5 Female-Led TV Reboots We’re Actually Looking Forward To
Welcome to the era of the reboot, where every revival announcement is met with excitement, backlash and skepticism. Here’s what we’ve learned so far: we don’t need Hollywood to revisit all its former glories (ahem, Roseanne), but there are some shows that have surprising relevancy in 2018 (hi, Queer Eye!). Which late 90s and early aught female characters could we realistically see hanging out with the heroins of Handmaid’s Tale and badass girls of GLOW? Here are five feminist reboots coming to primetime and streaming that we actually support—and that we really hope live up to the hype.
THE ORIGINAL: Sabrina the Teenage Witch, starring Melissa Joan Hart as an American teenager with magical powers, originally aired on ABC from September 27, 1996 to April 24, 2003.
THE REBOOT: Sabrina is heading to Netflix with Mad Men’s Kiernan Shipka as its broom-straddling star. The reboot has, of course, been rebranded for the millennial binge-watcher: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is less family-friendly sitcom, and more “dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult and, of course, witchcraft.”
Charmed
THE ORIGINAL: Charmed originally aired on the CW Network between October 7, 1998 to May 21, 2006, with Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano and Shannen Doherty (who, *spoiler*, gets replaced by Rose McGowan when she dies at the end of season three.)
THE REBOOT: Primetime’s favourite trio of witch sisters is coming back to the CW, and this time, they’re making them “feminists.” (How does the OG cast feel about this reimagining? Holly Marie Combs tweeted: “Guess we forgot to do that the first go around. Hmph.”)
Here’s a preview of the second-gen “Power of Three”: the youngest sister is desperately trying to join her campus sorority, the middle is a lesbian activist and the eldest is a genius geneticist who also happens to be half-black. Charmed 2.0 was written by Jane the Virgin’s Jessica O’Toole and Amy Rardin, so we have high hopes that it will deliver on its promise to hex the patriarchy.
In Canada, Charmed will premiere October 14, 2018 at 9 E/P on the W Network.
Murphy Brown
THE ORIGINAL: The original Murphy Brown aired from November 14, 1988 to May 18, 1998 on CBS, with Candice Bergen as its lead.
THE REBOOT: Candice Bergen is reprising her role as the series’ titular character of the award-winning sitcom, with cast members Nik Dodani, Faith Ford, Joe Regalbuto and Grant Shaud confirmed to also appear in the new episodes. Murphy Brown will once again follow a team of investigative journalists working for a broadcast news station, and this time around, showrunners say it will focus on “a world of cable news, social media, fake news, and a very different political and cultural climate.”
Murphy Brown will premiere September 27, 2018 at 9:30 E/P on CBS.
THE ORIGINAL: The Sarah Michelle Gellar-led Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series that aired on the WB Network between March 10, 1997 to May 20, 2003 was actually itself a reboot. The series was based on the 1992 film of the same title, which starred Kristy Swanson.
THE REBOOT: At the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con, news began circulating that a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot was on its way. Series creator Joss Whedon was announced as an executive producer, with writer Monica Owusu-Breen, best known for Alias and Lost, acting as the new showrunner. When The Hollywood Reporter broke the story, they wrote that the series “features a black actress stepping into the role of Buffy made famous by [Michelle] Gellar.” This statement, which ignited mixed reviews, was later clarified by Owusu-Breen:
— monicaowusubreen (@monicabreen) July 26, 2018
The specifics about the reboot have kept under wraps, though it’s reported that the show will tackle modern social issues—just as the original series did back in the ’90s.
The series is currently in development at 20th Century Fox Television, but it is not yet known when and where it will air.
Veronica Mars
THE ORIGINAL: Veronica Mars aired on the CW between September 22, 2004 to May 22, 2007 with Kristen Bell as its eponymous lead character.
THE REBOOT: Surprise! On August 21, Entertainment Weekly reported that a reboot of the fan favourite mystery series has actually been in the works for the past several months, and is set to return on Hulu. Many of the details are yet to be finalized, however its been revealed that the series’ creator, Rob Thomas, and its star, Kristen Bell, are both on board.
The Veronica Mars reboot will be released on Hulu, though we don’t yet know when.
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