Andie MacDowell Cast in 'Footloose', Plus 5 Other Remake Ideas

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Seeing the name Andie MacDowell brings a smile to the face of anyone who's a fan of early '90s pop culture—she was the charming, gorgeous star of three of the decade's most enduring and iconic movies: Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Groundhog Day, and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

And then she disappeared. A smattering of roles in films most people have never heard of and an endlessly repeating shampoo commercial aside, she's essentially dropped off the radar (in a way that other stars of her wattage from that period—Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, heck...Molly Ringwald—have not).

So you can picture the elated beam that this news inspired: Andie MacDowell will star in the remake of Footloose. A throwback icon starring in an iconic throwback film. The synergy is almost too much to handle. It couldn't be more fitting that her heralded return to the mainstream (let's assume this Footloose remake will be a hit) is in such a beloved, inextricably tied-to-its time period vehicle as the "dancing is a crime" Kevin Bacon starrer.

And it seems that casting throwback stars in throwback TV and film projects is all the rage these days. ABC Family just premiered Melissa and Joey, starring 90s teen sensations Clarissa aka Sabrina the Teenage Witch aka Melissa Joan Hart and—whoa—Joey Lawrence. Its set looks pulled directly from the Tanner family living room on Full House, the plot is nearly exactly the same as Who's the Boss?, and the jokes—and not necessarily in a bad way—are too. Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Daphne from Frasier, and the bitchy one from Just Shoot Me are in a very retro sitcom on TV Land that is—get this—shot before a live studio audience.

Assuming this trend is here to stay—and that it's a surer ticket to a career comeback than, say, Dancing With the Stars—what other late 80s/early 90s celebrities could use a MacDowell-Footloose boost? Here are the actors we'd love see re-enter the watercooler conversation, and just the remake vehicle to help them do it.

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Kevin Fallon is a reporter for the Daily Beast. He's a former entertainment editor at TheWeek.com and former writer and producer for The Atlantic's entertainment channel.

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