A ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ Reboot Is In The Works With Jared Padalecki In The Lead
For those of you wondering what the ‘Supernatural’ boys might do next now their long-running series is coming to an end, we may have an answer for one of them. News has surfaced today that CBS is working on a reboot of ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’, with Jared Padalecki set to take the lead role and exec produce the drama.
According to Deadline, who broke the story, the “reimagining” of the 90s action series would follow Cordell Walker (Padalecki), a man finding his way back to his family while investigating crime in the state’s most elite unit. The 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 this new version, Walker would have a female partner (one of the only women in Texas Rangers’ history), and they are described as “the modern-day heroes our world needs, following their own moral code to fight for what’s right, regardless of the rules.”
Padalecki has, as I’m sure you know, has spent the last 15 years battling demons, werewolves, vampires, gods, ghosts, and whatever else they could think to throw at the Winchester brothers, as Sam in The CW’s ‘Supernatural’ alongside brother Dean, played by Jensen Ackles. Prior to that, he starred as Rory’s on/off boyfriend Dean in ‘The Gilmore Girls’. ‘Supernatural’ will finally end in 2020 with a 15th Season, which premieres in the US from October 10, 2019, on The CW… And before anyone asks, no, E4 still don’t have a UK premiere date for the 14th Season, let alone the 15th…
The drama is written by Anna Fricke (‘Wayward Pines’, ‘Being Human’, ‘Valor’) with Fricke, Padalecki, and Dan Lin (‘Lethal Weapon’) exec producing. The project comes from CBS TV Studios, who are shopping it around various US networks, although it seems CBS (the network bit which is different from the tv producing studio bit!) is a quite likely place for it to land, with sister network (and current home of ‘Supernatural’) The CW also a possibility.
The original ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’, created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis, ran from 1993 to 2001, and starred the legendary Chuck Norris in the title role. The new version is a straight reboot, in the vein of ‘Magnum’, ‘Macgyver’ and the myriad of other reboots CBS has on its schedule, rather than some continuation of the original show.
The ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ reboot is not a done deal yet, so there is no set US or UK broadcaster, but we’ll let you know when we hear more.
