Why did the television reboot become all the rage?
The television reboot is now a mainstay of popular culture, but our tendency to repeat has more to it than meets the eye, writes Texas A&M University’s Dr James Francis in this crossposting from The Conversation.
Designer Yves Saint Laurent once said, “Fashions fade, style is eternal.”
The same could be said for television: When a popular show concludes, it lives on in syndication and Blu-ray. But recently, TV immortality has assumed a new form. Networks and streaming services are increasingly pulling from the past to flood the airwaves with reboots and remakes.
Before Roseanne Barr’s racist tweets led to the cancellation of her show, the reboot of “Roseanne” was one of ABC’s most popular programs. Last year, “Will & Grace” returned in 2017 to impressive ratings, while “Full House” reappeared on Netflix as “Fuller House” in 2016.
Apparently one of the main reasons for lots of reboots (in film as well at television) is that many of the best screenwriters left for the gaming industry – where the money is much better as games now outsell cinema and tv by quite a lot.
This of course raises the question of why studios haven’t just picked up the next generation of screenwriters – my guess is unwillingness to take a punt on rookies/its probably cheaper to rewrite and oldie than start from scratch.
Firstly what a clunky article title. A synapse splutters in rebellion when I read it. Maybe it intentionally reads like a chicken crossing the road joke? Why did the television reboot become all the rage? To get to on the internet’s side. A small globule of blood drips from my nose.
TV shows being rebooted isn’t rocket science. It’s been the mainstay for film since the 90’s. And it’s less about woolly notions like ‘nostalgia’ or ‘comfort’ and more about basic economics.
You take a film or show many people liked, presumably because there was something they liked about the show or film. That is why they liked it. The people that liked the film or show still exist. Or hopefully they do. These people will watch a new version because they still like to be entertained. And they like to see how the cast have aged. People like to see how other people have aged. Why else would the popular clickbait story; ‘you won’t believe how the stars of (insert something here) look now’ exist? Why else would I stalk my exes on facebook? But that’s a restraining order for another day.
The economic factor driving the current tv reboots is a requirement for content. More of anything that worked. More of everything that is working. A series is incontrovertibly longer than a film. This means time on sight whatever the platform. This is the crucial factor behind the TV reboot.
This response is everything.
Would have to agree on the watching people age scenario. I feel there would be plenty of old schleppers out there keen to see if Roseanne Barr is still a loud heffer.
PS – “A small globule of blood drips from my nose”