TV

How TV recycles characters and plotlines

Call it retro, reruns or a lack of imagination: Here’s how TV is recycling characters and plotlines:

“Saved by the Bell” (Monday, 7 a.m., E!)

Who wouldn’t want to wake up to a Screech? In an effort to appeal to all those Gen X-ers who grew up in the ’90s watching Zack, Kelly and Slater, E! is re-airing this teen “comedy,” kicking off with a five-hour marathon. If you’re the kind of person who watches E! on a regular basis, then this is probably a classy step up from your usual fare of Kardashians and “Total Divas.” So if your brain hasn’t already melted into goo, each morning you can relive four episodes of the teens’ zany antics before you remember you’re an adult who has to go to work.

“The Big Bang Theory” (Thursday, 8 p.m., CBS)

Bob Newhart finally snagged a much-deserved Emmy for his turn on “The Big Bang Theory,” and now he’s back as the curmudgeonly Professor Proton. But the geeks up the ante with another real-life kiddie TV science icon, Bill Nye the Science Guy, whom Sheldon (Jim Parsons) befriends when Professor Proton snubs him.

Lucy Liu

“Elementary” (Thursday, 10 p.m., CBS)

For the Sherlock Holmes fans who actually watch this series (are there any?), they can enjoy the return of the brilliant detective’s older brother, Mycroft (played by Rhys Ifans), who arrives in New York to ask for help from Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) and Watson (Lucy Liu), whom he’ll shamelessly hit on again.

“Stonados” (Saturday, Nov. 23, 9 p.m., Syfy)

Mama imagines that the meeting at Syfy went something like this: “Loved all the press we got from ‘Sharknados’ — what ridiculous object can we insert next to replace the ‘Tor’ in another storm-based disaster movie?” And thus, “Stonados,” the upcoming flick about a monster twister that hurls exploding boulders at Boston, was born. One can only hope that the Smoking Man William B. Davis will pay off his kitchen renovation with the money he earns for appearing in this movie.

“Hawaii Five-0” (Friday, 9 p.m., CBS)

Mermaids are hot this year, so maybe that’s why the tropical cop series netted the “Splashy” Daryl Hannah to play a realtor. The well-meaning crime solver continually reminds Mama of when the nerds at school learned about something cool, then totally ruined it with their own misguided take on the trend.