Joost Blog

Next year's fall TV schedule came out this week, and remakes or spinoffs of lots of our favorites will be returning to the small screen next year. The question, of course, will be if they can be as good as the originals - and when you consider the originals, that is a very high bar to reach.

Last year, Beverly Hills 90210 was brought back to life. It's hard to believe it had only been gone for 8 years...and yet, how much things had changed since. There must be some inconsistencies in the timing - after all, you have to think we would've seen a little bit more of the kids who now roam the halls of West Beverly in the original. But we digress. Next year will be just like the old days, when Beverly Hills 90210 came on at 8 p.m. and Melrose Place followed it at 9.

It's unclear how this remake is going to work - we know that Ashlee Simpson Wentz is in it - but Michael and Sydney (dead or alive?) are also coming back. Will it just be the same housing complex with a different cast of characters - and if so, is Michael still living there?

Melrose Place will face some stiff competition from an NCIS spinoff, NCIS: Los Angeles. We already met the main characters for this one in the "Legend" episodes of NCIS this season, and it's probably only a matter of time before there's NCIS: [insert city name here]. After all, it worked for CSI.

Last but not least, and literally, last, because it won't premiere until mid-season, is the remake of V: The Series. Just like phonics, V stands for Visitors, and in this case the visitors are not-too-friendly aliens who have come to Earth. The original version of the show ended with a cliffhanger; perhaps the new series will pick up where that one left off?