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Hollywood loves a reboot of a classic title. Many classic films and television shows have been revived in the past decade to varying degrees of success. Some like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina have sought to take these familiar characters in new and unique directions from their original counterparts. Others like Girl Meets World and Fuller House have stuck to updating the concept for a modern audience without necessarily reinventing the wheel. This latest comedic series is a meta take on the idea. Reboot is an original series from Steve Levitan, the creator of the television comedy series Modern Family. The series takes a meta approach to the whole fad of rebooting. The Hulu comedy is a comedy about Hulu rebooting a comedy.
Okay, that might seem a bit confusing of a premise to think about, but the premise speaks to the currently oversaturated market of sitcom reboots. In some ways, Hulu is making fun of itself with this newest comedy. Here's everything we know about Reboot.
What Is Reboot About?
The official synopsis for Reboot reads as follows:
When Hulu reboots an early 2000s family sitcom, its dysfunctional cast is forced back together and now must deal with their unresolved issues in today's fast-changing world.
When Is the Release Date of Reboot?
Hulu’s Reboot premieres on September 20, 2022.
Watch the Reboot Trailer
The trailer for Reboot was released on August 23, 2022. It gives us some glimpses into the shenanigans of the series. The trailer begins with emerging writer Hannah (Rachel Bloom) in a pitching meeting with Hulu. During the meeting, she mentions that she has an idea to reboot the fictional hit sitcom Step Right Up! with the original cast. With a theme song that screams of classic sitcoms like Full House, some execs are incredulous, but Elaine (Krista Marie Yu) sees potential in the series and looks up where the original cast members are now. Each of them has gone their separate ways but they have all been largely unsuccessful since the ending of the series. The show goes into production and as one might guess, there is some trouble on set. We learn that two of the actors have an awkward romantic history. We are also introduced to Gordon (Paul Reiser), the out-of-touch creator of the original show, whose methods seem to be stuck in past decades.
The trailer even seems to poke fun at Hulu when Elaine reveals that she is VP of Comedy but new to being on set and to humor in general. For the cast and crew of Step Right Up!, it’s going to take some work to get members new and old all on the same page, as they adjust to the realities of working with each other and creating a comedy in 2022. Ultimately, the series seems to have a light, airy feeling to it and should garner more than a few earnest cackles of laughter along the way.
Who Is Making Reboot?
Reboot comes from creator Steven Levitan and is based on a script co-written by Levitan and John Enbom. Levitan is the co-creator of the Emmy-winning comedy series Modern Family. Reboot is executive produced by Levitan, Enbom, Jeff Morton, and Danielle Stokdyk.
Although it isn’t clear if Reboot is inspired by a specific series at this point, there have been quite a few recent reboots and revivals of television franchises that could have given the show direct or indirect inspiration. While Hulu recently revived the How I Met Your Mother franchise with the series How I Met Your Father, this series seems to target sitcoms created in the vein of Full House and Roseanne, both of which recently got reboots in the form of Fuller House and The Conners.
Who's In the Cast of Reboot?
The series has a gauntlet of recognizable faces and the cast alone warrants an initial watch. Some of the first announcements about the cast revealed that Keegan-Michael Key and Johnny Knoxville would have starring roles. When Hulu later announced Judy Greer had been cast in a starring role alongside Key and Knoxville, it solidified the must-see status of the leading cast.
Key is best known for his collaborations with Jordan Peele including their skit comedy show Key & Peele, as well as the feature film Keanu. Key is also known for his role in the Netflix series Friends from College. In Reboot, he plays serious dramatic actor Reed Sterling who hasn’t quite found the success in Hollywood that he believes an actor of his caliber should.
Fans of early 2000s TV should recognize Johnny Knoxville, the co-creator and star of the MTV stunt show Jackass. The series aired for three seasons from 2000 to 2002 and has since spawned several films, all centered on increasingly shocking stunts. 2022’s Jackass Forever is the most recent installment of the franchise. Unsurprisingly, Knoxville plays a stunt actor called Clay Barber with a habit of disorderly conduct who is returning to the only real acting gig that would accept him.
Greer is one of the more recognizable character actresses of her time and has been featured in many popular films and television series. Her television credits include Kitty Sanchez on the Fox/Netflix series Arrested Development and Cheryl Tunt on the animated comedy series Archer. Her film credits are numerous and include appearances in 13 Going On 30, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the Jurassic World franchise. Her character in Reboot, Bree Marie Larson, is coming off of a stint doing a sci-fi cable show reminiscent of a bad Star Trek wannabe.
Other noteworthy names appear on the cast list for the series as well. Calum Worthy will be playing Zack, a former child actor now returning to the set as an adult with some growing up to do. This is a bit of tongue-in-cheek casting, as Worthy is a former child and teenage actor, known for his performance in the 2003 comedy film National Lampoon's Thanksgiving Family Reunion. Paul Reiser (Stranger Things) appears as Gordon, the original creator of the now-rebooted show. Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) takes on the role of Hannah, a young writer with a fresh take on the reimagined series. Krista Marie Yu plays Elaine, the executive overseeing the reboot who might just be in over her head.