7 TV Shows That Could Use A Reboot
Some shows could use a comeback
I have no idea what type of people decide the TV shows that live or die every year. An educated guess would be that Chuck Lorre has some fans among them. These nameless, faceless beings also love a good reboot.
So do I — when they’re done well. But much like Twitter and Nicolas Cage movies, too much of a good thing is not always a good thing.
I think the reboot officially jumped the shark with HBO’s oddly dull version of Perry Mason. I guess there wasn’t a need for a reimagining of a popular character from 1933.
I decided to make this list after watching the pilot of Manifest. NBC axed manifest after three seasons. I’ve only seen one episode, and SPOILER ALERT: it’s on here.
Despite the show’s immense streaming popularity, Netflix elected to pass on picking up the show for a season four. They thought rebooting that show where Kiefer played the president would be incredible, though.
I know this is a sensitive subject. Some people will see this title and think, “Give me some original ideas instead!” So to make my list of shows that need a reboot, I had to protect myself with specific criteria.
- The premiere must have happened in the 2000s-present: Nostalgia reboots are great in theory, but did you really enjoy Girl Meets World?
- Nothing that lasted longer than three seasons: TV shows are like NFL QBs. If you can’t get it done after four seasons, you probably deserve to go.
- Beware the cliffhanger: Just because a show ended on a cliffhanger doesn’t mean it needs to come back — i.e., NBC’s The Event.
- No reunions: The Friends clause
That’s enough. Let’s go!
Happy Endings
Happy Endings is the greatest sitcom you might now know about. Probably because ABC never promoted the show. It was canceled after it ran for three seasons from 2011–13.
Happy Endings is led by a hilarious ensemble cast of very close friends and family, some who grew up together and others who met in college.
The series features a runaway bride situation that shapes the entire rest of the show.
Alex (Elisha Cuthbert, Jack Bauer’s daughter in 24 and The Girl Next Door in The Girl Next Door) is the runaway bride, and Dave (Zachary Knighton, not as recognizable as Elisha Cuthbert) is the guy she dumps.
Alex’s best friend is the always single Penny (Casey Wilson, Black Monday), and Max (Adam Pally, Peter on The Mindy Project) is Dave’s lazy roommate who’s gay and never has a job or shows any genuine desire to try and get one.
Max and Penny are the funniest characters on the show, and their friendship highlights the show.
Jane (Eliza Coupe, Scrubs after everyone left) is Alex’s super neurotic sister who’s married to Brad (Damon Wayans Jr., Coach from New Girl). Brad, as you probably guessed, is best friends with Dave and Max.
Happy Endings is one of my favorite shows ever. I can’t recommend it enough. If you want to check it out, all the episodes are on Netflix, HBO Max, and Hulu.
Great News
We can agree that Tina Fey is awesome, right? She created 30 Rock, wrote Mean Girls, and co-hosted the Golden Globes four times with Amy Poehler. Well, if you loved 30 Rock (like I did), you’re going to love Great News.
Former 30 Rock writer Tracey Wigfield created Great News, and Fey was involved as an executive producer. Fey appeared as a guest star in season two, but it wasn’t enough to save the show. NBC canceled it after two seasons.
The show follows Katie, a TV producer, and her overbearing mother, who decides to restart her career in the pilot. To Katie’s horror, she picks TV as her career, interning at Katie’s show — The Breakdown.
Katie (Briga Heelan) struggles to get her career off the ground while now dealing with having her mother, Carol (Andrea Martin) butting into her love life at work. It usually involves her boss, Greg (Adam Campbell).
But as great as the scenes between mother and daughter is, the show is made by co-anchors Portia Scott-Griffith (Nicole Richie) and Chuck Pierce (John Michael Higgins).
Yes, it’s that Nicole Richie, and she’s fucking hysterical on this show. It’s surprising that she doesn’t do more sitcom work. Portia is young, cool, and the opposite of Chuck.
John Michael Higgins is perfectly cast as Chuck — an arrogant, pissed-off, semi-washed, former news legend. Portia and Chuck have nothing in common, and neither of them has any interest in learning about the other.
Great News is available on Netflix.
Atlantis
You’ve probably never heard of Atlantis, but it’s one of my favorite shows. The show aired on the BBC for two seasons and was very popular, so it was surprisingly canceled.
Atlantis was about a modern-day man named Jason who, while searching for his father, gets lost and winds up pulled into the underwater city of Atlantis.
While in Ancient Greece, he interacts with legendary figures like Hercules, Pythagoras, and Medusa. It featured Mark Addy (King Robert in Game of Thrones) as Hercules and a young Anya Taylor-Joy as an Oracle.
If you want a more detailed breakdown of the show, I already wrote one here.
Atlantis is available to stream on Hulu.
Manifest
It only took me watching one episode to know that I want to see more of this show. The passengers on a flight are presumed dead for five years, only to reappear feeling like a routine flight.
We got a brother and sister hearing voices in their heads and solving crimes. We got secret affairs and exes marrying best friends.
The creator of the show, Jeff Rake, hasn’t given up on giving the show a proper sendoff. Hopefully, he gets his wish.
You can stream the first two seasons of Manifest on Netflix.
Prodigal Son
Despite the star-studded supporting cast led by Michael Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips, Bellamy Young, and the recent addition of Catherine Zeta-Jones, Prodigal Son got the ax in May.
The series revolved around Malcolm Bright (Tom Payne) — a failed FBI agent turned NYPD consultant — and his toxic relationship with his serial killer father — Dr. Martin Whitly, AKA The Surgeon (Sheen).
Despite misgivings all around, The Surgeon is constantly inserting himself into his son’s life, personally and professionally.
Halston Sage plays Malcolm's ambitious TV reporter younger sister who barely remembers her father. Young plays the alcoholic socialite mother who, despite her husband’s crimes, remains fiercely protective of her social status and her children.
Diamond-Phillips plays Gil Arroyo — the cop who arrested The Surgeon and grew to become a father figure and mentor to Malcolm. When Bright is fired by the FBI in the pilot, he returns home to New York and works for Gil.
Zeta-Jones joined the cast in season two as a doctor at the psychiatric hospital where The Surgeon is locked up. She develops an unhealthy Harley Quinn-Joker type attachment to him.
Season one of Prodigal Son is available on HBO Max and Season two is available on Hulu.
Better Off Ted
If you search for TV Shows that were canceled too soon, you’re probably going to find Better Off Ted on one of those lists. It’s kind of a miracle that Better Off Ted lasted two seasons as the ratings were extremely low in the pilot episode.
Better Off Ted drew a lot of comparisons to Arrested Development, probably because Portia de Rossi appeared on both shows, but also the main character is constantly trying to hold together a bunch of crazy shit.
The series focused on Ted Crisp (Jay Harrington), the extremely well-liked head of a research and development department for the fictional ruthless company Veridian Dynamics. Harrington breaks the fourth wall to directly address the audience as the narrator.
Ted supervises a team that includes scientists Phil (Jonathan Slavin) and Lem (Malcolm Barrett). The actions of the company sometimes cause Ted to question his own morals.
In the pilot, the company wants to freeze an employee in their new cryonics chamber. They choose Phil because he’s replaceable. Ted usually turns to his daughter, Rose, when he’s doubting himself.
Ted’s love interest is Linda (Andrea Anders). She’s the one person on the show who seems to repeatedly acknowledge the horrible things the company does. Everyone else just kinda goes with the flow.
Ted’s boss, Veronica (de Rossi), scares the shit out of everyone but Ted. As the show goes on, she starts to show a different side of herself to some of the employees.
Better Off Ted is available on Hulu.
Trial & Error
Trial & Error is the second underrated sitcom on this list that NBC canceled.
It’s a fish out of water story about a New York City defense attorney named Josh Segal who falls in love with the small town of East Peck, South Carolina — and desperately wants the people there to love him too.
That includes the pitbull ADA who Carol Anne Keane, who immediately becomes his rival and love interest. It’s a mockumentary-style show that mimicked shows like Making a Murderer.
The season one defendant is John Lithgow, and season two features Kristin Chenoweth in the role. They couldn’t be more different. Lithgow is clingy toward Josh, and Chenoweth refuses to learn his name.
Like Atlantis, I already have a more detailed breakdown of Trial & Error. You can find it here.
I couldn’t find anywhere to stream Trial & Error for free legally. You can pay to watch it on Amazon Prime.
