{This post written by Madison Ward, Superstar Intern}

On September 21, 2016, the television show remake of the Lethal Weapon movie franchise series premiered its first season. I have been hooked ever since, and am currently waiting impatiently for the next one. It may have been only one season, and I may be disappointed with what they decide to do from here on out, but season one was spectacular. FOX always has new fun things they’d like to play with, but I truly believe they have a real, solid future with this remake, and not just because the originals did so well themselves.

I would first like to state that I have not seen the original four Lethal Weapon movies. I’ve heard they are great, and they obviously were successful if there were four of them, but I guess these were some of the few oldie but goodie movies my Dad forgot to encourage me to watch. I do have plans in place to watch them in the future, but I am actually happy that I got the opportunity to start this new remake off without a preconceived notion of what it’s ‘supposed’ to be like. Reading books and then later seeing them being made into films, I am always afraid that they will let me down and seem inadequate in comparison, same with remakes, like Footloose or something.

Actually, I pointed out the show to my mom one day after watching a few trailers when watching commercials, saying how it looked really good and she then told me that it was originally from a movie series. I had the opportunity to judge it just for me, before knowing that it was generally liked. Watching this new old story play out in a modern and slightly more mainstream atmosphere definitely helps me, as a 2000s baby, and I also just wanted to have faith that they would have that one ‘something’ that somehow called in the spirit and enthusiasm that the originals brought on.

And I definitely felt it in this new television series.

Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh are very well-written characters in the first place, from what I can see, but having Clayne Crawford and Damon Wayans play their parts is phenomenal. At first, I was a little worried about Wayans because I couldn’t imagine the star of My Wife and Kids as a veteran detective fighting heart problems, but it definitely worked.

And not only does Crawford do an amazing job of drawing the line between series drama and exasperated humor, he just has ‘it’. You know what I mean by ‘it’. He is one of the very few actors I have ever encountered that has this air around them, that no makeup, no camera lights, no photoshop can create. He doesn’t merely act well; he transforms a character into a developed yet incredibly base concept that no one else could achieve. Sure, there are actors that can act the part, but Crawford is the part.

And the chemistry that the actors have together is outstanding. They were a perfect choice for Martin and Roger and the actors chosen for Trish Murtaugh, Maureen Cahill, Captain Brooks Avery, and Leo Getz, were also incredibly well done. From the outside, it seems that it would be much easier to make the TV show than the movie because the outline of it was already in place it may actually be considered cheating in some parts, but I couldn’t care less. They clearly did take parts from the original movies, and a lot of things are going to be the same, but there are a lot of new things as well and it has been sculpted to fit contemporary time. It’s barely the beginning and I can feel the legacy of a well-done old tale and a promising new chapter all in one.

Lethal Weapon, Season Two is to be released on September 26, 2017 and let it be known that it is written, highlighted, and set to alarm on my phone’s calendar. I seriously don’t know how I will survive this month while I wait for it to air.

Lethal Legacy {Guest post by Madison Ward}