Wednesday night, January 13, FOX will be airing the first episode of a new drama series called Second Chance starring Robert Kazinsky… but would you believe this is not the first FOX show to have that title?
The original Second Chance came from the creators of Punky Brewster and premiered in September 1987. It starred Matthew Perry (then credited as “Matthew L. Perry”) seven years before TV audiences ever knew the name “Chandler Bing.” He played the younger version of a man who died in a hovercraft accident July 2011. When he approached the pearly gates, St. Peter couldn’t decide whether or not to send the man, Charles Russell, to Heaven or to Hell, so he sent him back to 1987 to rejoin his teenage years and guide his younger self, named “Chazz.”
Complicated, right?
FOX apparently thought so too, because in January 1988, they retooled the concept and relaunched the show as Boys Will Be Boys. The afterlife aspect and the older Charles were no longer part of the show, which now focused exclusively on Chazz and his friends, “Booch” and Eugene. It didn’t take. Fortunately, the failure of the show didn’t hurt Matthew Perry… in addition to Friends, he had many other major roles, and is now starring in the Odd Couple update on CBS.
So, before watching Second Chance on Wednesday night, why not take a page from Charles Russell and go back in time to see the opening credits from FOX’s first Second Chance. Hopefully this new one will have a longer life…
