More often than not, when a TV show is given the reboot treatment, the results (like many remakes) are often less-than-stellar; it can be quite a challenge to capture the magic of the original program. Despite already having a built-in fanbase, it can be difficult to stay true to viewers while also providing a fresh and unique take on the content. When crafted right, these remakes or reboots have the ability to captivate and inspire a new generation of audiences, bringing glory to the original once more. Whether these adaptations aim to correct a mistake of the first installment or completely re-imagine the concept of the show, remakes are becoming a popular trend on both the big and small screens.
Revisiting past programs does not automatically mean that they'll be home runs with audiences; Murphy Brown was an adored sitcom with a reboot that failed to resonate with viewers and its revival was canceled after one season. Melrose Place was a juicy ‘90s soap opera that captivated fans, but its lackluster re-imagining just didn’t hit the same note. These minor failures haven’t hindered the resurgence in popularity of remakes and reboots. Twin Peaks made a return and garnered widespread critical acclaim after the original was canceled 25 years prior, while the new “Fab Five” guys from Queer Eye are inspiring and entertaining a new generation of fans. It's obviously possible to do a good reboot or remake, so let's look at the best reboots of canceled TV shows.
Updated on August 12th, 2023, by Ted Bajer: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.
15 One Day at a Time
4 Seasons
The 1975 CBS series One Day at a Time starred Bonnie Franklin as a divorced mother raising two teenage daughters, portrayed by Mackenzie Phillips and Valerie Bertinelli. The successful series was based on co-creator Whitney Blake’s own life as a single mother and ran for nine seasons and over 200 episodes. When Netflix decided to reboot the popular show in 2017, they had it revolve around a Cuban-American family living in Los Angeles and details a single mother who is an Army veteran coping with PTSD.
The remake focuses on important issues like mental health, racism, homophobia, and immigration, and features an ensemble cast including the great Rita Moreno, Justina Machado, and Isabella Gomez. One Day at a Time garnered critical acclaim upon its release, with specific praise for its cast and writing; Newsday wrote, “There’s also a deep emotional core here which refuses to be devalued by the typical (or tired) beat of a multi-camera sitcom.” The show was canceled after three seasons before being picked up by Pop Network for a final fourth, cut short by COVID.
14 Battlestar Galactica
4 Seasons
The sci-fi television series Battlestar Galactica debuted on ABC in 1978, following a group of surviving humans after a war with the Cylons who flee in the titular ship in search of a new home. Though it was a ratings success for the network, the show was canceled due to its expensive production costs and gradual decline in viewership. The gone-too-soon series was first re-imagined with a three-hour miniseries in 2003 before being picked by the Sci-Fi Channel the following year for a full-fledged TV remake.
Battlestar Galactica adopts the premise of the original and focuses on the crew of the Galactica under the leadership of Colonial Fleet Officer Commander Bill Adama (Edward James Olmos) and President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell). The sci-fi show ran for four seasons, receiving the Peabody Award and the Television Critics Association’s Program of the Year Award, and is considered one of the greatest sci-fi shows of all time. Its success has led to NBC (and Peacock) adapting yet another reboot.
13 The Conners
5 Seasons
Roseanne Barr co-created and starred in the mega-hit sitcom Roseanne, which centers on the American working-class Conner family as they thrive and survive in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois. During its initial nine-season run, the series was a knockout with viewers, and its engaging leads like Barr and John Goodman went on to win Golden Globe Awards for their performances. The show was briefly (and successfully) revived in 2018, attracting over 18 million viewers with its debut return, but was once again canceled following Barr’s offensive comments.
ABC decided to retool the program without Barr, with a spin-off show renamed The Conners. The comedy sitcom doesn’t appear to have slowed down despite the controversy, as it is currently in its fourth successful season. Salon commended the spin-off, writing, “The Conners is much more like the original Roseanne than the revival in spirit, in that the series interacts with hot button issues like race, class, gender identity and sexual orientation with empathy and realism.”
12 Hawaii Five-O
10 Seasons
“Book ‘em, Danno!” The 1968 police procedural drama Hawaii Five-O famously focuses on Detective Captain Stephen “Steve” McGarrett, who leads the special state police task force in Hawaii that was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law following World War II. When the show completed its run after 12 seasons in 1980, it was the longest-running police drama in American television history. Hawaii Five-O received the modern reboot treatment in 2010.
It returned with Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan as the constantly bickering and always exciting partners McGarrett and Danny “Danno” Williams. The adaptation is full of thrilling action, hilarious hijinks, and endearing character bonds that both fans and critics genuinely appreciated and enjoyed watching. AV Club praised the reboot’s debut: “Everything any TV viewer could want in a time-waster. No one’s going to mistake it for profound television, but it accomplishes something almost more rare: It becomes exquisitely paced, indelibly fun television."
11 Fuller House
5 Seasons
The beloved hit sitcom Full House ran from 1987 to 1995, introducing the world to the Olsen twins, John Stamos’ swoon-worthy Uncle Jesse, and famous phrases like “You got it dude” and “Cut it out!” The ABC series followed widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists the help of his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and best friend Joey Gladstone to help raise his three daughters. The show was known as “The Brady Bunch of the 1990s” and its cancellation after seven seasons upset fans of the feel-good show, featuring the late, great Bob Saget.
21 years later, the Tanners found new life when it was revived by the streaming giant Netflix as Fuller House, this time focused on an all-grown-up D.J. as she navigates being a widow herself, and raising her three children with her sister Stephanie and best friend Kimmy Gibbler. To the delight of audiences, most of the original series ensemble reprised their roles and appeared in the reboot. Despite a lackluster response from critics, fans couldn’t get enough of the nostalgia-fueled show and Fuller House ran for five seasons.
10 The Wonder Years
2 Seasons
The coming-of-age citation comedy sitcom The Wonder Years was a cherished television series that starred Fred Savage as Kevin Arnold, a teenager growing up in a suburban middle-class family in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The original comedy ran for six seasons, winning Emmy Awards and the Peabody Award in 1989. The Wonder Years went on to become a classic among fans and critics and a reboot debuted in 2021, this time centering on the Black middle-class Williams family in Montgomery, Alabama in the late 1960s.
Crew members revealed that the new show will tackle major events from 1968, including the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and racial tensions during the time. Fans and critics flocked to the remake of The Wonder Years, and The Hollywood Reporter wrote that “the series manages to invoke nostalgia for bygone days while also remaining relatively clear-eyed about the challenges of that period…and it accomplishes this while delivering cozy appeal of the best family sitcoms.”
9 Twin Peaks: The Return
1 Season
Mark Frost and David Lynch created the 1990 mystery-horror serial drama Twin Peaks, which stars Kyle MacLachlan as an idiosyncratic FBI agent who arrives in the fictional titular town to investigate the murder of a homecoming queen. The series ran for two seasons before being unceremoniously canceled, yet despite its short-lived reign Twin Peaks is frequently listed as a landmark turning point in television drama.
Following a hiatus of over 25 years, the series returned in 2017 for a third season on Showtime with MacLachlan, Frost, and Lynch all returning for the revival. Twin Peaks: The Return once again follows FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper as he remains trapped in the Black Lodge and prepares to return to the world. The season was heralded by critics, with praise for its unconventional structure and narrative, powerful performances, and stunning visuals.
8 Doctor Who
13 Seasons
Doctor Who is the longest-running sci-fi series in television history, having made its BBC debut in 1963 depicting the adventures of a Time Lord known as the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. After 26 seasons, the original show said goodbye to audiences in 1989, and an attempt to revive it in the 1990s proved to be a failure. It wasn’t until the program was relaunched by Russell T. Davies in 2005 that fans were properly reintroduced to the adored sci-fi classic.
Many outstanding and gifted actors have portrayed the famous Doctor, such as David Tennant, Matt Smith, and Peter Capaldi. The series is currently going strong, and Jodie Whittaker has starred as the Thirteenth Doctor since 2017 before the latest regeneration. On Whittaker nabbing the monumental role, showrunner Chris Chibnall said, “I always knew I wanted the Thirteenth Doctor to be a woman and we’re thrilled to have secured our number one choice. Her audition for The Doctor simply blew us all away.”
7 Queer Eye
7 Seasons
A reboot of Bravo's eponymous series, 2018’s Netflix reality show Queer Eye features a new and endearing “Fab Five”: Antoni Porowski, a wine and food expert; Karamo Brown, culture expert; Jonathan Van Ness, a grooming expert; Bobby Berk, design expert; and Tan France, fashion expert. Like the original series, each episode sees the “Fab Five” helping out an individual by applying their expertise to improve the contestant’s lifestyle and overall self-confidence.
The Emmy-winning program has been praised for its strong representation of the LGBTQ+ community and has received consistently positive reviews from critics, with its most recent fifth season currently holding a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 100%. Queer Eye is a feel-good show that motivates and inspires viewers to better themselves and has proven to be just as if not more successful than the original Bravo program.
6 Futurama
8 Seasons and counting
Futurama has a storied history. And it's just been rebooted again! Having been recreated in several iterations and re-released on several different platforms, Futurama might be one of the most popular shows that has been canceled and brought back the greatest number of times. It was originally released on Fox, where it lasted for four seasons.
The show was then brought back in the form of four straight-to-DVD movies that were often played on daytime television. After that, Comedy Central picked up the series for another set of seasons until the show ended yet again in 2013. Now Disney+ has just revived the retro-futuristic adult cartoon, bringing it back to viewers for yet another lifetime. Only time will tell how long this one will last.
5 That '90s Show
1 Season
Just remade this year, this new spinoff of That 70s Show gives everyone a double dose of nostalgia. This version of the show unites a new generation of young actors with many of the stars of the old show. Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp reprise their roles as Red and Kitty, making the show heavily reminiscent of its previous incarnation.
And just about the entire cast of the old show comes back for at least one cameo. That 70s Show tried to spin off once before, inventing That 80s Show while the first one was still running. But the ill-conceived attempt to age the show with its audience failed, only lasting one season. That 90s Show premiered to generally positive reviews, enjoyed by viewers new and old alike.
4 Community
6 Seasons
The beginning of Dan Harmon's faithful cult, Community ran on NBC for five seasons. The show became incredibly popular with a relatively small, but devoted audience. The show lost viewership during the fourth season when producers at NBC forced out Harmon for someone else.
Fans call it "the gas leak year." The show never really recovered in its fifth season when it was dropped by the network. But the college comedy was picked up for one final sixth season by the short-lived streaming service Yahoo! Screen. Fans of Community are still hopeful for more due to the show's own premonition of #SixSeasonsAndAMovie. And it looks like a Community movie might be on the horizon.
3 Arrested Development
5 Seasons
A hilarious, but underperforming show, Arrested Development originally aired on Fox in 2003 and survived for three seasons. When Netflix began to get their feet underneath them as a streaming company, they reunited the cast seven years later for a fourth season.
This revival was more like one big story told in 15 parts, each focusing on a different character from the series. Then, five years after that, Netflix released a fifth season in two 8-episode stretches. The Emmy award-winning series was reasonably popular. And the pilot was famously directed by the Russo Brothers who would later go on to direct many films in Marvel's Infinity Saga.
2 Beavis and Butt-Head
2 Seasons
Beavis and Butt-Head took the crowning place in MTV's lineup of adult cartoons. It was one of Mike Judge's most popular series in the expansive list of cartoons he created. Running for seven seasons between 1993 and 1997, Beavis and Butt-Head was one of the defining shows of the 90s and helped to paint an absurd picture of what it meant to be a 90s kid.
The theatrical film, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America premiered in 1996. The show returned in 2011 for a single season only to be canceled again. Then, in 2022, Paramount+ picked up the series and began releasing more episodes of Beavis and Butt-Head following a second feature film Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe.
1 Family Guy
22 Seasons
Probably the biggest success story for any rebooted TV show, Fox had originally canceled Family Guy after three seasons. Not a single new episode aired for three years, but due to a surprising amount of DVD sales, Fox decided to put Seth MacFarlane's famous show back on.
In true Family Guy fashion, Peter Griffin broke the fourth wall and opened the first episode of their fourth season by telling his cartoon family they had been canceled. He then proceeded to individually list all of the 29 shows that Fox had canceled while Family Guy was off the air. He finished his list by saying, "But if all of those shows don't make it we might have a shot!" Family Guy has since been on for an additional 18 seasons with no end in sight.