Rebooted TV shows are SO in right now. Basically, if a show had success 20 years ago, somebody is looking at bringing it back--often times with the same cast, same writers, same directors and so on.

But reboots aren’t a totally new concept, of course. Still, there was a time when reboots were the exception rather than the rule. In those days, TV producers spent a bit more time crafting their remakes--figuring out what worked about the original, how much it should be updated, and whether or not there was a way to bring it back successfully.

I’m going to recommend 4 reboots you should seriously consider binge-watching--and not all of them are part of the current trendy reboot crop.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

OK, first, a confession: I’ve never gotten into Buffy. But I hear it’s AMAZING.

People are so devoted to this show and, as its Wikipedia points out, it’s often included on critics’ ‘best of television’ lists.

I’m most interested because Buffy started out as a pretty terrible movie--which I saw. Joss Whedon set out to write a story about female empowerment--as he put it: He wanted to reverse the formula of the ‘little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie. Unfortunately, the movie’s director took the script in a very different direction.

Years later, Whedon was given the opportunity to run his own quirky hero story about the little blonde girl. It was a huge hit that even spawned a spin-off called Angel. I just love the idea of a writer rebooting a concept they just didn't’ quite get right the first time.

Battlestar Gallactica

This is one of my absolute favorite shows of all time. First of all, you have to know that the original show was TERRIBLE--the worst cheesy old school sci-fi you can find. While the new version is still very clearly sci-fi, it’s really so much more of a human drama. The show asks what happens to humanity when most of us are wiped out by artificial intelligence. The characters are carefully drawn; the acting is brilliant; the writing is sharp and will have you on the edge of your seat. If you think you hate sci-fi, true Battlestar and see if it changes your mind.

Mad About You

This one isn’t quite out yet, but it’s most definitely in the works. Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt have been meeting to talk about how to do the show without making it suck. It strikes me that Mad About You feels very much of its time--so it’s not clear if a reboot will definitely work. The concept so far is that their daughter (Mabel) has just moved out for college and their experiencing what it’s like to have an empty nest. We’ll see…

Twilight Zone

Look, more sci-fi! But here’s the thing: Twilight Zone is coming back *again*. It’s already been revived 3 times, but what makes this revival most exciting is that it’s being run by Jordan Peele, who just won massive critical acclaim for his work on the horror film Get Out. There’s certain to be a lot of interest when the *fourth* version of Twilight Zone debuts on CBS All Access. Even more exciting: Binghamton has a pretty strong connection to the Twilight Zone, so it could cast some more positive light on our hometown.

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