Boy Meets Reboot

It is not uncommon for shows to use the summer break as a way to artificially move the dates on their program forwards. After all, trying to cram several season into what is only supposed to be a few months of a person's life can get rather tricky, as people still age at normal rates no matter how highly-rated a show they are on. Plus, it gives the writers freedom to start a few things over. For example, one offseason "Desperate Housewives" jumped their stories ahead five years to move the plot along and it appeared to be rather popular. Now it appears some shows are insisting their time lapses to be more natural. The other day the internet started buzzing with news the Disney Channel was planning to relaunch the popular early-90s show, "Boy Meets World." Now, I was never a big fan of this show when it was originally on, but apparently I was the only one. Bring it up to most people my age and they practically have a fit. Running from 1993-2000, it starred Ben Savage and followed his character Cory through the many trials and tribulations of adolescence. This new version, entitled "Girl Meets World" (they clearly spent a lot of time working on a title), would actually be about the now-grown Cory character's daughter. They were even able to rope the majority of the original cast into coming back to be part of the new show. (I know, I'm just as shocked as you are that they were available.) If this show becomes a hit it could very well mark the start of a trend.

The television reboot is quite popular at the moment. Just last year they brought back "Dallas" under a very similar principle - rather than focused on people like Patrick Duffy and Larry Hagman (RIP), the show is centered around the people playing their children. In some ways it makes a tremendous amount of sense. People are already familiar with the characters and the setting, so while you may have to spend an episode introducing new people, the script writers can spend the majority of their efforts into trying to move stories along, which is a huge advantage over a fresh show trying to introduce all-new people. Plus, you've got a built-in audience ready to go. If the internet buzz over "Girl Meets World" and the solid ratings of "Dallas" are any indication, there are plenty of people out there who would love to find out what some familiar characters have been up to. I'll tell you one thing - it appears to work a hell of a lot better than starting an entirely new show and simply giving it the same name as a once-famous show from a few decades ago ("Charlie's Angels" and "Knight Rider" spring to mind). With that concept in my head I did some thinking and came up with five shows they should think about rebooting in one form or another. All I ask in return is an executive producing credit.

Deadwood: The most recently-cancelled show on the list, HBO really should bring this program back. As an added bonus they never actually finished it the last time (the writers thought they were getting another season and wrote the storylines with that in mind, meaning there were lots of plots left open and a proposed two-hour movie to wrap everything up never happened). That means they can choose to either deal with all the stuff left unfinished or they could go in a totally different direction. Either way, I'm pretty sure most of their fans would come back as soon as they do.

Punky Brewster: Don't we all want to know how this eternally-optimistic orphan turned out? The show has been gone for so long you could actually take in any direction you wanted - Punky could have taken any number of careers and the show could even be a drama. It's pretty much a blank slate with infinite possibilities.

The Simpsons: Hear me out on this one. I am aware the show is still on the air, but I think even the most die-hard of Simpson fans would admit the show has lost its fastball in the last couple of years. With that in mind, why not finally age the characters a few years and be introduced to an entirely new world? Bart and Lisa could be in high school or even old enough to have their own kids. They have a done a few flash-forward episodes in the past and they seem to be fairly interesting, so why not fully take the plunge and explore those ideas more?

The Cosby Show: I know this show was on for a long time in its original run and has been around almost as long in syndication, which means it feels like it never went away. However, in reality the show has been gone for 20 years. I know that syndication deal also means all its stars have banked enough money they don't need to do it again. But, I'm fairly certain that actor's paychecks on a sitcom are bigger than residual checks and the Cosby kids didn't all cash in. I'm pretty sure they would be available to come back. Besides, we need to get Bill away from Twitter. Every now and again he goes a little too, "Get off my lawn!" for his own good.

Friends: I know what you're thinking - "These people are too famous to go back to that well." But, ask yourself - are they really? How many shows have Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and Courtney Cox had cancelled between them? I think it has to be close to double-digits. And when was the last time you actually saw David Schwimmer? Sure, he does a lot of voice-over work, but I hardly think it would keep him busy enough to turn down a return to network TV. The only hard get would be Jennifer Aniston, but she's one more box-office flop away from having to return to TV anyway. I'm telling you - they may have been sick of playing these characters a few years ago, but after 8 years of failing to stick in new roles, I bet most of them would relish the thought of getting a job they know is going to last for at least a couple of years - certainly more than anything they have worked on lately.