TV studios like to throw around the words ‘remake’, ‘reboot’, ‘revival’ and ‘spin-off’, with many of them having seemingly interchangeable definitions, but what, really, is the difference? The simplest interpretation would probably be that a remake is a new version of an old thing, a reboot one different version of an old thing, a revival is a continuation of something old, and a spin-off is something new related to something else. Whether those definitions are correct or not, Statistics Netherlands is now facing a lawsuit that partly depends on how these words are interpreted.
According to Deadlinehave two groups called Hanzer Holdings and Arlita Inc. in 2018 filed a lawsuit against CBS via the then new MacGyver, claiming to be “successors in interest” to the well-known Major Talent Agency, the packaging agent behind the original MacGyver series. You may remember the concept of “packaging” from it the battle between Hollywood writers and agents that took place a few years ago, but the pertinent thing here is that Major Talent Agency apparently got some kind of vague third-party interest in the original MacGyver in 1984 and “every run produced” as part of the same deal, and now these two other companies say they have inherited that interest.
It sounds like Hanzer and Arlita’s argument is that, as a “spin-off” from the original series, the new MacGyver is part of the original MacGyver franchise and therefore qualify as part of the original agreement entered into by MTA. Meanwhile, CBS’s response is essentially: “It doesn’t work that way, it doesn’t work that way.” CBS says that neither IT nor Paramount (which uses the MacGyver rights) once had a deal with Hanzer Holdings and they had “never heard of prosecutor Arlita Inc.” until the lawsuit was filed, but even if they did, the writing of the original deal (as presented by the plaintiffs) “ doesn’t even apply to remakes ” – which CBS says the new MacGyver actually is.
So there are two angles: does the old paperwork say what Hanzer and Arlita say, and if so, is there a deal pertaining to the original? MacGyver also relate to the new MacGyverWhen it comes to that second point, maybe studios really need to start paying attention to what they call these projects, and we could stop referring to any remake / reboot / revival / spin-off / whatever as a remake one day. / reboot / revival / spin-off / whatever.