The best TV reboots and revivals

The bar for a well-executed reboot or revival is incredibly high on television, and yet, despite this challenge, artists are always willing to return to beloved characters and stories despite the high risk of failure. For every successful revival, there are even more titles like Get Smart (which only lasted seven episodes in its 1995 return), Melrose Place (one low-rated return season in 2009), and Singled Out (which wasn't even saved by Roku during Quibi's demise). This means the following series have beaten the odds and created something magical and rare on television, for these shows represent the best TV reboots and revivals. Beloved sci-fi adventures to reality TV stalwarts—and maybe a couple of animated series along the way—all make EW's list.

01 of 12

The Karate Kid trilogy (1984–1989) and Cobra Kai (2018–present)

THE KARATE KID, Cobra Kai — Everett Collection; Netflix

You could mince words arguing the Netflix sensation is less of a revival than a small-screen continuation of a movie franchise. But one clever conceit in this upside-down legacy sequel is how Cobra Kai treats the Karate Kid movies like one ongoing story, incorporating all the cheesy-glamorous '80s melodrama into a generational story of San Fernando Valley karate dojo duels. Who knew '80s monster Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) was a wrecked-yet-striving hero for our time?

02 of 12

Battlestar Galactica (1978–1979) and Battlestar: Galactica (2004–2009)

The greatest gritty reboot and the best argument SyFy ever made for itself, Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica honored the corny original series by taking it seriously. Neo-Galactica refracted post-9/11 paranoia through a cosmic melodrama about refugee humans and God-loving robots.

03 of 12

Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990–2000), 90210 (2008–2013), and BH90210 (2019)

The CW revival in 2008 never achieved the supernova status of Fox's teen soap, but give the new kids credit for a decent five-season run. And never forget Fox's own unclassifiable meta-revival, with the original 90210 cast gamely playing themselves as desperate nostalgia victims.

04 of 12

The Comeback (2005) and The Comeback (2014)

Lisa Kudrow returned to her other most famous role when HBO revived this mockumentary satire of Hollywood vanity.

05 of 12

Doctor Who (1963–1989) and Doctor Who (2005–present)

The legendary British saga about a time-traveling adventurer stopped producing regular episodes in 1989. Sixteen years later, Russell T. Davies relaunched the series with a rueful new-millennium edge. The new Who honors the mythology even as it challenges it, with the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Doctors—the former being the franchise's first female doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and the latter being its first Black doctor (Ncuti Gatwa)—uncovering transformative secrets of Time Lord lore.

06 of 12

DuckTales (1987–1990) and DuckTales (2017–2021)

Nobody expected the talking-duck reboot to become a wildly compelling serialized saga. But showrunners Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones incorporated far-flung influences into their family cartoon, making this the rare Disney product to simultaneously justify comparisons to Community and Lost.

07 of 12

One Day at a Time (1975–1984) and One Day at a Time (2017–2020)

Norman Lear rebooted his own long-running CBS sitcom, but the only old-fashioned thing about Netflix's One Day at a Time was the laugh track. Justina Machado and Rita Moreno led the Latinx cast in a family sitcom that confronted topical issues with sharp wit.

08 of 12

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (2003–2007) and Queer Eye (2018–present)

Bravo built one of the great cable brands off the original Queer Eye, a cheeky yet pioneering lifestyle-improvement series. Netflix's reboot expanded beyond the straight-gay cultural crossover—and offered a generously humane counterpoint to a much bleaker American landscape.

09 of 12

She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985–1987) and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018–2020)

Producer Noelle Stevenson managed a rare trick with the newer She-Ra. The Netflix series evoked glittery color-blasted nostalgia for the original He-Man spin-off, but also told a boldly progressive tale about powerful women in a gloriously techno-magical world of dark wonder.

10 of 12

Twin Peaks (1990–1991) and Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)

Creators Mark Frost and David Lynch turned the original Twin Peaks into a defining, if short-lived, phenomenon of the 1990s. Their revival radicalized the surrealist small-town mystery into a relentlessly trippy, surprisingly emotional, and merrily dimension-hopping portrait of a world gone mad.

11 of 12

The X-Files (1993–2002) and The X-Files (2016–2018)

Actually, the return of Fox's paranormal procedural was mostly an abomination. But the nearly silent episode where Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Mulder (David Duchovny) fight artificial intelligence? That's pure TV magic.

12 of 12

Jersey Shore (2009–2012) and Jersey Shore: Family Vacation (2018–present)

MTV's boozy club-hopping docusoap Jersey Shore was an outrageous phenomenon. Years later, the G.T.L. (Gym, Tan, Laundry) crew returned somewhat grown up: kids, marriages, divorces, the stray conviction for tax evasion. Against all odds, the revival has its own low-key appeal, as the gang takes occasional awkward vacations between social media spats. (Bonus points awarded for Vinny and Pauly D's Double Shot at Love spin-off, the rare dating competition that actually resulted in true wuv.)

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