Determined to make at least one of these classic television reboots work, so everyone will stop laughing behind their back at parties, NBC, the Willy Loman of networks, is out there riding on a smile and a shoeshine with its dark, dramatic reimagining of The Munsters, recently hiring Bryan Singer to join Bryan Fuller as executive producer and also direct the show’s pilot. Hey, they’re both named Bryan, they both love rebooting things—it’s almost like a sitcom, albeit one far too original and therefore risky for NBC’s tastes right now.
As Deadline reminds us, Fuller’s new version of The Munsters, in classic Bryan Fuller tradition, “calls for striking visuals mixed with all the classic Munsters archetypes,” and so the network sees the Singer as the perfect choice to realize all that arresting, darkly dramatic imagery. And in addition to working with similar genetic outcasts on the X-Men franchise, Singer’s previous television work includes the pilot episodes of House and Football Wives, so he’s at least familiar with both gore and horrible people. Of course, it remains to be seen whether it's even worth throwing so much creative muscle behind what is still an “edgy” reboot of a ’60s sitcom about a mixed-marriage family of monsters being shunned in the suburbs. But NBC will show them. Go to Filene’s, go to the Hub, go to Slattery’s, call out the name “NBC” and “Bryan Singer’s directing The Munsters reboot,” see what happens! Big shot!