15 TV & Movie Reboots We Really Didn’t Need

There is a well-worn saying, "Everything old is new again," and good grief, does that ever feel true right now. Teenagers are rocking outfits that are straight out of Delia's 1994 catalog, chokers, flannel shirts, and bodysuits back in fashion with a vengeance, and New Kids on the Block, Rick Astley, and Salt-N-Pepa just finished a joint tour.

And while sometimes retro stuff can be fun (look, we still think Jordan Knight is cute and we'd go to that concert), there are some pop culture reruns that we really don't need. It feels like there are so many TV and movie reboots these days and — real talk — some of them are just a hard no from us. Now it's important to remember a reboot is different from a sequel. We're all about fun sequels such as Hocus Pocus 2 and Top Gun Maverick. But a reboot is just telling the same basic story as the original, only with new actors or switching from animation to live action. While there are some reboots that might improve on the original, most of them just beg the question, "Who asked for this?" Hint: It wasn't us!

'The Lion King'

Even the presence of Beyoncé as the voice of Nala wasn't enough to give us a reason to care about the 2019 live-action reboot of the 1994 Disney animated classic The Lion King. While the reboot had an amazing cast, nothing beats Jeremy Irons as the voice of Scar in the original.

'The Real Love Boat'

The Love Boat was the ultimate in cheesy television when it aired from 1976 to 1986, and while people might have some nostalgia for the show, we're confident that nobody was really crying out for a rebooted version that turns it into yet another dating-centered reality show. We'll stay on the dock for this one.

'Aladdin'

The move from animation to live action is always a risk when it comes to a reboot because things that look cool in animation can look cheap or cheesy in live action. But the biggest issue for the unnecessary 2019 reboot of Aladdin was in the casting. Nobody can replace the late, great Robin Williams as the Genie. Sorry, Will Smith.

'The Kardashians'

After 20 seasons of Keeping Up With the Kardashians on the E! network, the show was rebooted as The Kardashians, now on Hulu. Honestly, we're over it (we're all smart enough to know now how scripted reality TV really is), and it seems like the family is, too. Half of the siblings don't even seem to want to be on the show anymore, and who can blame them?

'The Little Mermaid'

OK, in full honesty, we have mixed feelings about the upcoming reboot of The Little Mermaid, set to premiere in May 2023. While we don't think anyone is really begging for any of these live-action remakes of classic animated Disney movies, we do like Chloe Bailey and she's definitely got the singing chops to play Ariel. But in a world where Lizzo exists and was very public about wanting the role, how does she not get cast as Ursula? Justice for Lizzo!

'Spirited'

Fun fact: There are more than 40 movie versions of Charles Dickens' classic holiday tale A Christmas Carol. True fact: As much as we love Ryan Reynolds (and we do — a lot), we really don't think the world needs yet another reboot of that story. We'll stick to The Muppet Christmas Carol.

'Pinocchio'

Woof. The 2022 reboot of Pinocchio did not win over fans or critics, even with a cast that includes Tom Hanks and the crazy talented Cynthia Erivo. The movie currently has a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 26% and an audience score of 30%. That's out of a possible 100%, so yikes.

'A Star Is Born'

The 2018 reboot of A Star Is Born, helmed by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, is actually the fourth version of the film. The first was in 1937, the second was in 1954 with Judy Garland, and the third was in 1976 with Barbra Streisand. Do we really think we can improve on both Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand? Did we really need a fourth version of this deeply depressing film? We're not sold.

'Hawaii Five-0'

The original Hawaii Five-O ran from 1968 to 1980 and was, at the time, the longest-running police show on network TV. When the rebooted version came out in 2010, it entered a TV landscape absolutely packed with police shows. We seriously didn't need another cop-centered series by the time it went off the air in 2020.

'Law & Order'

Law & Order (original recipe) ran from 1990 to 2010 and launched multiple spin-offs including Law & Order SVU and Law & Order Criminal Intent. The show got rebooted in 2022, but did we really need another crime-based drama in this day and age? There are just so many of them.

'Everybody Still Hates Chris'

Everybody Hates Chris (which ran from 2005 to 2009) introduced us to the talented Tyler James Williams, who is now all grown up and absolutely fantasic on the delightful Abbott Elementary. We loved the show when it first aired, but we're not sure why, exactly, it needs to come back as an animated show.

'Nash Bridges'

Did anyone who wasn't actually in the cast or crew of the TV show Nash Bridges (which ran from 1996 to 2001) actually say the words, "I miss Nash Bridges," out loud? Anyone? Despite the original being one of those shows that nobody admitted to watching, there was a 2021 movie based on it that nobody really needed.

'And Just Like That'

Spoiler alert (for those who somehow missed it): They killed Big! And Just Like That is the HBO Max reboot of Sex in the City that somehow manages to be worse than the Sex in the City movies, which are not good. The show without Samantha just isn't the same, and some of the new characters are seriously annoying (sorry, not sorry, Che Diaz). This reboot so did not need to happen.

'CSI'

Oh good, another reboot of an early 2000s crime and police procedural drama. Just what we needed, said nobody ever. We're kind of in a sticky situation because we don't really want reboots of old crime shows but we also don't really want fresh ideas for crime shows. Can we just limit the number of crime shows to something less than 100 different ones at a time?

'Dumbo'

Maybe it seems like this whole article exists just to rag on live-action remakes of classic Disney films, but we really don't mean it to be. It's just that so many of the live-action films just aren't as good as the original versions. We're not alone in thinking that.

As film critic Christy Lemire described 2019's Dumbo remake on RogerEbert.com, "All these inevitable comparisons only highlight how inferior Dumbo is alongside the best of [Tim] Burton's work. And among the recent slew of live-action redos of venerable Disney fare — from Cinderella to The Jungle Book to Beauty and the Beast — it will surely end up being one of the least memorable."