I recently watched the first season of That 90s Show, which is a reboot of That 70s Show following some of the main characters’ kids in the 90s. It got me thinking, what makes a good reboot? Typically, I’m wary of reboots because they struggle to live up to the greatness of the original, but some can do it really well, while others do a poor job.
The recent Gossip Girl reboot, which was just announced to be canceled, starts with a completely new cast of characters— all with no connections to the original characters. The show is not a bad show, but I would argue that it’s not a great example of how to “do a reboot”. The only real quality that makes it a reboot is the setting. It’s set in the same school, in the same city. There is a new gossip girl, who is revealed immediately, and we follow the storylines of the students as well as the teachers. The show fails in bringing back the nostalgia of the original show and creates something completely new. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the issue is that it is completely detachable from the original Gossip Girl universe. Just change the name of the school and change gossip girl to something else and the connection is lost. That’s not to say that the show isn’t a good one overall, the representation in this show is really great. Having black female leads is a good thing and characters exploring their sexuality is a good thing.
There have also been TV show reboots where the genre does a complete change in the new adaptation. For example, the original late 90s show Sabrina the Teenage Witch went from a comedy-driven sitcom to a dramatic horror show in the 2018 show, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. This show is a different sort of reboot than Gossip Girl and That 90s Show because rather than being a continuation of the original story’s universe, this series is another adaptation of the original comic book series. Because it is a remake, it’s easier to judge the show in comparison to the original, but I think it fairs nicely in comparison (at least in the earlier seasons).
That 90s Show has been a pretty perfect reboot so far in my opinion. The creators of the show play into the tropes and themes of the original while adding new ideas. They create new characters that are similar to and different from the original cast, while also bringing on all the members of the original cast in different capacities (all except Steven Hyde, curse you, Danny Masterson!). Kitty and Red are a constant reminder of the original show, bringing back nostalgia and comedy, yet they don’t overtake the stories of our new main characters. Ideas are fresh. They don’t try to recreate iconic episodes. The show doesn’t try to be a carbon copy of the original, but still draws on the intrigue and themes of the first show. There is a good mix of the old and the new. These are all things that make for a good reboot in my opinion.
So, how do you make a good reboot? I think the show has to be fresh in some way— whether that be introducing new characters, working with a new tone, or creating a modern version— while still holding on to the nostalgia of the past which made us love the show in the first place. Creating something completely new, like in Gossip Girl, can feel more detached from the original, but if you create an exact remake there would be no point. There has to be a middle ground between old and new. That 90s Show creates that perfect middle ground. (Pretty much just watch That 90s Show. It’s good, I promise!)