Devil’s in the Remakes

Patrick Goldstein’s timely article about Hollywood’s obsession with remaking old TV shows should be required reading for every studio executive (“The Misadventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Other Tales From Remake Hell,” July 11). Though he went through a long list of disastrous TV remakes, Goldstein left off one of the biggest stinkers ever, New Line’s “Lost in Space.” As with most of the other examples of rotten remakes he cited, one wonders if the writers, director or star even saw an episode of the original TV series.

The same question should be asked of the parties responsible for several other ill-advised remakes not mentioned in the article: “Car 54, Where Are You?,” “My Favorite Martian,” “Mr. Magoo,” “Sgt. Bilko” and “Jetsons: The Movie.”

MICHAEL LANCASTER

Glendale

I hate to break it to Goldstein, but no one in the audience present when I saw “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle” seemed to be bored, and it was filled with kids who loved the animation and cartoon action and the adults who laughed at all the in-jokes and puns, just like we did when we watched the original show when we were kids. If the point of the article was to show how big-screen remakes of old TV shows are a waste of time, pick on somebody else.

The best thing about “R&B;” (and “Chicken Run,” for that matter) is that it’s a film the entire family can enjoy, as opposed to “Shaft,” “MI:2,” and “Me, Myself & Irene,” among the other summer “blockbusters,” which are all written for the adolescent male audience.

CARL PACKARD

Los Angeles

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