Culture Crash: TV Revivals

In recent years, you’ve probably noticed a boom in TV revivals- old series brought back for new episodes. Fans of Gilmore Girls, Prison Break, Will and Grace, and more have all been gifted with new seasons and with reboots of Murphy Brown, Veronica Mars, and others in the works, this isn’t a trend that seems to be going anywhere.

Unfortunately, though, after a lot of hype, most revivals seem to fall flat. Gilmore Girls, NBC’s Heroes and even 24 have all made revivals that disappointed much of their core audience.

Probably the best example of a revival that worked- one that fans and critics alike raved over- was last year’s Twin Peaks revival on Showtime. That event series was deemed by many to be one of the best shows of 2017. And its success is largely because David Lynch and the Twin Peaks writing staff didn’t try to recreate the original show. They didn’t use old moments as a crutch, they didn’t give into fan-service, they just continued the story in the modern age. They struck a similar tone and ran with it.

Doing the opposite- giving in to fan service, can be an attractive temptation. Writers and creators can often feel lucky to have the opportunity to make more of their old project, and simply want to tie things up with a nice, neat bow. Everyone looks older, the will they or won’t they couples get back together, and they sign off. Hopefully, though, the Twin Peaks revival gave TV writers a new template- to give their characters new questions to answer and new struggles to grapple with. That can make our revival boom worth all the hype.