'Walker, Texas Ranger' Getting A Reboot With 'Supernatural' Star Jared Padalecki
Because your grandma isn't satisfied by reruns anymore, CBS is rebooting Walker, Texas Ranger.
Running for eight seasons from 1993 through 2001, the original Walker, Texas Ranger followed Chuck Norris as a member of the Texas Ranger Division, a U.S investigative law enforcement agency with jurisdiction in all of Texas, based in the capital city of Austin. Every episode found him stopping criminals like a Wild West sheriff, often with martial arts. Now Supernatural co-star Jared Padalecki will step into Walker's boots in a new iteration of the series being set up by CBS TV Studios.
Deadline has news of the Walker Texas Ranger reboot being shopped around by CBS TV Studios. As of now, The CW, which has been the home of Supernatural for the show's surprisingly long 15 seasons, is the leading contender to pick it up. However, there's a chance CBS itself could end up with the show as well, since that network was the home of the original series.
The new version of Walker, Texas Ranger will be a straight reboot instead of a sequel that follows Chuck Norris' character's son or something like that. Anna Fricke (Valor) will be writing as well as executive producing with Dan Lin (the Lethal Weapon TV series) and Lindsey Libertore through Lin Pictures. Padalecki will also executive produce along with Dan Spilo (Sunnyside) And if you read the official description, you'll see that the show doesn't sound much different from the original show:
"At the center of the series is Cordell Walker (Padalecki), a man finding his way back to his family while investigating crime in the state's most elite unit. Our broken widower and father of two returns home to Austin after being undercover for two years for a high profile case – only to discover that there's even more work to be done at home. In a nod to the original series, Walker and his new partner — one of the only women in Texas Rangers' history — are the modern day heroes our world needs, following their own moral code to fight for what's right, regardless of the rules."
The one major difference between the reboot and the original series is that Walker will be given a female partner this time. And the two will still be dedicated to maintaining morality, family, and rediscovering our lost common ground, Texas Ranger-style.
CBS TV Studios has found plenty of success with rebooting older shows like Magnum PI, Hawaii Five-0, and MacGyver, so a reboot of one of their most successful crime procedurals from the 1990s makes perfect sense. The real trick will be if they can get a double dose of nostalgic drama going with a reboot of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.