10 TV Dramas Nobody Wants To See a Remake Of

Remaking films can occasionally be a good thing, as there are several remakes, like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Suspiria, that are superior to their originals. However, it is much more challenging to completely overhaul a television series and start from scratch without it feeling repetitive. Although some shows have benefited from a sequel series or prequel continuation, starting again from a new continuity is always a challenge.

There are occasionally examples of television shows that are remade successfully into films, such as The Untouchables or Miami Vice, but even those are few and far between. In most cases, fans of the original would much prefer to watch the show they originally fell in love with, rather than a duplication made by someone else. Here are ten television dramas that nobody wants to see a remake of.

10 'Breaking Bad' (2008–2013)

Breaking Bad is the rare show that can be described as “perfect” because it didn’t hit a false note throughout its entire run. While even the best shows can have bad episodes or characters that become unpopular, Breaking Bad maintained such a consistent level of quality that there would be no point in trying to redo it and cast someone else as Walter White, as no one could do it better than Bryan Cranston.

Breaking Bad maximized everything that it could do with its premise because Vince Gilligan understood the limits of the story and was able to end it with the great series finale “Felina.” A remake would also feel unnecessary because there is already a Breaking Bad prequel, Better Call Saul, that some fans would argue is just as good (or perhaps even better) than the original series was.

9 'Mad Men' (2007–2015)

Mad Men is an unmatched achievement in television history because the series was able to capture the passing of time. Since the series began with the election of President John F. Kennedy in 1960 and concluded right after the landing of the Apollo 11 mission on the Moon in 1969, Mad Men examined the entire cultural, political, and social developments of the 1960s through the perspective of the advertising executives, associates, and workers employed by Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and its subsidiaries.

Mad Men couldn’t be remade because shows simply don’t run as long anymore. Many amazing shows are cancelled far too soon, and it's hard to imagine that any network or streaming service would allow a creator like Matthew Weiner to have complete creative control over a series as artful as Mad Men for seven seasons.

8 'Twin Peaks' (1990–2017)

Twin Peaks is a show that can’t be remade for sad reasons, as it would be impossible to do any new version of the show without the involvement of its creator, David Lynch. Lynch was a filmmaker at heart who was able to develop a style of serialized mystery and surrealist storytelling that made Twin Peaks feel groundbreaking at a time when a “watercooler show” didn’t exist. Lynch’s passing in 2025 meant that there would sadly be no conceivable way to do anything more with the franchise, as all the best ideas about Twin Peaks came from him.

A remake of Twin Peaks would also not work because the original show has already become so influential. Even if there isn’t another series out there that is directly based on Twin Peaks characters, there are many mystery, horror, adventure, and supernatural shows that owe a massive debt of inspiration to the masterpiece that Lynch created.

7 'Lost' (2004–2010)

Lost is one of the first shows that truly felt like an outsized event that got people talking about theories and speculating about what could happen next. Although the show was ahead of its time in teaching audiences to get engaged in what they were watching, the ending of Lost left many disappointed; ultimately, the experience of watching the show and getting invested in the characters was more involved than anything to do with the story.

It’s hard to imagine that anyone involved with Lost would be interested in a reboot, especially considering that creator Damon Lindelof has gone on to find success with other shows that he has developed for HBO, all of which have had more satisfying endings. Unfortunately, Lost also inspired some really toxic discourse that would be hard to cope with again if a new version of the show came out.

6 'Boardwalk Empire' (2010–2014)

Boardwalk Empire is an HBO show that is now threatening to become underrated because it's not given the credit that it was due. While some may have skipped the series because they assumed that it would be just another gangster series, Boardwalk Empire was an amazing period drama that explored the collapse of the American dream, and included a stacked regular ensemble with brilliant guest stars.

Boardwalk Empire was willed into existence by powerful showrunners and producers, as the great Martin Scorsese even directed the pilot. These days, it's very unlikely that a network would invest that degree of production costs into a prestige show aimed at a niche demographic, as the most expensive shows today are those that are based on established material that already has its own fanbase. Even HBO, the network that made Boardwalk Empire, has become more focused on properties like DC and Harry Potter.

5 'The Leftovers' (2014–2017)

The Leftovers is the rare show that completely surpassed the original source material, as the series only based its first season on the book; the next two seasons, which most fans would argue were vastly superior, took the story in a completely original direction that introduced more mysteries, while also developing deeper questions about mankind’s purpose on Earth.

The Leftovers couldn’t be remade today because the show was far too bleak to attract a regular audience, as many viewers struggled to get through the unrelentingly depressing first season. Considering how much worse the state of the world has become in the years since The Leftovers was last on the air, it’s hard to imagine that a significant audience would tune in to see a show that deals with difficult subjects like grief, depression, loneliness, addiction, and the separation of families.

4 'Six Feet Under' (2001–2005)

Six Feet Under is a show that wouldn’t benefit from a remake because it has what may be the greatest series finale of all time. Although the entire series was brilliant, the last episode of Six Feet Under ended with a moving montage that ranks among the most perfect pieces of film media in the history of the medium; it was within a few moments that the series was able to summarize a lifetime of love and loss, providing perfect conclusions to the characters who had been brilliantly set up.

Six Feet Under struck a unique tone because it was technically a drama, but could also be quite funny. It’s hard to imagine that an audience would be able to pick up on the subtleties of a dark comedy today, especially considering the amount of grief shows like The Bear have received for including both serious and silly moments.

3 'Andor' (2022–2025)

Andor is a show that has no reason to be remade because of its canonical status in the Star Wars franchise. Unlike other cinematic sagas, the Star Wars series has retained the same canon since the original film came out in 1977; while some books, comics, and video games have subsequently been named as “non-canon” or “Legends,” any official film or television show that was made by Lucasfilm is still considered to be a part of the official timeline.

Andor also happens to be a masterpiece that easily ranks among the best Star Wars shows of all time, and one of the best sci-fi series, period. While there are more than a few projects in the Star Wars universe that could benefit from being polished off and given more attention-to-detail, Andor is such a great series that it will stand the test of time.

2 'Homeland' (2011–2020)

Homeland is a show that was made at a specific moment in time when its focus on international terrorism and espionage was at the height of public consciousness. By examining the ways that the government responded to threats, Homeland was able to provide insight into events that were ongoing in world politics. Homeland would often invoke recent events and reference ongoing stories, which was possible because the show was able to air every year without significant gaps in between seasons.

Homeland succeeded when it was airing because the show’s politics were consistent with media punditry at the time, but there’s been an evolving perspective on many of the topics covered, particularly in the six years since Homeland aired its finale. There’s also now such an abundance of spy shows, with seemingly each streaming service having its own espionage series, that starting again with Homeland would feel redundant and unnecessary.

1 'The Sopranos' (1999–2007)

The Sopranos is possibly the greatest television show of all-time and is so universally beloved that there’s no way that a remake could do anything better, or even hope to have the same influence and legacy; remaking The Sopranos would be like remaking a cinematic classic like Citizen Kane, but it would be even harder because the new version would need to retain a degree of excellence over the course of six seasons.

Some performances are so legendary that they will stand the test of time, and there are few better castings in history than James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano. While the prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark, was entertaining because it provided a bit more perspective on Tony’s origins, there isn’t any other place in The Sopranos' timeline where it could make sense to do another full show.