Back and Better…Maybe…

We are in reboot season!! Movies and TV shows coming back as of late begs the question, why bring up something that is long gone?  I wasn’t going to write this blog until later, but after seeing that ‘Frasier’ is coming back, someone has to put their foot down and that person is going to be me. FRASIER???? What a weird callback. And now we have ‘Wizards of Waverley Place’ returning too! This renaissance has not gone unnoticed, with a TV show called ‘Reboot’ (2022) being released, which is sitcom about actors from an old series coming together for the show’s revival. The industry is literally making fun of itself. There are many types of remakes but, for time, let’s just discuss TV show comebacks, because there are a lot of them. Some do extremely well, and some do not pass Season 1.

There are different kinds of reboots. There are revivals that gather the original cast like ‘iCarly’, ‘Gilmore Girls’, ‘And Just Like That’ and ‘Will & Grace’. Then there are those that bring the show back but with a whole new cast, sometimes keeping the same names and characters – ‘Saved by the Bell’, ‘Bel-Air’, ‘Dynasty’ and ‘The Wonder Years’ for example. The reboot concept is not new, with films adapted into TV shows, and shows altering styles for a new generation, but reboots seem to go through waves, and we are currently at its peak. With streaming services now, shows are gaining cult followings after having ended 15 years prior, prompting companies to bring them back. Considering the saturated TV market, in order to stand out, it is best to have a TV show that people are familiar with. It’s hard to make a long-running show, so when you have that rare goldmine of a show that aired many years ago, Hollywood runs with it. Reboots don’t even require much marketing because the fanbase is already established and parents can encourage their children to watch as well. The characters are already fleshed out and most of the actors from the original are usually available to work again.

Reboots are a tricky line to walk, because each TV show is made within the context of its time, so they are fuelled by the energy of that era. Rebooting it even as little as 10 years later can mean that the humour is no longer funny or acceptable in society. And, if they alter that humour to fit the new era, the show can grow sour. Some revivals are quite valid, as shows that were previously cut short, leaving the audience on a cliffhanger, can finally end character arcs. However, it is bad when they start to betray the character’s story from the previous show. What do you mean you built up a whole love story for 6 seasons and now they are single in the reboot?? Whatever show you’re thinking of, that’s the one that I am talking about. Building the integrity of a character for several seasons only to break it to allow for a reboot storyline is not good in my opinion. I think you should either keep the essence of the characters and expand on how it fits nowadays, or change the cast completely.

I also think they need to be a bit pickier with reboots, because past premises may not work now, even with a little bit of modern day change. For instance, with the reimagining of ‘Gossip Girl’. The premise was group of high class teenagers in school where a secret person – ‘Gossip Girl’ – was revealing all of their secrets online. I think you would have to watch it to understand that that kind of scandal and debauchery would not be able to work in the 2020s. The original was a product of its time, and I go back and watch it as a time capsule of fun and teenage havoc. Teenage havoc is still happening now, but now it’s more like Euphoria. Would Euphoria work in 2009? Probably not. That is why when the ‘Gossip Girl’ reboot came out, it could not capture the audience as much as it did before. It took the original series 6 seasons to discover who Gossip Girl was. The internet warriors nowadays would do it in a weekend, max. I don’t want to spoil it in case you do want to watch it, (use this article if you’re just too curious), but just know that in this new social media landscape and woke viewership, the ‘Gossip Girl’ reboot was cancelled as it struggled to maintain its essence and was not well-received by audiences. There are many reasons for show cancellations, most especially because they fail to meet the expectations of its predecessor and crumble under pressure to recreate the magic, but we will talk more about that later.

It seems to me that to create a successful reboot, there has to be a clear homage to the original. For example, ‘Fuller House’, a reboot of ‘Full House’, used a similar cast and the exact same house as the original and it lasted for 5 seasons; it is very rare for a reboot to last that long. I am not saying that the same cast and location is a master key, but it’s the reconciliation of the characters’ past and present that people love. Reboots should acknowledge the balance of the nature of the original and the evolution into the present, and these shows seem to be doing that. Even with a new cast, the twist to adapt should still have its roots in the original, otherwise you might as well change the show title, because when you keep the title, the audiences desires are already predefined. Reboots seem to be a part of the Hollywood cycle, so let’s enjoy them while we can, because apparently sequels and adaptations are up next, but time will tell.