Déjà Vu: 12 TV series based on familiar stories and characters

TORONTO — The new TV series Reign, which debuts this week on The CW and in Canada on M3, is a hip (and decidedly not historically accurate) look back at the early years of Mary, Queen of Scots, who lived from 1542 to 1587.

Though the pilot was primarily shot in Ireland, the series is currently in production in Toronto with a cast that includes Vancouver’s Rossif Sutherland and Toronto’s Megan Follows.

Reviews of Reign have been mixed. The Hollywood Reporter said the show “brings historical absurdism to new levels and reveals just how dumb The CW must think its audience is.” Wired opined the show “takes a piece of real life history and turns it into something that is so wonderfully, cynically constructed to appeal to the target audience that you almost have to applaud by the shamelessness of the entire enterprise.”

Only time will tell if viewers will make a show set in the 16th century a hit. A look at this season’s prime time schedule, though, suggests the hottest shows are based on old and familiar stories, ideas and characters.

Here’s a look at some of them:

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Arrow (The CW) is set in the present-day — and shot in Vancouver — but based on the Green Arrow comic book series. Toronto-born actor Stephen Amell plays the title character, which first appeared in comic books in 1941.

Beauty and the Beast (Showcase) stars Vancouver’s Kristin Kreuk and New Zealand actor Jay Ryan as characters who first appeared in the 1740 fairy tale by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. The Toronto-shot series is also based on the TV show of the same name that ran from 1987 to 1990.

Dracula (Global) is a new series based on the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker. This time, Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays the titular character.

Elementary (Global) is a modern crime drama starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu playing characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887.

Grimm (ABC) is a fantasy crime drama inspired by Grimm’s Fairy Tales, first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.

Hannibal (NBC) is a made-in-Toronto series about Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a character first introduced by author Thomas Harris in his 1981 novel Red Dragon.

Hawaii Five-O (Global), which debuted in 2010, is a reboot of a series of the same name that ran from 1968 to 1980.

Ironside (Global) is a reboot of a TV series that ran from 1967 to 1975 and starred New Westminster, B.C. native Raymond Burr as the titular wheelchair-bound detective.

Nikita (The CW) is a made-in-Toronto action series starring Maggie Q that is based on the 1990 French film of the same name and the Toronto-shot series La Femme Nikita that aired from 1997 to 2001.

Once Upon a Time (ABC) is a fantasy series that includes classic characters like Snow White (created by The Brothers Grimm in 1812), Red Riding Hood (who dates back to the late 1600s) and Pinocchio (introduced in 1883 by Carlo Collodi).

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC), a spin-off of Once Upon a Time, is based on the classic Lewis Carroll fairy tale Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published in 1865.

Sleepy Hollow (Global) is a modern-day retelling of Washington Irving’s 1820 short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.