An Endless Cycle of Reboots
A few days ago I read the news that the television series Frasier would be returning to screens along with Rugrats. My first reaction wasn’t excitement, but rather resignation.
You see, I was a fan of Frasier back when it originally aired. I thought it was well written and the characters were funny. I enjoyed it and was sad to see it go when it stopped airing. But at no point did I long for it to return. I moved on to new shows and new characters and my tastes changed and evolved over the years.
So, when I hear that the show is coming back, along with many others, I feel as though the state of television is stagnating rather than improving. TV station execs seem obsessed with cashing in on the current wave of nostalgia that seems to be prevalent in the rather rough times of 2020 and 2021. I, myself am not immune. I’ve been watching and enjoying scores of movies from the 80s and 90s and revelling in the nostalgia as a means of coping with a difficult time.
But I do feel that at some point our fond memories of the characters and stories we grew up with will be diminished with reboots and returns. The writing won’t be as good as we remember it. The characters will seem less hilarious or relatable once we remove our nostalgia filters, simply because we remember these shows and characters in a far more positive light than they actually were.
Sometimes things are better left to our memories and nostalgia, rather than returning them from the dead like some sort of Frankensteins’ monster that destroys our fondness and love for the characters and shows we grew up with.
I’m publishing this as part of 100 Days To Offload. You can join in yourself by visiting https://100daystooffload.com.