TV Reboots To Add To Your Watchlist

3 years ago

Throwbacks worth binging

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The TV reboot is a tricky category to nail. A good revival must find the right balance between upholding nostalgia and existing within a new social environment, keeping the OG fans happy while welcoming new ones. A flurry of them have arrived on our screens over the past few years: some picking up where they left off many years ago, others entirely reinventing themselves for a contemporary era. Here are reboots worth revisiting.

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Best TV Reboots

Gossip Girl

Last August, we were introduced to a shiny new generation of Upper East Siders. Set eight years after the last episode, when we discovered that – spoiler alert – Dan Humphrey was Gossip Girl, the new series addresses how much social media, and the world as a whole, has changed since then. The show features a more inclusive cast, with new stars including Jordan Alexander as teen influencer Julien Calloway and Savannah Smith as NYU student Monet de Haan. For now, there’s no talk of the original cast members – such as Blake Lively and Ed Westwick – reappearing, though Kristen Bell will reprise her role as the voice of ‘xoxo, Gossip Girl’.

BBC iPlayer

Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life

Fans who grew up with Lorelai and Rory waited with bated breath for Netflix’s four-part revival of Gilmore Girls. The cult show ended abruptly back in 2007, following an arguably disappointing seventh season that aired without its major creative voice, Amy Sherman-Palladino. She created the show, but wasn’t able to end it due to issues with its network. A Year In The Life, though, offered Amy the chance to close Gilmore Girls on her own terms. Launched almost a decade after the original series, the reboot returns to Stars Hollow, where Rory (Alexis Bledel) is now a 32-year-old freelance journalist working on a book proposal. Lorelai (Lauren Graham) is still with Luke – though they aren’t married – and Richard Gilmore has sadly passed away.

Netflix

90210

Beverly Hills, 90210 was the ultimate ‘90s teen hit. The series – which documented the lives of twins Brenda and Brandon Walsh, who moved to California from Minnesota – made its debut back in 1990, going on to run for ten seasons. Then, in 2008, fans were treated to a reboot, complete with a fresh new cast. Like its predecessor, 90210 follows a small-town family who relocate to one of the world’s most coveted LA postcodes, where their two children, Annie (Shenae Grimes) and Dixon (Tristan Wilds), must navigate the dramas of life at West Beverly Hills High. Think glamorous parties, love triangles and shock twists, starring names like Shenae Grimes, Matt Lanter and AnnaLynne McCord.

All 4

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Sex and the City

Nearly a decade since the final episode aired, Sex and the City has made a comeback, returning to HBO Max in a reboot called And Just Like That. Sarah Jessica-Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis are reprising their roles as Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte, but there’s a Samantha-shaped hole in the new series, which sadly doesn’t star Kim Cattrall. Nonetheless, we’re excited to see what the gang have been up to. Is Carrie still writing a column? How are Miranda and Charlotte finding mothering teenagers? And how has Covid-19 affected everyone? Baguette bags at the ready.

Will & Grace

When NBC sitcom Will & Grace premiered in 1998, it was celebrated for bringing gay life into the mainstream – with Joe Biden going on to cite it as a reason for America’s ‘evolving’ attitude on homosexuality. The series followed the relationship between gay lawyer Will Truman and his best friend, interior designer Grace Adler. It ran for eight seasons, winning a whopping 16 Emmy Awards and developing a devoted fan base over the years. But would Will & Grace still have a place in 2017? As with all reboots, the show’s return garnered mixed reviews, but there’s plenty to praise. Karen (Megan Mullally) is just as crass and sassy as when we left her; the chemistry between characters is quick and easy; and there are multiple digs at Trump. Comfort TV at its best.

NOW TV

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Dynasty

Renowned for its epic catfights and ludicrously high shoulder pads, Dynasty was one of the defining shows of the ‘80s. The original soap opera focused on two feuding families in the Colorado oil business, the Carringtons and the Colbys, starring John Forsythe as tycoon Blake Carrington and Joan Collins as his first wife, Alexis. While the 2017 revival features noticeably smaller sleeves, there are still lavish outfits galore – and it’s interesting to see how the drama has been updated for a modern-day audience. Elizabeth Gillies stars as Fallon Carrington, a young executive at her family’s energy company, who finds herself in competition with her father’s fiancée, Cristal.