10 Rebooted TV Shows That Were Better Than The Original

Everyone who’s browsed on Netflix way too late at night knows about the draws of a really good Danish crime series. Bleak and full of subtitles to make you appear smart, Danish TV is often spectacular, and Forbrydeslen – translated to The Crime – is no different. It’s a well-made police-thriller with a fascinating crime at its centre. The only problem with it is that the US remake – The Killing on AMC – was at one point one of the best shows on television.

For everything that Forbrydeseln did well The Killing did better – at least in its first season. Moody and atmospheric like nothing else on TV, The Killing featured television's two best performances in Joel Kinnaman and Mireille Enos with incredible, tightly-wound writing to boot. Every single episode was essential viewing as the show followed the Twin Peaks-esque mystery of Who Killed Rosie Larsen? For that first season, there was no doubt that The Killing took what Forbrydelsen gave it and spun it into storytelling gold.

The problem, then, lies in the fact that after season one the show went downhill greatly because it dragged out the central mystery. Eventually the show course corrected in Seasons 3 and 4 and was still filled with some great things, but the recovery was a shaky one, thus bringing The Killing down a few notches in Peak TV’s pantheon of greatness.