'Kojak' remake's for suckers only

[Nilly_Chipples]

No, Jack, it isn't.
There are at least two good reasons to cross USA's Kojak update off your list. One, it's not Kojak. Two, it's terrible. You can decide which flaw means more, but either one would seem to be a dealbreaker.

A cynical attempt to launch a new series using little but the well-recognized name of the old one, Kojak casts Ving Rhames as the lollipop-licking cop once played by Telly Savalas. I'm all for building a drama around an African-American star, something far too few shows have tried. But it's difficult to equate the old Kojak with the new when the only thing anyone much remembers about Theo, aside from the candy and his disregard for civil rights, is his Greek heritage. If you remade The Jeffersons with Nia Vardalos and John Stamos, don't you think the show would change?

More Here (http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2005-03-24-kojak_x.htm)

[davec8]

That's funny. I just found out yesterday they were remaking this show and I was like "you got to be kidding, this is gonna bomb for sure".

[sepia]

I just finished watching it and both Gia & I enjoyed it. Yeah, I don't think I could ever see Tele crying on the shoulder of his best friend, but it was a very novel update of an old character. The Kojak similarities were there for sure, but I thought it had a more realistic freshness to it.
What do you do when one of the investigators is a dirty cop? the victims are prostitutes but some are trying to remake their lives, and what about the children and parents left behind?

I do know thqt fathers even though they get angry about their little girls screwing up do love them and hope for a change & a chance at a new relationship--they also bear a lot of guilt if they were absentee fathers.

the dynamics of why the killer was a bit psycho and going after working girls in such a brutal (razor blades in a mouth taped shut) way and why he chose only ones that had kids was a realistic slap in the head that I could identify with. I'm just glad I wasn't as angry as that killer and acted out in that way. The lost child victim turned perpetrator was played out well. Well, the acting on the part of hte killer was lacking IMO, but the words were believable.

I'll be taping that once they put my favorite of the week "Numbers" back on again.