Once upon a time, TV shows died and people were sad, but they moved on.
But then peanuts earned “Jericho” another season and Deadline.com earned “Breaking In” another season and Netflix got all resurrection-y with “Arrested Development” and “The Killing” and “Longmire.”
Then FOX gave “24” new life as a limited series and audiences were like, “What a glorious age we live in.”
And Showtime got David Lynch and Mark Frost to say they were going to do more “Twin Peaks” and TV fans danced around with their favorite log.
And earlier this week, Chris Carter, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson decided the time was right to do another six episodes of “The X-Files” and we all kneels and declared, in the words of Wayne and Garth, that we were not worthy.
On Thursday (March 26) afternoon, NBC announced that the magnificent Lazarus machine that is TV 2015 had given new life to…
“Coach.”
Yes, “Coach,” the ABC sitcom that ran from 1989 to 1997 and starred Craig T. Nelson as Hayden Fox, head coach of the Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles (and later an NFL expansion team), is returning to NBC with a 13-episode order, or else NBC decided that the best way to mess with critics — other than a “One Big Happy” renewal — would be a premature April Fool's Joke.
If so, it's an elaborate joke.
NBC emphasizes this isn't a reboot, but rather a sequel picking up 18 years after the story of “Coach” ended after 198 episodes.
NBC's announcement says, “Coach Hayden Fox in the present day, retired from coaching. He is called back to become assistant coach to his own grown son, who is the new head coach at an Ivy league school in Pennsylvania that is just starting up a new team.”
It's here that I interject that the “Ivy League” isn't a random assortment of very good Eastern schools. It's the name of a sports conference. So no Ivy League school is just starting its football team.
But enough of that.
Craig T. Nelson is, of course, returning and will also serve as executive producer.
Barry Kemp, creator of the original series, is back to write and executive produce.
Thus far, NBC has no additional details on which other “Coach” stars will return or when the series will premiere, but as with the original, it will be set up at Universal Television.
At its peak, “Coach” ranked as the No.6 show on all of TV for the 1993-1994 season. Craig T. Nelson won an Emmy for Lead Actor in a Comedy in 1992 and picked up two other nominations. While he never won, Jerry Van Dyke was nominated for four Emmys for “Coach.”
Nelson is, of course, coming off of a long and well-regarded run as Zeke Braverman on NBC's “Parenthood.”
So… Are you excited to welcome “Coach” back into your life?
Which unresolved questions are you hoping to have answered?