Please Stop Reviving Old TV Shows — Blue Fairy Film Blog

Do you guys remember when reunions of television shows were a bad, nay, horrible idea? Do you remember the horrendous revival movies for Growing Pains, Gilligan’s Island, The Facts of Life, and Walker, Texas Ranger? Did you people like seeing beloved television characters sullied in the midst of studio interference, aging has-beens, and bad writing? Apparently not because we are in an age where anything that even mildly entertained in the past twenty years can be up for grabs in this strange, hybrid media landscape. With news of a Roseanne reunion planned for 2018, a show that ran for an unprecedented nine seasons on ABC, you have to ask yourself, “Can’t anything just die out anymore?”

Though there are many more interesting properties to talk about, I first need to formally dissect Roseanne. This show made history. It changed the way TV families were shown, it opened doors for sitcoms like Malcolm in the Middle, Shameless, and Raising Hope. It tackled serious issues like abortion, coming out as LGBT, and alcoholism. During its last season the show slightly derailed, having the Conner clan win the lottery and Dan cheat on Roseanne, ending in a finale where Roseanne admits that most the show was in her imagined writings. Today children adults are grown adults, with their own shows and personal lives, Roseanne has a completely new life in Hawaii, and John Goodman is much too successful for any of this. Like the revival movies I mentioned at the top of this essay, this is a show that shouldn’t be revived. Even if it’s not horrible, which it probably will be, it won’t meet anyone’s high expectations. Let and let live.

Now, there are some shows that seem to warrant relighting the old flame. Twin Peaks, a show that was notoriously cancelled before its time, premiered a reboot on Showtime this past Sunday. A lot of the original cast returned, including heavyweight Kyle MacLachlan as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper. While I personally believe it makes sense that the show was cancelled, since the network pressured Lynch to reveal the murderer, and that revelation completely wrecked the show’s momentum, it’s an exciting set-up. It was revived because Cooper is a great character, the setting was once-in-a-lifetime perfect, and there are of course more adventures for him to go on in the town of Twin Peaks. Still, do we need this? Probably not. It’s a production that has been in constant turmoil for the past five years. There’s already a terrible movie, and the show has become a cult classic in its own right. There is very little evidence that more needs to be said. The same can definitely be said for The X-Files reboot, which is continuing despite the fact that the original show celebrated nine seasons, and two movies. Though I’m sure many people still “want to believe,” must they believe in this show above all else?

Why do networks and streaming sites alike keep doing this? It’s a mix of things. The film industry has been rehashing properties since the dawn of time. Remakes, reimagining’s, reboots, and sequels all have their own form of nostalgia attached, and seeing a favorite film shaped and changed for modern times is very exciting. It’s the same reason we flock to redrawn pictures of Disney princesses as pin-up girls, zombies, and Doctor Who incarnations. Transformers was a rehash of a toy line and terrible cult eighties film, and that franchise has made billions. In recent years television has taken suit and we have been flooded with new seasons of shows like Mystery Science Theater 3000, Arrested Development, Heroes, The Muppets, and Full House. All of these original properties either made a lot of money in the past, or have made a lot of money since, through DVDs or licensing. New properties are also very expensive, and are more likely to fail than something with a built-in fan base. This also means that without that fan base, a show that was once cancelled will not be revived. (No one is clamoring for a Diagnosis Murder or Grace Under Fire reunion.)

The revivals that completely adapt to our modern times and limit nostalgia to cameos and some fan service are often the ones that survive. If the show simply tries to pick up the thread of the original creators and writers, they are most likely completely doomed. Netflix is the largest purveyor of reboots as it has generated some of the shows I’ve mentioned, as well as Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Lovesick, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, The Killing, Longmire, Black Mirror, and Trailer Park Boys. Netflix thrives on nostalgia, as it streams many successful shows from the past including Friends, Cheers, Frasier, Roseanne, The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec, Scrubs, and more. This fan service isn’t just a great idea for them because of our ardent fervor over these shows, but because they are already tapped into the market.

I’m not one to throw stones in glass houses, because if any of my favorite shows had a reunion or some kind of special I would jump all over it. Roseanne is actually one of my favorite shows, and I have seen every episode. It is a formative piece of American television. Still, let us be frank: unneeded revivals corrupt our favorites. I mean, sure you love Scrubs, but isn’t it just a little sullied by the fact that they had a beautiful perfect season eight finale and then tried to smush in another season with a completely different cast, setting, and story? Doesn’t season four of Arrested Development feel a little like a strange slap in the face compared to its original three perfect seasons? Let’s be honest, the answer is yes. This trend isn’t going away because we keep giving money to these new iterations. I’m not going to implore you to use your consumer power and stop watching these things, but please use some discretion. If you’re not careful we’re in for new seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond and Yes, Dear. We already had retooled Home Improvement (Last Man Standing) and King of Queens (Kevin Can Wait). Really, think about it.