Hulu Deserves Kudos For Successfully Remaking One Of The Most-Watched Miniseries In TV History
Angel Shaw is a Lead Writer and Critic on ScreenRant's TV team, covering new-release and classic TV shows across all major streaming platforms. She has been a writer with ScreenRant since 2022 and specializes in Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and fantasy.
Angel holds a bachelor's degree in language interpreting and is passionate about all things culture and communication—especially in how it relates to popular media throughout history (from Shakespeare to Friends to Game of Thrones).
Remaking beloved classic TV shows is no easy task, but Hulu did something spectacular with a 2024 adaptation that respectfully outperformed its predecessor. This has all happened in the age of remakes and reboots, which has become rather fatiguing for the public. New projects are in short supply, while do-overs that no one ever asked for are running rampant. Of course, this trend wouldn't continue if it weren't for that small handful of success stories, including Hulu's Shōgun series.
The historical drama series created by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks premiered on FX and Hulu in 2024 and was a pretty immediate success. Shōgun is based on the book of the same name by author James Clavell, which was published back in 1975. It's also not the first series based on this same source material, as, back in 1980, a miniseries of the same name completely took over the entertainment world.
This earlier Shōgun series broke television rating records, introduced a new network miniseries format, and inspired a widespread fascination with Japanese history. Even decades later, the 1980s project is still a pretty massive deal. 2024's Shōgun, which has a second season in the works, isn't a direct remake of the miniseries, but a unique adaptation of Clavell's novel. Still, that doesn't change the fact that Hulu was taking a massive risk by treading onto the same territory as the NBC hit.
There are plenty of old TV shows that could be done better today, but that rarely means they should actually be remade. It's no big surprise that Hulu's Shōgun is more visually refined than its predecessor. Technology has come a long way, and a cinematic budget can get a whole lot more done today than NBC could back in 1980. However, we've seen time and time again that this alone isn't enough to justify a remake. It's nearly impossible for a new series to outperform the original, but Hulu figured out just how to pull it off.
Hulu's Shōgun Achieved The Impossible
Given the legacy of the 1980 Shōgun miniseries, Hulu put a lot on the line by creating its own adaptation. Stepping on the toes of classics almost always goes terribly wrong. While Shōgun was certainly outdated, its high-budget production for the time and excellent star power (with Richard Chamberlain and other film icons) allowed it to hold up effortlessly. Still, when looking at the 1980 miniseries compared to Clavell's original book, and then holding both these works up against the realities of history, it would have been clear that there was more story to tell here.
Choose the movie with the higher Rotten Tomatoes score.
The original Shōgun series centralized a European perspective, which was certainly effective in bringing English-speaking audiences along for the ride. Hulu's Shōgun, on the other hand, chose to dive deeper into the Japanese characters, politics, and cultural dynamics. The newer show features mostly Japanese dialogue, and rather than sticking right by the white protagonist's side through every step, Shōgun revolves around a more complete ensemble.
This allowed the show to be extremely distinct from the 1980s classic, but without any implied superiority or unnecessary criticism. The original Shōgun series is respected, but there is no grating self-awareness here. The result is a Hulu series that can be enjoyed completely independently from its predecessor, but will also hold delicious value as a contrastable companion to the 1980s Shōgun. It's a balance that is nearly impossible to come by.
The proof is in the pudding with Shōgun. The original miniseries holds an excellent 79% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with an even more impressive 91% approval rating from general audiences. Hulu's Shōgun earned positive reviews from a whopping 99% of critics, while 85% of general audiences were pleased. By some miracle, it can be concluded that these are both excellent TV shows. Hulu's Shōgun turned up the volume, but the quality is balanced with that of the 1980s miniseries. It is, generally, the best possible outcome of such a risky endeavor.
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Shōgun, set in Japan during 1600 at the onset of a significant civil war, follows Lord Yoshii Toranaga as he battles political adversaries on the Council of Regents. Meanhile, a European ship mysteriously appears in a nearby fishing village, complicating the tides of power.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.