pop culture

15 TV Show Reboots for a Solid Blast From the Past

Karolina Wojtasik / HBO Max / Merrick Morton / HBO

Published Aug 30, 2022

TV show reboots: either a perfect storm or the kiss of death.

While we might all wish that our go-to old favorite would return for a reboot, they don't always turn out the greatest. I'd say that 2015 was the Year of the Reboot: suddenly it seemed like every show we'd ever heard of was getting the green light for a new life. And just around a year or two later, we had a few already under our belts with Fuller House, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, and Roots.

Perhaps it's because we set our expectations for these reboots waaaaaay too high, but most of the time, we're slightly let down when they finally air. Regardless of that, they give us a heavy dose of nostalgia, which is always necessary from time to time. These 15 TV show reboots are just a few of the most well-made we've seen so far, from the early days of the genre to the current takes on the form.

1. 'Fuller House' (2016)

Who's in It: Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, Andrea Barber, Bob Saget, John Stamos, Dave Coulier, Scott Weinger, Fox Messitt, Dashiell Messitt, Michael Campion, Elias Harger, Lori Loughlin, Soni Bringas

Number of Seasons: 5

Okay, Fuller House might not be the greatest of all the TV show reboots, but it's certainly earned its place for being the catalyst that started the domino effect of reboots. It seemed like once this reboot got the green light, all of the others came swarming in right behind, leaving us in a pool of reboots for better or for worse.

Fuller House features most of the original cast, though it focuses more so on the widowed D.J. Tanner-Fuller (Candace Cameron Bure), who lives in her childhood home with her children, sister, Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and best friend, Kimmy (Andrea Barber).

Watch on Netflix

2. 'Twin Peaks: The Return' (2017)

Who's in It: Kyle MacLachlan, Sheryl Lee, David Lynch, Michael Horse, Chrysta Bell, Miguel Ferrer, Robert Forster, Kimmy Robertson

Number of Seasons: 1

Kyle MacLachlan returns to the series that solidified his career—Twin Peaks—in the rebooted third season of the show, titled Twin Peaks: The Return, which was directed by David Lynch. Centered around FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper 25 years after the original series finale, we track him as he attempts to escape from the Black Lodge, as well as his doppelgänger, who has since taken Cooper's place.

Watch on Hulu

3. 'Roots' (2016)

Who's in It: Malachi Kirby, Nokuthula Ledwaba, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Forest Whitaker, Babs Olusanmokun

Number of Seasons: 1

Roots is a remake of the 1977 series of the same name, which tracks Kunta Kinte (Malachi Kirby) in 1767 as he's taken from The Gambia in West Africa and sold as a slave to Henry (Forest Whitaker), the owner of a plantation in Virginia. While the 2016 version didn't receive the same 37 Emmy nominations that the original series did, it's certainly one of the most well-received TV show reboots out there, holding a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Watch on Roku

4. 'Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life' (2016)

Who's in It: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Kelly Bishop, Scott Patterson, Matt Czuchry, Milo Ventimiglia, Jared Padalecki, Melissa McCarthy, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale, Sean Gunn

Number of Seasons: 1

The long-awaited Gilmore Girls reboot finally came our way in 2016 with four long episodes (around 90 minutes), each representing a different season of the year. Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life picks up with Lorelai and Rory about 10 years after the finale, and while Stars Hollow might still be the same place, its inhabitants have both remained the same and grown in different ways.

Watch on Netflix

5. 'Star Trek: Picard' (2020)

Who's in It: Patrick Stewart, Allison Pill, Isa Briones, Harry Treadaway, Michelle Hurd

Number of Seasons: 2 (still airing)

While Star Trek has seen quite a few different reboots with different films and shows over the years, Star Trek: Picard is one of the most recent with the highest ratings, starring Patrick Stewart as Starfleet Admiral Jean-Luc Picard in a reprisal of his role from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The series focuses on a retired Picard who's forced to deal with the remnants of what occurred in Star Trek (2009) while also being tempted with an entirely new adventure.

Watch on Paramount+

6. 'Queer Eye' (2018)

Who's in It: Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Jonathan Van Ness, Bobby Berk

Number of Seasons: 6

Based on the original 2003 series, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Netflix's Queer Eye features an entirely new cast and no limits on the rules, meaning that this time around, it's not just about giving makeovers to straight guys. The cast features Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Jonathan Van Ness, and Bobby Berk, who each have a different specialty in cooking, fashion, culture, grooming, and interior design, respectively.

Watch on Netflix

7. 'Veronica Mars' (2019)

Who's in It: Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Jason Dohring, Francis Capra, Ryan Hansen, Percy Daggs III, Patton Oswalt, J.K. Simmons, David Starzyk

Number of Seasons: 1

Kristen Bell makes a major return as the eponymous Veronica Mars in this long-awaited fourth season of the original show that first aired in 2004. The series features both Mars' life as a private investigator in Neptune, California, as well as her father's, as they work alongside one another to solve the bombing of a local motel.

Watch on Hulu

8. 'And Just Like That...' (2021)

Who's in It: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Willie Garson, Nicole Ari Parker, Sarita Choudhury, Sara Ramirez, Karen Pittman, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler, Mario Cantone

Number of Seasons: 1

Minus the iconic Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis), and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) are back and taking on a slightly-updated New York City in this iteration, which takes place almost 20 years after the finale of Sex and the City.

Easily one of the most hyped-up TV show reboots, each character is dealing with a different change in her life: Carrie is embarking on a new journey without a partner, Charlotte is getting accustomed to the ever-changing lives of her children, and Miranda realizes that there might be an entirely new world outside of her marriage.

Watch on HBO Max

9. 'Dexter: New Blood' (2021)

Who's in It: Michael C. Hall, Julia Jones, Jack Alcott, Johnny Sequoyah, Alano Miller, Jennifer Carpenter, David Magidoff

Number of Seasons: 1

The original multi-hyphenated genre of a series is all about Dexter Morgan, a forensic blood spatter analyst working for the Miami-Metro Police Department. However, in this reboot, Morgan has taken on a new name—Jim Lindsay—after faking his own death ten years prior to the time of the show. Basically, he's trying to live out a normal life in Iron Lake, New York, though he's having a tough time holding back his OG serial killer mentality.

Watch on SHOWTIME

10. 'Gossip Girl' (2021)

Who's in It: Eli Brown, Jordan Alexander, Whitney Peak, Tavi Gevinson, Thomas Doherty, Evan Mock, Emily Alyn Lind, Johnathan Fernandez, Adam Chanler-Berat

Number of Seasons: 1

With an entirely new cast, Gossip Girl (2021) is practically unrecognizable from its 2007 predecessor, save for the ever-elusive "Gossip Girl," who keeps tabs on an extremely wealthy and popular group of high school students in New York City. The same themes of lying, cheating, and drama are all still present, though the cast and types of people portrayed are certainly very different from the predominantly straight, white original cast.

Watch on HBO Max

11. 'Doctor Who' (2005)

Who's in It: Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, John Bishop, Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, Jo Martin

Number of Seasons: 13

In total, Doctor Who has been going strong for 26 seasons since 1963, though the latest version of the show technically began in 2005 and has since accumulated 13 seasons. The main premise of the series follows an ever-changing Time Lord (dubbed "the Doctor") who travels through time from a public telephone box that doubles as a spaceship.

Watch on HBO Max

12. 'Perry Mason' (2020)

Who's in It: Matthew Rhys, Shea Whigham, Eric Lange, Tatiana Maslany, Juliet Rylance, Chris Chalk, John Lithgow, Justin Kirk, Diarra Kilpatrick

Number of Seasons: 1

Based on the original 1957 series of the same name, Perry Mason (2020) tracks the eponymous private investigator in 1932 Los Angeles as he works on a kidnapping case. The series got decent reviews, with a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes and a second season on the way, slated to premiere sometime in the next year or so.

Watch on HBO Max

13. 'Battlestar Galactica' (2004)

Who's in It: Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, Tricia Helfer, James Callis, Grace Park

Number of Seasons: 4

With a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Battlestar Galactica (2004) might be one of the most critically-successful TV show reboots that we've ever seen.

A reboot of the 1978 series, the 2004 iteration of Battlestar Galactica has earned high marks since it first premiered, earning quite a few Emmy nominations and awards. The show revolves around a group of human survivors from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol who run a military spaceship, aptly named the Battlestar Galactica, in search of a new planet to inhabit: Earth.

Watch on Peacock

14. 'The Twilight Zone' (2019)

Who's in It: Jordan Peele, Kumail Nanjiani, Adam Scott, Sanaa Lathan, Steven Yeun, John Cho, Allison Tolman, DeWanda Wise, Taissa Farmiga, Ginnifer Goodwin, Chris O'Dowd, Zazie Beetz

Number of Seasons: 2

When Jordan Peele got behind developing this project, it garnered a massive amount of attention, though it ultimately didn't live up to the original series, which first aired in 1959. Like its predecessor, The Twilight Zone (2019) features a new plot and cast for each episode, with Jordan Peele narrating and leading the audience through each sci-fi-centered storyline.

Watch on Paramount+

15. 'The Conners' (2018)

Who's in It: Sara Gilbert, John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Lecy Goranson, Michael Fishman, Emma Kenney, Ames McNamara, Jayden Rey

Number of Seasons: 5

While this series originally started off as Season 10 of Roseanne, it was quickly switched to The Conners after Roseanne Barr was canned from the show. The show walks back everything that occurred in the Season 9 finale in 1997, giving the Conners a fresh start with Jackie, Dan, Becky, Darlene, and D.J. living out their lives in their original house from Roseanne.

Watch on ABC

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