A plea to TV and film bosses for 2021 – lay off the reboots

Along with a hopeful return to some kind of normalcy (for me that means gigs, dinners and all the pre-drinks that come with that) in 2021, I have one other wish. More like a plea, actually. 

TV and film bosses, please, I beg of you, stop making reboots. Just stop. We liked them at first, those successful Disney adaptations of the classics, such as The Jungle Book and Cinderella (many of which no doubt you will have seen on TV over Christmas). But a sense of weariness has descended over The Independent’s culture desk, and only grows with each new announcement.  

The latest is by far the most ridiculous. Network HBO Max is planning to reboot not only its hit Nineties series Sex and the City, but also Gossip Girl (to be fair we already knew that one), and Pretty Little Liars. While Gossip Girl, with the original series having ended in 2012, sounds like an interesting prospect (over-privileged Gen-Z kids with TikTok and Instagram at their disposal), Pretty Little Liars only ended in 2017. 

Is the entertainment industry that short on inspiration that they’ve resorted to remaking a show before we have even had anything like a chance for it to move out of collective memory?  

Showrunners and writers might be inclined to blame it on audiences themselves. As streaming services have boomed, so too has the demand for fresh content all the time. A hit Netflix show might be lucky to enjoy a week’s discussion, before we’re bored and moving on to the next shiny new toy. But judging by the angry reactions to the Pretty Little Liars news on social media, said audiences are being grossly underestimated.  

Just look at the reaction to The Queen’s Gambit. Critics like to sneer at Netflix’s Top 10, claiming it proves we’re addicted to trash, but the sublime chess drama starring Anya Taylor-Joy still remains on that coveted list – months after its original release. 

It was a sleeper hit that has made many a “best of 2020” list. And it was, crucially, an original drama based on the 1983 novel by American author Walter Tevis. You can bet you’ll see it on a host of awards show nominations lists in the new year.  

Why aren’t directors learning from this? Why are they signing on to projects that will only ever pale in comparison to the originals? Knowing audiences get bored easily, it seems counterintuitive to try and feed them the same material with different actors. Not to mention a waste of talent. 

We’ve already been dealt the blow that Mrs Brown’s Boys is going to continue until at least 2026. So please, writers, directors, producers, networks… have some common sense. Leave the reboots behind along with the rest of this dreadful year. 

Yours,

Roisin O’Connor

Music correspondent