What a clever show Reboot is! Tackling a reboot but kind of behind the scenes – a fresh take!
In the first season (of hopefully many more) of this freshman comedy on Hulu, the show gives us meta, and many, laughs. Hannah comes in to pitch to Hulu to reboot beloved network sitcom Step Right Up, but since it’ll be on a streamer and it’s fifteen years later, they can take a lot more swings. Think of all the shows that have been reintroduced in the past decade. Hell, some shows that are being rebooted haven’t even been off the air for that long! Anyways, the show gets greenlit, and Hannah is taking some cool directions which is why the original cast agrees to come back. They all have their issues with each other, but I love how this gang of misfits interacts with one another. Of course, all of that is in jeopardy when the original creator, Gordon, decides he wants back in.
It’s made especially more awkward when you learn that Gordon is Hannah’s dad, and the original sitcom is loosely based on the “good” parts of his life. Luckily, the two find some common ground quickly, but there will always be issues to work through. Speaking of issues, it’s clear leads Bree and Reed have unresolved feelings for each other, but they spend most of the first season dancing around them. We see Clay start taking some accountability for himself and really embracing this second chance, while we see Zach awkwardly go from kid actor to “adulthood.” I also really love how many behind-the-scenes people we get to see come front and center in this show. The writers room scenes are some of the funniest in the show.
I was looking for a light, half hour comedy, and even though I never watched creator Steve Levitan’s other hits like Just Shoot Me or Modern Family, I was taken by this show from the second I saw the trailer. It definitely helped that it made me laugh, but the immediate selling point was the cast. Did I ever think I’d see Judy Greer, Johnny Knoxville, Calum Worthy, Keegan-Michael Key, Rachel Bloom, and Paul Reiser work together in any capacity? No! But they did here and I love it. All of their interactions work on a level that I cannot explain. I did catch an interview where Knoxville compared the sitcom to that of Full House except you get to see all the not nice behind the scenes parts and I loved that. Levitan also credits all the chaos that was happening behind the scenes on the Rosanne (now The Conners) reboot as inspiration for the story we all get to see.
If you’re looking for some quick and quality viewing, look no further than Hulu’s very meta comedy aptly titled Reboot. I hope we get a second season soon!