The 5 Best Sitcom Revivals
We’re living in an unprecedented era of television in which any canceled or concluded sitcom, no matter how long it’s been off the air, is viable to return from the dead and win our hearts once again — unlike Roseanne Conner.
Nostalgia mining has been the name of the game in sitcoms for a number of years now. Networks are hesitant to take chances on new ideas and fresh voices while, simultaneously, interest in the TV comedies of the past explodes as streaming increased the availability of old shows to new audiences and rewatch podcasts inspire OG fans to return to their classic comedy fix. Though each revival is inevitably met with skepticism from the most terminally online members of the show’s fandom, in so many cases, the streaming numbers or Nielsen ratings speak for themselves — the formula for rehashing old sitcoms works.
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Over in the sitcoms subreddit, TV comedy fans recently discussed which classic shows most successfully found their second wind, and their top picks might surprise the average TV critic or RottenTomatoes browser. Here are the fan-favorite sitcom revival shows, starting with…
Will & Grace
The beloved late-1990s-to-early-2000s sitcom about a gay lawyer and his straight best friend stormed back into the zeitgeist in 2017 without skipping a beat and ran for three extra seasons. The series sputtered out in early 2020 amidst backstage drama between Debra Messing and Megan Mullally, casting a shadow on the show’s (probably) final finale.
The Conners
The rebooted Roseanne should have been at the number one spot on this list, just like it was the #1 show on television when the creator and star decided to go on an allegedly Ambien-fueled racist Twitter tirade. Now, Dan’s alive and Roseanne’s in the ground — and the family is still chugging along Wednesdays on ABC.
Frasier (2023)
Kelsey Grammer garnered a great deal of criticism for his decision to move forward with a Paramount+ revival of his beloved sitcom sans all the creative talent that made the first show a hit, but the new show’s fans seem unphased by the distinct dearth of Niles. While no one’s claiming the new Frasier is as good as the old one, sometimes a beer scratches the same itch as a glass of sherry.
Girl Meets World
The sequel to Boy Meets World starred Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel as the grown-up versions of middle-school sweethearts Cory and Topanga as they witnessed the coming-of-age story of their daughter Riley, played by Rowan Blanchard. The sequel only lasted three seasons — I guess meeting world takes less time in the age of social media.
That ‘90s Show
For all the grim and upsetting headlines that surrounded the That ‘70s Show extended universe in the last year, the most pleasantly surprising one was that the sequel series starring Kitty and Red Forman alongside the next generation of basement-dwelling ne’er-do-wells was actually serviceable, even if the show barely resembles the actual 1990s. With That ‘90s Show Season Two on the horizon, sitcom fans are optimistic about the future of the past.