You would have to be living under a rock to not notice all of the '90’s reboots popping up. It seems like everywhere you look a show from 20 years ago is crawling up out of the grave and making its way onto primetime television again. And I’m totally down, I think its super fun to remember the good old days of 90’s popular media.
There’s just one snag: the people in charge of what gets a second shot in 2016 isn’t doing a very good job (I’m looking at you Girl Meets World and Fuller House). But I’m not writing this article to bash the horrible missteps of this '90’s nostalgia era, but rather, offer some friendly advice on what should be going on air. Because, I mean, if we’re going to be spending our time watching the stuff we watched 20 years ago it might as well be the good stuff:
1. In Living Color
How has this seriously not come back yet? Am I the only one who is deeply disturbed that this comedy gold mine hasn’t been tapped?
For those of you who do not know, In Living Color was a sketch comedy show created by the Wayans family (the guys who brought you Scary Movie and White Chicks). It was kind of like Saturday Night Live except exponentially more diverse and a lot funnier (in my opinion).
This show did more than just show how ridiculous society acted, it was totally ahead of its time. It showed no mercy when it came to making fun of people and the stupid things they did. It talked about racism and sexism openly. It promoted new talent and kept its cast fresh and new. It was a great flippin’ show!
I can just imagine the stuff they would pull off with everything that is going on right now—the 2016 election, police shootings, Brock Turner—it would literally be the best show in television. Not only that but they had a dynamite cast: Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey and Jennifer Lopez got their starts there just to name a few of the people. And who doesn’t want to see Jamie Foxx and Jim Carrey being funny together?? Crazy people.
2. Roseanne
This has potential for turning into something like Fuller House but if they did it well it would totally work.
The show is basically just about an average family – the Conner family – living in the Midwest and just dealing with everyday family stuff. It sounds kind of basic but that was the best part of the show. They were just so ordinary. None of them were super model beautiful, they looked just like everyone else. They had relatable problems that wouldn’t always get solved in a matter of 30 minutes.
The best part about the show was that the fact that they were pretty average, a bit overweight and not filthy rich wasn’t the punch line to a joke, but rather just an underlying fact that wasn’t really addressed much.
I worry that young adults and kids who watch shows like “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” will think that that is the way their family is supposed to look and act. They all need to be super rich and sassy and gorgeous. But the truth is most families are just like the Conners – normal and happy just the way they are.
Pretty much every family can identify to the one in “Roseanne.”
3. Family Matter
This is another show that has so much potential to be good in 2016.
“Family Matters” was a show about the Winslow family. The show ran for a whopping 9 seasons and is the second longest running television show with a predominately black cast, coming in right behind the ground-breaking show “The Jeffersons.”
Like “The Jeffersons,” “Family Matters” depicts an upper-middleclass black family. Carl Winslow is a police officer in Chicago, Illinois who lives with his wife Harriet and their three children. But the most famous character from the show is probably Steve Urkel, the nerdy, suspender-wearing neighbor that always seems to being hanging around. The show is similar to Roseanne in that it covers a pretty average American family, just living their lives. Their problems were relatable for the most part (Urkel had some funky inventions – remember the time he made a machine that would make him not nerdy?)
The Winslow family was just so endearing, and I think that would stand the test of time if they were brought back to television. And, honestly, the main reason I would like “Family Matters” to come back is so I can see exactly what they would do with it. It would be so cool to see all of them grown up, doing their thing.
My one request is that Urkel and the oldest Winslow daughter, Laura, get married.
4. The Nanny
This show could also morph into a Fuller House- type situation if the people in charge weren’t careful. But Fran Drescher is so darn funny I think it’s worth the risk.
The Nanny is like a sassy version of The Sound Music minus the communal singing and four of the children. Fran’s this funny and brutally honest makeup saleswoman from Queens who happens upon the wealthy widower Winslow and his three children and then serendipitously becomes their live-in nanny. Like a loud, hilarious version Maria and Captain Von Trapp, Fran and Mr. Winslow fall in love.
The show has so much potential to do really well. Plus, I’m a sucker for the sassy British butler who lives with them.
5. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Once again I am shocked no one has picked this show up and run with it! Even today if you say “Fresh Prince” there is always that one person who will recite the entire theme song and not shut up until the whole thing is done. There are shirts with the song written on the back of it! (IU kids you know what I’m talking about).
Plus it’s Will Smith! Who doesn’t love a few hours of Will Smith? Plus, I would kill to see him walking around in those outfits again.
All of the characters, not just Will Smith’s, were great and super unique. My favorite character was Uncle Phil. I just feel like he would always have your back and he would give great hugs. Another standout was the family’s butler Geoffrey because, like I said, I’m a sucker for sassy British butlers.
I think the reason this show did so well and has the potential to do so well is because the whole family was so great. They all had their problems but they loved each other so much. Not only that but they were always learning from each other.
So please TV show people, if nothing else, bring this one back because it would do so well!
6. Will and Grace
Will and Grace, in my opinion, was one of the best shows that came out of the ‘90’s and I think with some tweaking it could do really well.
The show is about Will, a gay lawyer who lives with his best friend from college Grace. They also have two best friends: super-sexy and insanely mean Karen and adorable wannabe-actor Jack. The show was pretty controversial at the time because it was a show with two gay men. Few people thought it would be very successful because it was a show about a man and a woman who had absolutely no sexual attraction. However, it did ridiculously well.
To be done right the show would have to make some tweaks though. One of the show’s other main criticisms was that it relied too much on gay stereotypes when it should have been breaking them down. For the most part, I agree with this so I think rebooting could be a great way of changing that vibe up a little bit. I think if writers develop it with 2016 lenses on, the show could be amazingly good.
The main reason this show is so great is because there is so much love in it. None of the characters really have family (I mean they do but you barely see them) so the four of them are basically family. Not only do they love each other but they accept one another so openly. They are all so weird in their own way but they all just kind of go with it and embrace each other’s weirdness. People in 2016 aren’t any less weird than they were in 1998 so the message could still resonate with a lot of people.