different in that they started as a very gritty comic book - of course, that's not what got popular and now it is what it is.

 

[Buzz Rules]

I was way too old to be watching it, but it just worked somehow. I need to introduce my boys to it. LOL

Do not ruin perfection. That show was wonderfully cheesy. Don't touch it!

 

[Buzz Rules]

I was a fan of both Power Rangers and Beatleborgs as a kid. I actually was inspired to learn martial arts because of the shows. Power Rangers was definitely a darker show in the 90’s/early 2000’s. Several Rangers were actually killed in the series and that was a pretty dark thing to do for a kids show back then. No way would they do that in the modern series.

 

[Mysterian]

But, see, that's what I don't get. Why do they need the franchise to "grow up" with them? What even is Power Rangers without Bulk & Skull and the other cheesy elements? It's just any other mecha-action product. It's fine to take your fandom seriously, but you should recognize that the fandom is for something that has those elements in it. Star Wars fans are the absolute WORST about this. Power Rangers is less serious than The Avengers are, but in an ideal world, BARELY.

When they made the new MOTU series, one thing the co-writer told Kevin Smith was, "Don't give in to the urge to make fun of the original show - treat it like Shakespeare." Yeah, they did age it up some with some extra violence (too much if you ask me), but they also embraced the sillier elements, like the Bashasaurus vehicle and othe crazy toys that were shown in that world. They didn't go so far as to break the universe, especially since the writing was pretty basic on it. TMNT is a little different in that they started as a very gritty comic book - of course, that's not what got popular and now it is what it is.

On the topic of franchises outside of Beetleborgs:
A property should be allowed to be changed over time, and remaining static doesn't always guarantee success. Look at Batman, wide open for interpretation. Mention the new Pattinson Bat movie and I'll mention the new DC League of Super-Pets. It's not all dark.

Franchises that have been around for a long time tend to gather invested fans.
Being invested in the characters means the fans may very well want to see them progress beyond just a superficial, cartoony presence.
Fanfiction is a thriving practice because of all this.
Ask Buzz, he's invested in the outcome of the Pirates series, so he could easily explain his POV on these matters.

Fans love and relate to these popular franchise characters for a long span of time. Flabber is a major exception to this.

(And on the opposite end of the spectrum, some franchises benefit from being redone as comedies. Dragnet, Starsky & Hutch, 21 Jump Street, etc. No big outcry with those changes. Not like the MOTU fans griping about He-Man taking a backseat to Teela.)

“Mature” or “serious” does not always equal ultra-violence and sexual situations, as opposed to say, deeper character development, broader story progression, and/or bigger themes and how the characters are relative to those themes.

Then there's shows like BEETLEBORGS...

There’s not going to be a Joaquim Phoenix Flabber to bait the Emmies or Oscars. If a new series features adult Beetleborgs, you still have to look at the source material and see that a mature change to the show means a complete overhaul: no Flabber, no goofy monsters.

The series was a cheap cash-in that's entertaining for it's flaws and goofiness. The characters are one-dimensional. If ever a remake should happen, it would work best as a comedy/satire. People are going to be high watching it anyway.

 

[BrianL]

On the topic of franchises outside of Beetleborgs:
A property should be allowed to be changed over time, and remaining static doesn't always guarantee success. Look at Batman, wide open for interpretation. Mention the new Pattinson Bat movie and I'll mention the new DC League of Super-Pets. It's not all dark.

Franchises that have been around for a long time tend to gather invested fans.
Being invested in the characters means the fans may very well want to see them progress beyond just a superficial, cartoony presence.
Fanfiction is a thriving practice because of all this.
Ask Buzz, he's invested in the outcome of the Pirates series, so he could easily explain his POV on these matters.

Fans love and relate to these popular franchise characters for a long span of time. Flabber is a major exception to this.

(And on the opposite end of the spectrum, some franchises benefit from being redone as comedies. Dragnet, Starsky & Hutch, 21 Jump Street, etc. No big outcry with those changes. Not like the MOTU fans griping about He-Man taking a backseat to Teela.)

“Mature” or “serious” does not always equal ultra-violence and sexual situations, as opposed to say, deeper character development, broader story progression, and/or bigger themes and how the characters are relative to those themes.

Then there's shows like BEETLEBORGS...

There’s not going to be a Joaquim Phoenix Flabber to bait the Emmies or Oscars. If a new series features adult Beetleborgs, you still have to look at the source material and see that a mature change to the show means a complete overhaul: no Flabber, no goofy monsters.

The series was a cheap cash-in that's entertaining for it's flaws and goofiness. The characters are one-dimensional. If ever a remake should happen, it would work best as a comedy/satire. People are going to be high watching it anyway.

I'm not saying that one cannot add some complexity to a franchise, but any radical changes in tone very rarely work, especially when it's a property aimed at kids to begin with. There is no need to make them "mature" and if fans mature beyond them, then they should just let it go - it's fine to do that. It's also fine to want some deeper world building for a "cartoony" property, but that's really a matter of detail and consistency, not tone and subject matter. What I don't understand is that if a fan is "so invested" in a cartoon, why then is that cartoon unsatisfactory to them the way it is? Why are they invested in that at all?

I think the issue is that the trend tends to be to "age up" a property which eliminates the kids from the audience, which I think is a bad move. Why take it away from kids, especially when the concept was originally for them? It's one thing to expand the audience, but to dismiss an entire segment of it is a mistake in my opinion. What I really hate is that there is barely any "8 to 80" genre content anymore - it's either heavily adult and "serious" OR aimed at kids with no care for quality or execution (this applies especially in comic books). Why can't it be both?

The recent MOTU did a pretty good job other than a bit too much violence (not too much, but I could've done without some of the blood). They certainly didn't add a lot of complexity with that writing! In fact, the story was quite simple. I would argue though that it didn't NEED to change at all. I could watch an old 80's episode of He-Man just as soon as I could watch Revelations - in fact, I'd probably enjoy it more, and I'm an adult.