If you’ve enjoyed a piece of entertainment in the past few decades, and possibly even before, it’s almost guaranteed that the program or film you enjoyed will be subject to a remake/reboot. For example, the 1984 martial arts flick Karate Kid got a makeover in the 2018 spinoff series Cobra Kai, which focuses on the original film’s bad guy as the rivalries of his past come to the fore. The classic aerial ace masterpiece Top Gun recently released a legacy reboot, Top Gun: Maverick, which garnered a nostalgic audience base that propelled it to massive box office success. There will also soon be a Hulu original Hellraiser reboot.

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Though some remakes manage to recapture the magic of their source material or even improve upon it, there seems to be a consensus among media consumers that creatives have become too reliant on unoriginal content. An upcoming Hulu series titled Reboot will explore what happens when the dysfunctional cast of a classic sitcom gets the opportunity to reprise their roles. In the process, the show will likely lambast the very nature of remakes while simultaneously exploring possible ways of turning a familiar franchise into something new and exciting.

Here’s everything we know about the upcoming series Reboot.

Reboot: The Plot

Reboot is a meta-commentary about the nature of reanimating entertainment products. It will be a show about another show. When a group of creatives finds themselves fresh out of ideas, an intrepid producer decides to pitch a remake of the sitcom Step Right Up. It seems to have been a fairly standard family comedy, with all the overdramatic moral tales and painfully corny jokes it entails.

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However, a couple of facets are involved with the titular reboot that will make for incredibly compelling television. For starters, most of the original series cast are dysfunctional actors who will are just as likely to clash with their fellow castmates as they are to have an emotional breakdown. After the success of Step Right Up, the careers of these actors all went in different directions, so their success relative to one another will also be a potential source of drama.

Additionally, in early promotional materials for the show, it is shown that one of the producers responsible for the Step Right Up remake has little interest in sticking true to the spirit of the original program. In the initial series, producer Hannah explains in a trailer that the characters did everything right. She believes that in the spinoff, the characters should do everything wrong. This makes audiences wonder what would happen if a show with the family-friendly source material, likely comparable to programs like Full House, where to get a makeover in the style of an adult comedy like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Reboot: The Cast

     Hulu

In Reboot, the performers returning to their sitcom roles have achieved varying levels of success in their acting careers. However, in the real world, the show’s cast, from those who will portray actors to those who will represent the fictional series’ creative types, is absolutely stacked with world-class talent.

Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers) is Hannah, the producer who initially suggested that Step Right Up could be remade, and Paul Reiser (Aliens, Beverly Hills Cop) will portray the series’ head screenwriter, Jordan. The in-universe sitcom stars are Keegan-Michael Key, a comedic talent best known for the hit sketch show Key & Peele, as Reed Sterling, an actor who has struggled to establish himself as a serious talent since the sitcom’s run.

The cast also includes Jackass star Johnny Knoxville’s Clay Barber, Judy Greer (Archer, Arrested Development) as Bree Marie Larson (though Leslie Bibb was originally cast in the role), and Calum Worthy, the former real-life child star of Disney programs like Austin & Ally, as the permanently infantilized former child star Zack.

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It will be refreshing to see Reboot poke fun at the cultural obsession with nostalgic schlock in a contemporary entertainment landscape that has become increasingly saturated with remakes. While it’s fine to want to see your favorite characters returning to the screen, audiences will eventually demand original content. Ultimately, unfamiliar stories don’t line the pockets of Hollywood executives quite as well.

Ironically, it’s possible that the show within a show on Reboot will ultimately be a better piece of entertainment than actual remakes, as the fictional sitcom creators seem willing to change the original format of Step Right Up in order to make a more compelling series. With such a talented cast of characters, as well as a fascinating premise, there is no telling what types of hilarious hijinks will take place on Reboot.

Release Date

Reboot’s first episode will be available on Hulu on September 20, 2022.