The Big Problem That Ruins Teen Show Reboots & Revivals 🤔 iCarly, Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls & More

[@signalfire15]

I have so much respect for the creator of Lizzie McGuire for having INTEGRITY. Lizzie McGuire was always a groundbreaking show with a creator and writers who actually cared about the product they were producing and not just coasting on the desire for money. I would have loved to watch the new series, but not if it lacked integrity. The creator absolutely made the right move.

[@kgal1298]

Disney execs dropped the ball on that one I think people would have shown up to watch

[@brycegoddard5547]

@@kgal1298Same. I think all the millennials would’ve shown up for the show and brought a new generation of Gen Z viewers that liked Andi Mack too. Big missed opportunity.

[@surferzapper20]

Any sequel series has to adhere to the balancing act that Degrassi or Cobra Kai pulled off. The legacy characters must remain fully fleshed out people in their own right, but their story can't completely overshadow the new generation's ability to carry the spotlight. The kids can't just be a carbon copy of what came before, and the adults have to be believable as someone who has lived an actual life.

[@trinaq]

Thanks for bringing up how much "Girl Meets World" failed Angela by villainising her, and having all of the characters act rudely towards her, to the point where she's compared to a hurricane, all so Shawn can marry Maya's mum. In my headcanon, Shawn and Angela got back together, and adopted Maya.

[@angel_ily]

i wishh. they were so endgame so sad we couldn't see them together as a couple in girls meets world.

[@niquolthespiana275]

That is what k!lled the show for me. Girl Meets World should've been on FreeForm or ABC and not Disney Channel.

[@LeonardsParka]

I mean. I agree with how they portrayed Angela and that it was wrong. But Katy isn’t a bad mother she’s just poor? Maybe a punchline most of the time but she wasn’t mentioned to be a bad parent?

[@mariaskabardonis8353]

Well Katy wasen’t a bad mom she was trying her best, Shawn could have been a mentor like Mr. Turner was to him

[@Suzy.E123]

I disagree, I think it’s realistic that people don’t always end up with their first love. I think Shawn and Angela’s conversation was very mature and healing. I think the other characters were just concerned about Shawn’s feelings.

[@whimsical_flower]

I still want the Lizzie McGuire reboot but I’m glad they stood their ground and didn’t compromise with Disney. I prefer them not doing it all if it meant a watered down show.

[@kgal1298]

I think the execs definitely wanted it to focus on Lizzie having kids and her being a parent which isn't realistic and would have just rehashed the same story lines, but also knowing some of the crap these studios greenlight it's hardly shocking they have such myopic views of story tellin and very rarely willing to take risks

[@Dreamlillie_95]

Funny how they think Lizzie McGuire is too adult for Disney+ when not only is the audience adults now, but the streaming service has parental controls

[@7Sensed]

I can't believe Gossip Girl's reboot lasted 21-23!! That was the most cringe-worthy and terribly written insult on everyone who's seen and loved the original. It even made fun of it. Barf Barf Barf.

[@seabreeze4559]

the whole point of the show was judging pretty white people and it couldn't even give us THAT

[@suezcontours6653]

@@seabreeze4559 I've never seen either of these shows

[@terrawrites1900]

Honestly, I think the overall failure of the show wasn't so much it being cringeworthy, which it was - but so was like, Serena and Vanessa having a Rock Band battle over Dan. Cringe CAN work - the inherent failure was setting up Julien and Zoya as the new Blair and Serena. If they had made Luna the "Serena" and Monet the "Blair" and kept the rest of the cast like, as is - i think it could have been more successful than it was. Max was a pretty damn good modernized, not sexually abusive Chuck. Even Aki was a good aimless himbo Nate. Obi was a good new Dan-ish type(but rich! Even though the Humphries WERE rich, just not 1% rich), especially when his storyline WASN'T being torn between the sisters. Julien was...just a horribly written character, impossible to believe as the local "It Girl", and I......viserally hated Zoya the minute she more or less stole her sister's boyfriend of quite a few years, then got upset that those two weren't just magically over each other a week later. Luna and Monet were far, far more compelling it girlies, both equally (or more so!) diverse and if they had been the leads with Zoya/Julien as the minions or something, the show COULD have worked. Especially if they corrected the other egregious error of telling us who Gossip Girl was right away. Part of the fun was the mystery of who done it, and removing that was...stupid. Yet it STILL could have worked, especially seeing how it worked out for Kate, had her targets been more compelling.

[@dionysisnance4204]

I can't believe the canceled icarly reboot when we finally going to meet carly and spencer mother.

[@tthewizard7667]

i wish hollywood would just create something new.

[@droth1031]

The people in charge keep saying "Why make NEW when you can REDO?!", unfortunately

[@Easybreezylemonsqueezy928]

The icarly reboot was so good!!! Still sad it got cancelled. It’s not mentioned here but Bel Aire (the Fresh Prince reboot) is AMAZING! Almost don’t want to call it a reboot but it does a wonderful job retelling Will’s story

[@JuneieBack]

I cancelled my Paramount+ subscription when they cancelled iCarly and never went back😭

[@Simbala-bq5vy]

The iCarly Revival was soooo goood! I didn't knew anything about it and wasnt excited because Sam and Gibby werent there. But it still worked! And the highlight of the revival is definitely Creddie! Im so sad that it got cancelled. I want to see Carlys and Spencers mom, I want to see Carly and Freddie getting married! Also would we ever have learned something about Freddies father in season 4? Pease bring it back!! Now Wizards of Waverly place is next and Im so excited because WOWP is my favourite Disney channel Sitcom and Im glad seeing all the characters back! Especially Alex Russo!

[@Spicie95]

It's ironic that Disney Channel had a 65 episode/4 season rule, ensuring that they had a constantly updated roaster of series and making sure nothing overstayed it's welcome. Only for the Disney Company as a whole to default to reboots 🙃

[@Simbala-bq5vy]

Some shows had over 100 episodes for example Wizards of Waverly place so even back then they broked that promise or rule.

[@Spicie95]

@@Simbala-bq5vy Oh right. But it was still 4 seasons and no more...

[@Simbala-bq5vy]

@@Spicie95 The season 4 rule was almost always there

[@Spicie95]

@@Simbala-bq5vy Yea, I noted that in my original comment as well

[@MaricaAmbrosius]

The letdown with Rory wasn't her supposed downfall, but that the tone was more season seven because the Palladinos forced it into the plot they planned for 23~year-old Rory and 39-year-old Lorelai.

[@laurastedman2771]

Yes! It whole reboot seems like it should have taken place a few years after the original so things like Lule and Lorelei not having gotten married yet to make much sense.

[@minkagaston]

Agreed. It was so weird how they stuck to what they originally planned for the characters 20 years ago. It was very cringe, petty and Ego driven. It really did a disservice to the characters and the fans.

[@12harrypotterfan34]

I’m still mad about Disney pulling the plug on the Lizzie McGuire reboot.

[@Hollyberrystreats]

I'm flat out shocked at how much I love Cobra Kai. Never thought I'd care about Johnny Lawrence, but initially shifting the focus to show where the high school bully with zero good influences in his life ends up in his 50s

[@escritora84]

I hope the Lizzie McGuire reboot gains traction, it was such a great show that has really stood the test of time. I wish more shows took their cues from Degrassi and their various reboots - each iteration had callbacks to the legacy characters and events, with storylines for the legacies that worked in tandem with the kids and their issues. I'm rewatching Degrassi High and TNG right now and the same topics that were talked about 20 and 30 years ago are still eerily relevant.

[@tarac7597]

The Saved By The Bell reboot was actually enjoyable. It blended the original cast well with the new folks. Wish that it was renewed for a 3rd season.

[@rossy9095]

I actually like the concept of knowing who GG was from the beginning. It was a tool in the original, we just didn’t know it until the end. We knew the purpose in the reboot and saw it in action. I was sad to see it cancelled.

[@Cangeltibon]

The problem for me is that when they are brought back, they bring back the characters but not the story telling that made us like them. The 90’s were filled with “very special episodes” that unapologetically tackled sensitive subjects, today those episodes wouldn’t air because they’d be indoctrinating the youth. The Golden Girls were trans allies but if a character is insinuated to be trans today there are melt downs and any attempt to talk about important issues talks down to audiences….ironically making them actually feel like exaggerated parodies of those shows minus any of the charm.

[@seabreeze4559]

hey arnold was serious in places

[@turkoizdog]

One thing I've noticed is that reboots and sequels for younger kids (Daniel Tiger to Mr Rogers) are successful when maintaining the same audience, because parents determine what little kids watch. Older kids and teens decide what they watch for themselves. The earliest example of a kids reboot or sequel succeeding I can think of is Toy Story, and this is because they aged Andy up. Kids who were Andy's age were outgrowing toys with him when 2 came out, and going off to college when 3 came out.

[@olandir]

The motivation behind the reboots is what determines whether it will be a success or not. If the motivation is money (quick cash grab off nostalgia) or an actor or showrunner's ego (I'm looking at you Amy Sherman-Palladino) it will always fail miserably. If the motivation is to tell a good story or entertain the fans, then you're far more likely to have a success, or at the very least a forgivable failure.

[@birdiewolf3497]

This is missing the reality that YA/teen shows are not streaming service friendly! That’s really why these reboots fail and why a lot of teen shows fail. If you check the ratings on the originals they weren’t putting up numbers like that during their original run. Ravens home can be successful because it rebooted on the same channel. And those are the metrics being used to judge it’s success. I think the way they judge youth oriented content is very bad to begin with. We basically require them to be on par with adult content. That was never supposed to be the point. It was about being popular amongst the youth population! Because yeah, averaging 3 million views is nothing but most of that audience is young, we are talking about 10% of all teenagers watching your show! That is how you create impact and a cultural phenomenon. I seriously doubt that is a factor in their algorithms. Netflix is probably getting way more of the youth watching their shows but that population is not big enough for them! I mean having 5 million of the teen to young adult demo watching your shows used to be a colossal hit. Just getting 1.5 million was seen as a reasonable success.

[@BellesView]

Not y’all putting Julien Calloway in the center of the thumbnail 😂

[@mariaskabardonis8353]

I really liked Girl Meets World and Fuller House of course I didn’t like Angela’s treatment but I felt the writers respected most of the original cast and past writing. I am also bummed I Carley was canceled I wanted to know who was Carley’s mom. I felt How I met your father was finding its footing before it got canceled. I enjoyed some parts of Just Like that and Gilmore Girls but I felt the writers were disrespecting the past. Especially Amy Shermin Palladino who was so determined to have her season 7 that she didn’t let the characters grow since she last wrote them Cobra Cai has also been successful and I did enjoy Raven Home

[@minkagaston]

Agreed. That's exactly what happened with GGs. Amy decided to have her season 7 even though it made no sense at that point. It seemed like Luke & Lor especially we're frozen. They didn't discuss children, marriage...basically nothing. They also ignored everything that did actually happen in season 7.

[@mariaskabardonis8353]

@@minkagaston It was definetly frozen in time

[@charmaine1028]

I’d love your thoughts on Veronica Mars, especially its two “pop up, fan-funded” movies.

[@samfilmkid]

“Remember when?” is the lowest form of conversation. We need to stop with the reboots and remakes and nostalgic sequels for a while. It’s all part of the Machine’s plan to keep us in a state of perpetual adolescence.

[@fergusclarken8437]

Rory Gilmore growing up wasn’t realistic she had too much lucky and the year in the life felt grounded in her situation of figuring out herself and struggles of life

[@SlayerNinaFriki]

I wasn't a Karate Kid fan, but damn, that Cobra Kai show is one of the few instances in which I am invested in the story of two cis middle aged white men lol

[@girlonire]

the music in the bg starting at 2:50~ is soooooooo distracting

[@KristinaNorman]

Is talent that bleak in Hollywood that they can’t create someone new? I never watch a reboot because imo it will never be as good as the original

[@animesjogoseseriesclassica8282]

I think that sometimes the original was not even that good, our nostalgia tricks us. So of course that a reboot trying to redo everything is going to be bad.

[@DC-wk7yo]

Counterpoint: Degrassi

[@meccalovett4616]

Honestly the iCarly reboot was actually pretty good and I was genuinely sad when it was cancelled. On a cliffhanger at that.

[@trinaq]

"That 90's Show" is alright, but it doesn't quite live up to the magic of "70's." The second season relied less on appearances of the original cast members, and more on the new generation, but it feels like a Disney Sitcom, with sex and drugs references sprinkled in.

[@maria44688]

That's a perfect description for That 90's Show. I thought the first season was okay, but I feel like with the current season, it's more of a tidal wave of sex and drugs references.

[@Chinni_C888]

I don't think nostalgia is the reason why we still rewatch old shows. I was miserable and traumatised during most of these shows and do not wish to relive any of that. The reason I rewatch shows is because the writing was good, the direction was inspired, the cast was selected based on suitability and not what capitalist studios consider a liberal checklist. And don't even get me started on their "sex positive" claims when all they are going for is shock value. I blame streaming services who buy all these IPs to get subscribers, then underpay their talent, who in turn are uninspired and can't turn out quality work.

[@javis88h]

One thing I don't like about reboots of tweenies shows is how characters either stay together or get together. I just see it as these kids not growing out of their home town. They didn't explore. They only had vanilla pound cake and nothing else. Then you have the movies like Dumb and Dumber To, Jay and Scilent Bob AND Bill and Ted where they all have Daughters who are basically clones of their fathers and they learn from each other, with a bunch of "rememberthis?!" Can we do something else with those reboots?!

[@AA-ed6ek]

Ugh.

[@vampman87]

It's interesting that SO MANY US revivals of kids shows flopped but there's still one show in CANADA that seems to be the exception: Degrassi. The original Degrassi Jr. High lasted three seasons, with a fouth season called "Degrassi High" which followed the main characters of the first series and finished with a TV movie focused on the fan-favorite sleaze, Joey Jeremiah. Then in 2002 "Degrassi: The Next Generation" came out and focused mainly on Emma, the daughter of Spike, one of the characters from the original show. Lots of the original characters came back to tie up loose ends with their stories (Spike married her longtime crush, Snake, and Joey even became the most mature character on the show, though his stepson followed in his playboy footsteps). Emma's tenure on the show lasted a solid five seasons, and then the actress aged out. The series ATTEMPTED to follow her and the older teens who graduated into their college days, but that didn't go well in 5 and 6 and Season 7 ended up introducing us to a new protagonist, Claire, the little sister of one of the side characters, and her friends. By the time season 9 rolled around, Emma had vanished entirely, with only Spinner being the last of the old "New Generation" characters to stay on the show (and then a TV movie gave him a sendoff by bringing Emma back and marrying him, despite the fact that they only had like three scenes together the entire series.) Claire herself eventually aged out around Season 11, and we were given yet another new protagonist, Maya, who stuck around for the last two seasons as well as the two seasons of the spinoff show "Degrassi: Next Class." The plots of all four generations dealt with issues all teens face, such as addiction, relationship problems, and coming to terms with sexuality, and some plots may be questionable (I said in a prior Take video that I thought Degrassi showing a 25 year old teacher dating her 18 year old student with a sympathetic light because she was a woman was strange because all the other male teachers that were shown dating or even being attracted to their students were shown as absolute monsters) but they still manage to tell the same stories with different characters in different eras and still keep it interesting. I don't understand how Degrassi succeeded in staying on the air for over three decades where our revivals of once popular shows die off after four seasons tops. Is it the region?

[@marvintnt1820]

I was okay with Punky Brewster one season reboot. They had closure with Punky Brewster's birth mom and that's good enough for me.

[@CoincidenceandChaos]

I think a few things are going on here with the reboots. Many times, it kind of inherently comes off somewhat disingenuous & like a bit of a cash grab. Additionally, certain shows like GG or PLL I believe should have been left to rest a bit longer before tapping into the franchise again. Reboots have to walk a fine line as you pointed out between keeping the OG fans happy & bringing in the newer (often younger) viewers. We also have to look at what made the original work- most of the originals are time capsules of a specific era (ie everything from BMW, to LM, to PLL- very representative of their era). I think some of this is an issue between how gen z is often represented & targeted in media (your example w GG is often brought up w this phenomenon). Also, with shows like the Gilmore girls reboot many people are at different points in their adult lives so may find the main charter's circumstance not as relatable if its very different than their lived experience (as opposed to watching the original when everyone's view of the world was much smaller & everyone was in hs or college like the characters- this is a reason given for why a lot of media focuses on this age bc its something mostly everyone goes through as opposed to college which maybe 1/3 of the population finishes). The ravens home example (I haven't seen it) seems more relatable to more peoples lived experiences (also- that type of content get pushed on my socials for sure bc it often gets engagement ((single motherhood, etc.)). I am sure more reasons as well anyone feel free to piggy back off of this.

[@diegodreossi1458]

All it takes is the right people with the right idea

[@minkagaston]

ICarly and Fuller House were really good. I also enjoyed the the Gossip Girl reboot even though a lot of people didn't.

[@BCNGMe]

Girl meets world was actually successful for Disney.Disney tends to end their shows after a few seasons. Also the adults that watched it knew it was about to the daughter more - it was great TV to sit down with your child and talk through the differences and previous storylines

[@davidbobowski3604]

Hopefully the new Wizards of Waverly Place reboot is good!

[@Sarawinky]

i love raven's home

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

I liked it at the beginning, but I feel like it kind of fell off

[@artemissl7335]

I think and just like that is bad!

[@maryh.l3810]

I only watch "Girl Meet World" and don't know much about the orginal series. I found GMW really good when I first watched the show in my middle school year. However, when I have rewatched it recently, I did not like it anymore. I don't know why

[@conspiracyworld862]

Like how they did Zoey 101

[@ItsJustChristmasCookie]

6:21 - what the new Gossip Girl missed was the overt ego and elitism from the original. When we watch Gossip Girl we dont want to watch a socio economic breakdown from CNN. We want: Chuck Bass: "What we're entitled to is a trust fund, maybe a house in the Hamptons, a prescription drug problem... but happiness does not seem to be on the menu"

[@katherinealvarez9216]

They're all written by adults who don't know that schools have support staff.

[@donnaherrera7415]

The fact that there's a new The Office in the works... Ugh... Why 😭

[@musicfan89011]

I would say Gilmore girls wouldn’t be relevant in this as a ‘teen show’ - although it was an underwhelming reboot. The issue was that the still of the show wasn’t continued - the musical and little help from my friends scenes weren’t in line with the original show. Also the revival plot set out for Rory and Lorelai was the original plot that was planned as the never written Amy Pallandino seasons 7 and 8 when the characters were 22 and 39, which just doesn’t match at 32 and 49. I would have loved if they had just done the intro they did, followed by a recap of everything they had planned in a general montage of the years missed starting with the original end line of “ ‘mom? ‘Yeah?’ ‘I’m pregnant’” then all the way up until the point of Richard’s death and then start the story from there with a fresh story - you meet the need for a revelation of what was intended all along while actually setting the show up for a genuine reboot - not just a wish fulfilment of what could have been

[@kgal1298]

Disney revivals fail 9 times out of 10 because they refuse to age up the storylines and stick with storylines you can find on their current originals. Also justice 4 Lizzie. Still so mad about that.

[@angelaholmes8888]

Even though gossip girl reboot wasn't good there are some that a great like raven home and cobra kai

[@hinkhall5291]

It can never be as good for adults because they are not in the same state of mind as they were when they first enjoyed it, so they can never form good core memories. It’s the same reason why in older age, gaming has marginal returns. You cannot capture the same vibes. You can’t engineer those vibes. All you can do is relive the good memories of the past in your mind.

[@srami004]

Cobra Kai worked.

[@jeremyud]

Fuller House and The Connors were/are successful reboots because they focus on the characters we actually care about and they got who the target audience is. In Gossip Girl's case, it seems like they were trying to target Gen Zers but don't get how that generation actually works or consumes media. I also think new teen dramas are terrified of offending people or making people feel not included so they make these timid pale shows with a check list of every minority they need to add in order to not be accused of being offensive and exclusive.

[@aiden8834]

Gossip Girl was so horrible. Monet was the only character I liked.

[@scifigrl92]

The iCarly reboot was good but canceled

[@user-oh2bl1gh2u]

The fresh prince revamp is amazing as well as Cobra Kai

[@AngelisaHassan]

Lixxie hooked up with Ethan Craft? Bravo

[@SunShine-qk4rb]

I definitely feel trepidation

[@joshuaserrato3495]

Gossip Girl 2.0 made a death wish when they trashed the headband.

[@soapaddict09]

IMO, Fuller House actually did a good job. You did have some annoying s/l with the kids but it was stil centered around the original cast ( minus Olsons) and weaved everyone in.

[@kamsismith]

It’s simple: overemphasis on diversity over good storytelling and how out of touch the writers are. I want to be clear that I'm all for diversity, but so many times diversity is prioritized over storytelling. There have been some good reboots, but 90% of them are garbage because the characters or the story as a whole aren't interesting.

[@BellesView]

The problem is showrunners don’t make a real effort to write diverse characters well.

[@fenderchick2010]

I agree. I’m black and I’m 100% for more diverse representation in media, but the problem is writers writing any diverse character as one-dimensional. The character exists to check a box and isn’t fleshed out with a whole personality and story arc. They need to write better stories and include all types of diverse characters who aren’t just there to teach a social justice lesson or whose story isn’t based solely on their difference.

[@binarystar300]

I think House of Dragon pulled off including POC characters the best. They made a group of black people that aligned with the protagonists, yet their importance to the story had nothing to do with their skin color.

[@angelmushahf]

This reminds me of “That 90s Show”. I was more interested in seeing cameos from the original cast than learning about the new cast

[@geministar6167]

The Carly reboot was kinda boring but lemme check out Raven’s home

[@inesatt1313]

Thank you, finally someone who is smart enough to point it out

[@lahalhalha]

I think another issue is how diverse and woke these shows are. With Gossip Girl there was a character for each race and sexual identity and gender identity that just made it feel so unnatural. The problem with Charmed is they had black/latina characters when we already connected with the original Haliwell sisters. A successful show would have shown their line continuation.

[@F.R.F937]

Wokeness is the real problem. The Gossip Girl was so political and activist, also none of the characters were likeable, except for maybe one or two, all of them were very depraved in many ways ... i only lobed the episodes with Georgina, those were very fun but overall it was just pure propaganda

[@F.R.F937]

The Charmed reboot ... gosh, lets not even mention it, it was so gross, cheap, cringe ... couldnt finish season 1, stopped half way

[@jordanloux3883]

This is why I just stick to independent stuff. It might not always be gold but it'll always stick with me for being original.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Showing a child actor gracefully aging on screen is an impossible exercise. It’s not easy irl either. We all have roughly edited versions of growing up.

[@jadziawynter9241]

First! 🥇🏆

[@steve10]

I think most of TV went hardore woke , so no one wants to watch rubbish , every kind of franchise has been killed by preaching or forcefully pushing issues,, people are tired of it when you just want entertainment.

[@SukmyPikachu]

One day at a time was horrific written by Twitter than actual people.

[@arianex2575]

It’s v simple. WOKEISM, BAD SCRIPTWRITING AND PLOT DESIGN

[@Simbala-bq5vy]

it's not that simple and uhm no iCarly Revival doesn't have bad writing. And Wizards of Waverly place doesn't seem that diverse.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

​@@Simbala-bq5vyoriginal Wizards was already diverse. The family was half Hispanic. They seem to be trying to force it in the reboot

[@Simbala-bq5vy]

@@DavidMartinez-ce3lp Gosh who even fucking cares that they force diversity? I mean what difference does it make if they're just white people, or black, Asian, Hispanic, Latina and so on. Seriously, this is pathetic. Complaining that other races can also they're chances to be famous, that there's no hot women on a movie. Seriously I think the anti woke people are the problem here.

[@elgordo9525]

1:36 when we had all our hair.

[@Thesparten45]

Anyone got more information on the show clip being used at 1:56 ? i've tried all the google combinations i can with "Headline 1" and keywords and haven't gotten anything

[@LoverOfSesshy]

I think it's Heros Reborn: Dark Matter. I'm pretty sure "Headline 1" is a placeholder the editor forgot to change to the actual title.