5 Shows That Should Never Have Been Rebooted
Some series are so beloved that fans clamor for more of it, even after the show has been off the air for years. But not all reboots are able to find the same success as their original counterparts. Whether due to bad writing or an old formula that simply doesn't work in modern times, viewers may find that they'd rather enjoy the memory of a past series than suffer through a poor replacement for it. With that in mind, here are five shows that should never have been rebooted.
Shows that shouldn't have been rebooted
1. Sex and the City (1998-2004)
1999 Paramount Pictures
The original Sex and the City was a huge hit, making icons out of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. The series was groundbreaking when it aired and even managed to bring the story to a close in a well-received finale—a hard feat for any show. But any subsequent attempts to bring our beloved foursome back has failed to capture the same fun as the original series, and some efforts have been downright dreadful. The first Sex and the City movie in 2008 was a slog and its 2010 sequel was embarrassing at best and culturally insensitive at worst.
When HBO (now Max) announced the reboot series And Just Like That in 2021, hopes for the show were not exactly exactly high (after all, Kim Cattrall wouldn't be reprising her role as Samantha). But many viewers found the series to be even worse than they expected, with some critics and fans characterizing the series as cringeworthy. Season 2 was significantly better than its predecessor (lighter, funnier and with more Aidan Shaw), but it still doesn't hold a candle to the original.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About 'And Just Like That' Season 3
2. How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)
IMAGO / Album
The original How I Met Your Mother, though not aging super well in a post-MeToo world, was a resounding success, lasting for nine seasons. The show managed to squander a lot of its goodwill with a much-derided series final—in fact, the last episode was so poorly received that some people suspect it helped kill a planned spinoff, How I Met Your Dad, at the time. But a reboot did make it to air eventually—and it was ... wait for it ... not great.
How I Met Your Father, the Hulu reboot starring Hilary Duff, was criticized for its use of over-wrought rom-com tropes and strained efforts to be racy, and it was recently canceled after just two seasons.
3. Charmed (1998-2006)
As soon as a reboot of the WB-turned-CW witch series was announced, the idea received criticism from fans and the original show's stars and creative team, who felt the revival was disrespecting the work they had put into making the O.G. version a success. Meanwhile, the new series’ creators were excited by the idea of bringing women of color to the Charmed universe. While the reboot lasted four seasons, it never managed to resonate with fans the way the late-nineties/early-aughts series did, as demonstrated by its 48% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes (compared with the original's 90%).
Related: 10 Legendary Co-Star Feuds
4. Melrose Place (1992-1999)
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When a reboot of Beverly Hills, 90210 was announced in 2008, astute TV watchers knew a reboot of its spinoff series, Melrose Place, couldn’t be far behind. While the 90210 reboot did fairly well, lasting for five seasons, the Melrose Place reboot failed to find an audience, airing for just one season, from 2009 to 2010. The reboot was chided for being boring and failing to bring anything new to the original formula, with one critic writing, “It's hard to say anything substantive about a show that seems to have as a major goal being awful.” Yeesh!
5. The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
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It can be hard to improve upon a truly classic and iconic series like the original Twilight Zone—but that hasn't stopped many, many people from trying. The Twilight Zone has gotten the TV reboot treatment not once, not twice, but three times: in 1985, 2002 and 2019. It also got made into a 1983 film, Twilight Zone: The Movie, which became infamous for a horrific on-set accident.
However, all three TV reboots, which enjoyed varied degrees of success, have firmly failed to recapture the pop-culture impact of the original series. The ‘80s version lasted for three seasons, the 2002 version lasted for one and the 2019 version was canceled after two. It seems the signpost up ahead says "stop rebooting The Twilight Zone." Will people finally listen?
