TV Shows I Want to See Rebooted!

This was something that's been sitting in my mind for quite some time now; as we all know there is a fair number of reboots, remakes, spin-offs, adaptations, or even different takes on a certain program over the years, sometimes their not as good as the original source material, other times there even better than the originals, and of course there are time where they turned flat out garbage.


So given the circumstances, I've been asking myself... what tv shows do I personally want to see rebooted, and how would they be handled?! That's why I'm tackling this personal trilemma, I'm gonna be listing off my own list of tv shows that I want to see re-invented, and what direction they could go with it.

1. PaleoWorld - For me, and a lot of kids and even older audiences back in the 90s, Paleoworld was a running documentary series on TLC (The Learning Channel) and Discovery Channel that really sparked intrigue in people's understanding of paleontology, educating the audience on prehistoric life through artistic reconstructions, as well as segments interviewing some of the best paleontologists of it's time, if not in history, like Robert Bakker. Bare in mind, this was before the use of CGI, particularly like in Walking with Dinosaurs, yet this series managed to captivate the minds of it's audience through it's artwork, animatronics, a soothing musical melody, and some pretty comforting narration.

Mind in during 4th season they did jazz it up a bit with adding more music, and a new narrator who sounds like Mr. DNA from Jurassic Park, right down to pronouncing dinosaurs as "Din-A-Sars" though I personally didn't mind it as long as it was still entertaining.

Anyway as it stands, we need more paleodocumentaries, and personally I think a long running series like Paleoworld would be more adequate, educating newer audiences with new information on prehistoric life, some of which we may turned out wrong about before. And if they decide to include CGI, I'd be fine with that as long as it looks good and is integrated well.


2. Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of The Dark - (this is technically two parter) Growing up as a kid of the late 90s and early 2000s, R.L. Stine held a place in my childhood as a pioneer in writing horror stories for children, which in turn was adapted into an anthology, kind of like Tales from The Crypt but for a younger crowd. It was a novel approach and serves as a source of inspiration for a good number of people who want to write similar scary stories for children.

Then of course there was Are you Afraid of the Dark, a similar children's horror anthology series, but one that was an original series not based on any book, and with a group of recurring characters who serve as the host to start the main story, similar to The Cryptkeeper. It may be coincidental mind you that they are both similar to some degree, even having some of the same actors cross into one another, but they do have their differences--

For one, AYAOTD was filmed in this almost soap-opera style cinematography, and would even have special guests like Gilbert Godfried, Ryan Gosling, Bobcat Goldthwait, the Mowry Twins, Jason Marsden, Will Friedle, and Jewel Staite; and it had limited use for effects, while Goosgumps on the other hand did not have a host or any recurring characters or special guests, but did have more standard cinematography and more practical effects.

But there was one major thing however these two shows did have in common-- They weren't Scary! Don't get me wrong, both of these shows were creative and they did have a lot of scary ideas, but for the most part they weren't really scary; even as a kid I was asking myself "Okay, where's the scary stuff? Sure there are some things that are legitimately creepy and spooky, but where's the real scares? Where's the actual stuff of nightmares that will keep me up at night?!" It also didn't help that most of the characters in both of these shows felt more like stereotypes than actual characters, especially for the 90s.

That's why I'd like see a reboot of either of these shows, or at least a reboot of AYAOTD, with a new cast, and a remake of the original ghostbusters with much better effects, and better written characters, and new stories or new takes on original stories with material that is actually scary. Maybe not run away screaming scary, but still settling the right mood that builds up for the actual scares and how it integrates with how the characters behave. Even extra kudos if either or both of these shows are animated, but that's just me personally.


3. Beetlejuice - Again another 90's shows, with a dark and weird aesthetic, this time based on a movie by Tim Burton. Granted it's not exactly the same as the original film, but personally I think it's even better than the film! Every episode with every strange adventure this then new take BJ and Lydia Deetz go on was bizzarely fun and intriguing; the style of character art and animation was good to, and even extra kudos to the voice acting, particularly to the title character himself. (who idly enough also voiced Pompadour from Babar) This is something I'd like to see revamped, and see what new strange adventures they could go with and maybe even try new things with the characters to give more complexity. I'd prefer if it were still animated hand-drawn, but I wouldn't mind if they go with a different art style; I for one could see Jeff Matsuda's character art working just fine looking back at The Batman, in fact I'd love for Kevin Michael Richardson, who also voiced Joker, to lend a similar performance to BJ if produced with a Los Angeles based cast.


4. TaleSpin - With the praise of the new Ducktales series, I think another Disney Afternoon series that deserves a reboot (other than Darkwing Duck of course) is TaleSpin. A series based on The Jungle Book... to some extent. Yeah I never understood their approach to adapting The Jungle Book and turning it into an aviation adventure show, but apparently it worked, people loved the show for this new direction and the new character dynamics. (even though they only included three characters from the original movie) So I wouldn't mind this of all things getting a reboot, and considering the subtle nods to this series in the Ducktales reboot, I wouldn't mind if both of these shows are in the same canon, and maybe even have a character from either show guest starring in either or. One thing I probably would want to see is more Jungle Book, characters, if not Mowgli, at least include Hathi, The Vultures, Bagheera, and even Kaa. Heck I'd actually like to see Kaa as Sheer Khans Secretary, and wearing a suit with bionic arms and legs... how cool would that be?! And of course they'd probably have to re-invent some characters from the show like Don Carnage, or Molly who basically seemed like a clone of Webby from the original Ducktales. As for new voice actors, I'd like to see Fred Tatasciore voicing Baloo, and Troy Baker as Sheer Khan, impersonating Tony Jay's attitude, and at least get Jim Cummings to reprise for Louie, though for an alternative I could see Nolan North being a close fit for the glove.


5. Animorphs - This one is would be a bit tricky, because for a lack of better ways to describe, Animorphs is both behind and ahead of it's time. Animorphs was a show based on the young adult novel series that ran on Ytv and Nickelodeon; the original story wasn't too adult or inappropriate for younger kids mind you, it did tackle some pretty heavy themes like war, sanity, morality, innocence, sanity, personal freedom and identity, as well as growing up, something that's made a little more for older teen readers; but the show dialed those themes down to a degree and doesn't quite have the same depth. Don't get me wrong, I liked this show, and for it's time I thought it was very well written and creative, but again it is watered down compared to the book... and it also doesn't help that the action, cinematography, and especially the use of animal effects were subpar and not all impressive.

This is something I do want to see rebooted, with better camera work, and more depth to the characters and their own personal stories, better action, as well as more practical use of the aliens and the animals. Even extra kudos if it were animated since there'd be more to get away with, but even if they decide to do it in live-action again, then by all means, we have CGI, so incorporate cgi animals and alien characters, and bring in some animatronics while you're at it; and if not Nickelodeon, Netflix can always provide the budget necessary for those effects.

So yeah nowadays a tv series can be better handled... unfortunetely while the show was behind it's time, the original story was a product of it's time as well, this was a story that was made not just in the 90s but for the 90s, so trying to reinvent K.A. Applegat's stories for this day and age may be a bit of a challenge. But then again, that's the whole point of a reboot, if the original creator approves of course, I for one think you can certainly try and take special liberties to enhance the story you want to adapt.


6. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - This is something I'm surprised hasn't been taken advantage of often, much like My Little Pony, and Transformers, He-Man was an animated series based on the toy line of the same name, and even as a minor product it still holds significance in popular culture in terms of it's aesthetics and creativity. There was one attempt to reboot the series in 2002... but it did not hold well. It had a lot of good ideas though, but they weren't properly executed, hence it stands as wasted potential, and no one seemed to try to revamp the series since. Personally I would like to see a completely new He-Man series, given how successful MLP Friendship is Magic has been with the franchises's own praise despite it's own past of ridicule, I can see a new He-Man series working just as well if done right. One thing I'd personally like to see is some equal balance for the female characters, making them strong and independent, but still possessing feminine quality, similar to AppleJack or Rainbow Dash. (watch SilverQuill's video on Rainbow Dash and the Amazon Archetype and you'll see what I mean)


7. BraveStarr - For it's time, BraveStarr actually set a new record in storytelling and character complexity, mind you it wasn't exactly a pioneer in more serialized storytelling in animated kids shows like some later shows but the starting point was there. One such episode I can think of is "The Fallen Idol" in which the title character had to confront his mentor who went rogue and flat out murdered someone. Yeah, murder in an 80's kids show! So with that said I'd like to see a reboot of this, show, starting with the origin of the character, building his relation with friends and his enemies, and an art style similar to Phil Bourassa of Young Justice fame. One actor who I think could work well for Marshall BraveStarr's voice, would be Travis Willingham.


8. Jem - Now this show, really did serve as a founding pioneer in storytelling and characterization in children's television. Jem was a show aimed for young girls, but has since gained praise among audiences of all genders, ages, and walks of life; (similar to another toy-based show I know) and like Steven Universe it din't try to dumb down any heavy topics or any drama when it came it's more serialized story telling, and it's legacy is still praised to it's day, with SU partly being inspired by it. Yes there was the failure of the live-action movie, and some better, but still less than stellar results from the IDW comic that came around the same time, but I'd still love for reboot of this series, and it would be cool to see new themes the show could tackle, similar to the topics explored in MLP and SU. And after hearing Laura Bailey having the opportunity to voice the title character in a Honda commercial, I wouldn't mind seeing her play the part again for a series.


9. G.I. Joe - It's really something to say, GI Joe did not have a of animated shows, particularly when compared to Transformers and even My Little Pony. The last series in the franchise we saw was Renegades, was unfortunately only one for one reason and left it on a cliffhanger. So by all means, we should give Joe another chance to shine! Of course nowadays it would be tricky to make an animated children's show about an advanced military waging war on terrorism since well... you can pretty much guess, but if done right it can still make for a solid pass. For my take I'd like to see a similar hero/villain dynamic like in Avatar; both The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra, where both sides are right and both sides are wrong, and the villains in particular are just as human in their own right as the heroes. There could be new social and political topics this new series could handle, they may even have situations where GI Joe and Cobra must collaborate to apprehend an even larger threat. Nothing too adult, but still a little more mature in terms of borrowing more thematic elements.


So guys, there is my list of shows that I want to see rebooted, do you agree with me, do you not, or if you have ideas of your own, feel free to make your own list sometime for us to read. (though probably not in the comment section)