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American Morning

Reunion Shows, Movies Are Big Hit

Aired April 10, 2002 - 07:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We go now to Hollywood, where the entertainment industry is riding a wave of nostalgia. Last month, "ET" returned to theaters two decades after its debut, and just this past weekend, the movie, "Amadeus," was re-released. Now, the original story about the genius of Mozart was a big hit on the big screen 18 years ago. It won eight Oscars, including Best Picture.

And there are plenty of TV reunions in store as well. The cast of the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" is scheduled for a reunion show in mid- May. ABC talking about getting "Laverne and Shirley" back together for a special.

So why is everything old suddenly new again? And we're not talking about Botox. Well, entertainment reporter, Susan Campus, is here to help to sort it all out -- thanks very much for being here.

SUSAN CAMPOS, ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Thank you.

COOPER: So why are we seeing all of these TV reunion specials? I mean, I guess it started with the "Carol Burnett" reunion.

CAMPOS: I don't think anyone knew that would be so big. But basically, I think it's kind of the equivalent of comfort food, and television executives so many times are gearing everything towards that young demographic. And this time they went for the baby boomers, and they had a home run; 30 million people tuned in.

COOPER: That's 30 million people. Wow!

CAMPOS: Right.

COOPER: I mean, Hollywood is certainly not a place where there is much original -- you know, many original ideas.

CAMPOS: That's true.

COOPER: So I guess it sort of fits into the idea of, you know, just regurgitating what's already been out there. "Mary Tyler Moore" now is talking about having a reunion?

CAMPOS: They are going to do that in May, and I think that will be huge, because we all loved that show, and that's basically kind of still in our pop culture. I mean, you always hear people say, who is the Rhoda, and who is the Mary in that relationship... COOPER: Right.

CAMPOS: ... the Betty-Veronica thing. And I think that show, and I hope that show does so well, and I can't wait to see it.

COOPER: Right. And then, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ask who the Ted White is, right? But "I Love Lucy" was a big hit for CBS. I think 18 million viewers or something?

CAMPOS: That was. Right. That also did well, and I think this is surprising them. But again, I think it's kind of like comfort food. This is what people want to see, and we love -- we all loved Lucy. And it's kind of nice to see, and I guess after the success of the "Carol Burnett Show," the head of CBS started getting tons of calls from these old producers saying, I want to do a reunion show.

COOPER: Bring them back!

CAMPOS: It's kind of nice.

COOPER: But some of these ideas seem kind of -- I don't want to say desperate -- but they are talking about a reunion for "That's Incredible." That would be incredible.

CAMPOS: That would be incredible, because you just wonder today if any of that will be incredible anymore.

COOPER: Right. It will be like that's pretty average.

CAMPOS: Right. Exactly. With everything we have seen.

COOPER: Right. It should be called that's -- or we have seen that before.

CAMPOS: Exactly.

COOPER: Also we mentioned "Laverne and Shirley." "Three's Company" is talking about a reunion? Or do they still talk to each other?

CAMPOS: I wonder if the two women speak anymore. I am not sure about that. So listen, I guess if the money is there, maybe you do it.

COOPER: Right. I'll tell you, if there is ad (ph) master involved, I am sure some of them will show up.

CAMPOS: Exactly.

COOPER: Why are a lot of old movies now popping up at the box office? I mean, why was "ET" re-released? Is it just to get money?

CAMPOS: This is all about DVDs, because they don't really do that well at the box office. There is the exception of "Star Wars," which did $130 million, "The Exorcist" did about $40 million, but "Apocalypse Now" only did $4.5 million. COOPER: Really? Because that was a huge -- I mean, there was a lot of hype on that.

CAMPOS: A lot of hype. And basically, that's to sell the DVDs. So a lot of people will go out and buy that DVD, but if you re-release "ET," you can get Drew Barrymore to go to the premiere. She is not going to go to Blockbuster for the DVD.

COOPER: Right. Now, are the re-releases usually better? I mean, I saw the re-release of "Apocalypse Now," and I actually didn't think it was better than the original.

CAMPOS: A lot of people thought it was too long. But I think for directors, this is a chance for them to do things they couldn't do 20 years ago, and a lot of people are saying that "Amadeus" is better with that extra 20 minutes. It already was a great movie and won eight Oscars.

COOPER: Right.

CAMPOS: But they are saying it's better.

COOPER: I guess we should be thankful that they're not remaking some of these movies. They tried it with "Sabrina." It did not...

CAMPOS: That was a disaster.

COOPER: Yes.

CAMPOS: I mean, you can't really remake a classic, because your chances of success are very slim. What you can do is remake a movie that hasn't really worked before, like "Titanic." James Cameron was the fourth person, I think, to go and make that, and he's a great filmmaker, but also he had the technology to make that movie the biggest grossing movie ever, and obviously it was such a hit.

COOPER: Right. All right. Susan Campos, thanks a lot.

CAMPOS: Thank you.

COOPER: All right.

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