Viewers find comfort in the familiar. Fans form emotional connections to favorite characters, and revisiting their stories can feel so rewarding. That is why studios continue to bank on nostalgia: Audiences are drawn back to what they already know.
While well-executed and original ideas push the industry forward, reboots, remakes and sequels continue to draw ratings. Already in 2023, NBC's Night Court revival has set records for the network. Target demographics are looking towards the past, while cable and streaming both supply some surprising trips down memory lane.
1 Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix)
First announced in 2018, Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender is the long-anticipated live action remake of the classic Nicktoon. The highly-celebrated animated adventure followed Aang, the reincarnation of the Avatar, an ancient spirit of light and peace in human form. The reluctant young hero will once again save the world, this time in a total of eight hour-long episodes.
While Aang was originally voiced by Zach Tyler Elsen, this reboot will instead feature Gordon Cormier embodying the role. This new, live action show initially involved the series' original creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. However, the pair Filming for season one wrapped in June, and the show is expected to debut sometime this summer.
2 Clone High (HBO Max)
When Clone High debuted way back in 2002, the series launched the careers of its creators, Phil Lord and Chris Miller. After a thirteen-episode first season, the pair became animation superstars, directing such titles as Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The LEGO Movie, and producing Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse.
Twenty years after the adult animated sci-fi sitcom's sleeper success on the MTV Network, a two-season revival was ordered by HBO Max. Earlier last year, Lord and Miller announced via Twitter that the reboot would premier in 2023.
3 Teen Wolf (Paramount+)
Teen Wolf, as a franchise, dates all the way back to the 1980s. Back then, first Michael J. Fox and then Jason Bateman starred as the titular lycanthropic teenager. Flash forward to 2011 and the concept was revisited and turned into a supernatural drama series on MTV. Now, a full decade later, that series is being continued as a movie on Paramount+.
Teen Wolf: The Movie will be released on January 26, 2023, and it will feature some of the cast as their old characters. Returning actors include Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed, Tyler Hoechlin and Holland Roden.
4 That '90s Show (Netflix)
Hello, Wisconsin! It's time to take a trip down memory lane and back down the Foreman family basement. Set fifteen years after the events of That '70s Show, this sequel series sees a whole new bunch of teen characters as the next generation of friends in Point Place.
That '90s Show features tons of its predecessor's lauded cast returning as guest stars. Topher Grace, Ashton Kutcher, and Mila Kunis all appear in recurring roles, while Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp are featured in the series' main cast.
5 Frasier (Paramount+)
Kelsey Grammer will belly up to the table for more tossed salad and scrambled eggs, if the Frasier reboot keeps its theme song. The new show will be a sequel to the successful spin-off which ran from 1993-2004. Paramount+ greenlit the upcoming series for exclusive debut, hoping to recapture on the original's acclaim.
Unlike many nostalgic retreads that cash-in on familiar faces, the Frasier of 2023 won't see more from many of Grammer's former costars. David Hyde Pearce, in particular, has chosen not to return, with other actors declining similarly. Instead, the new show will focus on Frasier Crane and his son, played by Jack Cultmore-Scott
6 Night Court (NBC)
Night Court might not immediately seem like a series destined for a sequel, but so far, critics and audiences alike have received the reboot favorably. John Larroquette returns as prosecutor Daniel Fielding, a role that won him four consecutive Primetime Emmys in the 1980s.
Original series star Harry Anderson passed away in 2018 before having the chance to revive his iconic Judge Harry Stone. Instead, Melissa Rauch, the executive producer of the sequel series, will star as Stone's daughter Abby.
7 Party Down (Starz)
Perpetually included on lists of the most underrated TV comedies of all time, Party Down, is a Starz original which began airing on the network in 2009 before being canceled in 2010. Audiences to this day decry the decision to cancel the show, but the show was losing its stars Adam Scott and Jane Lynch to Parks and Recreation and Glee, respectively.
Party Down also featured actors Ken Marino, Lizzie Caplan and Martin Starr as a catering company in Los Angeles. The original show featured its characters trapped in a dead-end job, unfulfilled by how unattainable their aspirations felt. Surely the themes will still resonate a full decade after the first two seasons.