Why nostalgic television reboots have a hold on Hollywood — and viewers of all ages
Kevin Maimann | CBC News | Posted: October 5, 2024 8:00 AM | Last Updated: October 5
TV studios are pulling in new and old generations with reworkings of classic shows
What's old is new again as television studios revert to the classics, tapping into the lucrative nostalgia market.
This fall's TV lineup is flooded with reboots of shows that were popular decades ago — from popular sitcom Frasier and legal drama Matlock, now starring Kathy Bates, to And Just Like That, a continuation of romantic comedy Sex and the City, which aired from 1998 to 2004.
And plenty more are on the way.
Selena Gomez will return to Disney's 2007-12 Wizards of Waverly Place as executive producer of the spinoff Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, launching Oct. 29, while other hits from the 2000s, such as small-town drama One Tree Hill and mockumentary sitcom The Office, also have new seasons in the works.
Gen Xers and older millennials can also look forward to Baywatch and Married... with Children in the future, as well as new episodes of animated FOX series King of the Hill.
Streaming choice creates 'content fatigue'
Amil Niazi, a Toronto-based columnist and culture critic, said part of the reason for the flood of reboots in a world of seemingly endless shows is that people have "content fatigue," so when they're overwhelmed with options, they'll often default to something that feels familiar.
TV streaming services and studios feel the same way about creating and paying for new content, she said, which is why they often stick with tried and tested options.
"It's great for their bottom line. They don't have to invest in new characters, in new sets, in new universes. They're giving us something that they know that we already want," Niazi said. "That's kind of the capitalist, harsh, bottom-line take."
WATCH | Official trailer for legal drama Matlock, starring Kathy Bates:
Niazi said people develop emotional attachments to their favourite shows, so it's natural to want to see those characters' storylines continue while rekindling the feelings they had from watching the original series.
Millennials are now at an age where they want to share things with their children as well, which presents opportunities for shows from the 1990s and 2000s to to appeal to different generations.
Niazi said she enjoyed watching last year's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem feature-length reboot with her kids, because they know the story and could get excited about it.
"It sort of makes intergenerational family viewing, which is very tricky these days, easier," she said. "And I know that the pandemic showed that we love to retreat to comfort when we are feeling anxious. Lord knows the world is a little bit hectic and crazy right now, and having familiarity in our programming is just nice and it's something we like to retreat into."
Frasier, Bel-Air find intergenerational appeal
Kelsey Grammer was in talks for years to reprise his role as Frasier Crane in Frasier, the hit NBC sitcom that originally ran from 1993 to 2004. After the COVID-19 pandemic and Netflix streaming led to a revival in interest, the show returned last fall on Paramount+ in a new location with a new supporting cast.
"Frasier's familiarity is actually a real bonus, I think, because people have gone without this kind of comedy for a while now, and there's a generation of people that have come up since," Grammer told CBC News. "What's interesting about the [pandemic] lockdown that we all experienced is we kind of cultivated a whole new audience, a younger audience."
The show was reworked to follow an unfinished Frasier storyline in Boston, where he moves to reconnect with his son and take a job as a Harvard University professor. The second season came out in September.
Grammer said he sees the new adventure as an opportunity for his titular character to become fully realized.
"I like to think of this chapter as entering his sacred masculine, where he's fulfilled himself, he lives life fully, he gives life to the people around him, energizes them, loves them, supports them. He is doing what he's meant to do as a man and as a person in his world," he said.
"It's a great experience. And maybe he's going to find love this time."
Bel-Air, a darker and more dramatic reimagining of the 1990s hit sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which launched actor Will Smith's career, is now in its third season after finding streaming success on Peacock.
B.C.-based actor Adrian Holmes said it's "a dream come true" to play iconic TV dad Philip Banks, formerly played by the late James Avery.
"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is such a nostalgic show and lightning in a bottle for that time. We were really worried about taking on this assignment, but it's been so well received, and we're just so grateful that we keep being asked to come back for more," he said in an interview with CBC News.
WATCH | Official trailer for Bel-Air:
Holmes said the show has always had mass appeal, and the reboot has found its footing by digging deeper into the storylines from the original series.
"We're able to peel back the layers of the onion a little bit more and get deeper into those stories, and people can really connect with them," he said.
Dominique Davis, a pop culture writer and blogger based in Tennessee, said Bel-Air works well because it has a strong foundation of storylines that were sometimes glossed over or turned into jokes in the original series, making it ripe for a more dramatic rendition.
Nostalgia is not all glory
But not every reboot finds that sweet spot.
Davis said Gossip Girl's 2021 reboot, which lasted only one season, made an effort to be more progressive and palatable for the current era, but it failed to develop its new characters in a meaningful way.
"You have to have these characters feel three-dimensional. They need to feel fully realized," she said. "And if you're just using them to get Gen Z talking points across, they're going to feel hollow. There's got to be a connection made between them and the audience."
Still, even some critically panned reboots have managed to endure.
And Just Like That was renewed for a third season, coming in 2025, despite a lukewarm critical reception. Even among fans, the Sex and the City spinoff has generated a mixed response.
But Amil Niazi said keeping viewers engaged, even if they're sometimes making fun of a show, can be all that's needed for a reboot to succeed.
"I find the material cringey and awful, and yet I can't stop watching it now. Is that a successful reboot? It's up for debate, but it's been renewed again and again," she said.
"It's a funny one, because the critics sort of disparage it, yet audiences cannot stop watching it."