A funny thing happened while I looked for ’90s shows that could use a modern reboot. I got stuck in the 2000s when some of my favorite shows aired, and I realized that every show I wanted to be rebooted was in the genre category.
If you know me, that probably isn’t much of a surprise, but the sheer volume of genre shows that were created and failed to take hold is surprising even to me, who watched them. And the casts? Some of the best.
In my mind, the key to a modern reboot is that the shows need to have received short shrift in some way, whether the timing was all wrong or the show never lived up to its premise. Today’s genre shows that have succeeded could be storytelling models for reboots. Here are the shows that fit that bill.
Defying Gravity (2009)
The original premise of Defying Gravity followed a crew on a six-year space mission to explore the solar system, unaware that a mysterious force called “Beta” was manipulating them.
It caught my attention immediately, but apparently, my friends and I were the outliers.
For some reason, the show was marketed as “Grey’s Anatomy in space” (no, really), which didn’t fit the tone of the show. The sci-fi elements were also slow to develop, and ABC didn’t commit to its complex storytelling.
It could work if the series were reimagined as a prestige sci-fi mystery-thriller with profound psychological and existential stakes. Think Event Horizon meets The Expanse with a structured multi-season plan that reveals Beta’s intentions piece by piece.
Its core themes could include exploring the mental toll of deep-space travel, hidden agendas, and the cosmic horror of encountering an unknown force that doesn’t operate according to human logic.
Sci-fans crave smart, ambitious stories (see the success of For All Mankind), and this could tap into that with strong world-building and existential dread.
Invasion (2005-2006)
Another show that still sticks with me today is Invasion. The premise? After a hurricane devastates a Florida town, eerie changes begin occurring, leading to body-snatching paranoia (but are you paranoid if it’s true?)
It was a slow burn, and ABC canceled it after one season just as it was getting interesting, partly due to the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina occurring during its run. Timing is everything.
It could be reimagined as a psychological sci-fi horror series exploring mass hysteria and loss of identity in the wake of a hurricane. Think The Leftovers meets The Thing, focusing on what happens when people don’t know who to trust if friends and loved ones may not be themselves anymore.
The core themes of identity, paranoia, climate change as horror, and how fear spreads like an infection would be timely and drive conversation. In today’s world full of viral misinformation and conspiracy theories, a show that taps into the paranoia of not knowing what’s real would be terrifyingly relevant.
Harper’s Island (2009)
A murder mystery slasher series set on an isolated island during a wedding? Yes, please.
The premise had all the makings of a perfect whodunit: a group of friends and family trapped with a killer picking them off one by one.
But the title did nothing to sell it, and while the execution was fun, it never quite broke into the mainstream.
A reimagined version as an anthology horror series where each season tells a new self-contained slasher mystery could work. Think The Haunting of Hill House meets Scream, where every season reinvents the horror formula: whodunit slasher, supernatural horror, survival horror.
The key themes of past trauma, family secrets, and the tension of being trapped with people you may or may not trust would make this a binge-worthy, must-watch show.
Horror TV has lost its footing in the past few years, but shows like Mike Flanagan’s Netflix series, American Horror Story have proved it could work. Why not give this one another shot?
Now and Again (1999-2000)
This show had such a killer premise — an ordinary man’s brain gets placed into a genetically engineered super-soldier’s body without his consent, forcing him to live a new life while being cut off from his family.
CBS, of course, had no idea how to market it. Was it a family drama? A sci-fi thriller? It was both, and yet neither, so they just canceled it on a cliffhanger.
A reboot could take a much darker, paranoia-driven approach, leaning into the terrifying reality of having your mind stolen and rewritten for someone else’s agenda.
Think Black Mirror meets Mr. Robot, where instead of just “adjusting” to his new body, the protagonist slowly realizes the government has been rewriting his thoughts, memories, and emotions to shape him into something he never agreed to be.
Free will? Gone. Identity? Manufactured. And the worst part? If they created him once, they can do it again.
With today’s advancements in AI, cybernetics, and neural implants, this story is more relevant than ever. If someone controlled your brain, are you still you?
Jericho (2006-2008)
There aren’t many of us sci-fi TV enthusiasts who don’t recall Jericho with fondness and regret.
The series follows a small town in Kansas that watches in horror as nuclear bombs destroy multiple U.S. cities, leaving them isolated and struggling to survive. The premise was incredible — a survival drama with political intrigue and community-driven storytelling.
So what went wrong? CBS fumbled the scheduling, never knew what to do with it, and despite a fan-driven resurrection, it didn’t last.
But imagine this as a gritty, survivalist post-apocalyptic drama — more like The Last of Us meets Yellowjackets, where rebuilding civilization isn’t easy, and every choice has consequences.
The world loves dark, realistic survival stories (Station Eleven, Fallout), and this could be a perfect addition to the genre, but only if it leans into the moral gray areas of survival instead of network-friendly drama.
Journeyman (2007)
A journalist starts randomly traveling through time, affecting lives but never knowing when or why. It was like Quantum Leap but more mysterious and emotional, except it aired at the worst possible time, right before the 2007 writers’ strike.
If it had been given a real shot, it could have been huge.
A reboot could take the Dark meets 12 Monkeys approach — a deeply serialized, high-stakes time-travel mystery where each jump reveals new layers of a much bigger plan.
Fate vs. free will, the butterfly effect, and the emotional toll of rewriting history? It’s exactly the kind of show that would soar with today’s prestige-loving audience in mind.
Awake (2012)
A detective survives a car accident and wakes up living two realities — one where his wife survived and one where his son did. Every time he falls asleep, he switches between them.
Awake‘s premise was brilliant, but it was too high-concept for network TV at the time.
A modern reboot should lean into the psychological thriller side of things. Think Severance meets True Detective — a mind-bending mystery where the two realities aren’t just different; they’re influencing each other in ways he doesn’t understand.
It’s a perfect concept for today’s audiences who love picking apart hidden clues and dissecting parallel worlds.
The Event (2010-2011)
Government conspiracies, a hidden alien race, and a massive cover-up — The Event had the setup to be the next Lost, but instead, it collapsed under the weight of its own convoluted storytelling.
A reboot could fix that by keeping the mystery grounded. Instead of a mess of time jumps and cliffhangers that never paid off, make it a Homeland meets Arrival-style espionage thriller with a sci-fi twist.
Play it like a slow-burn alien infiltration story, where the stakes build gradually instead of being thrown at the audience all at once. It could be the gritty, smart, politically charged sci-fi show we’ve been waiting for.
FlashForward (2009-2010)
FlashForward imagined what would happen when the entire world blacks out for two minutes and 17 seconds — and sees a glimpse of their future. Society spirals into chaos, trying to figure out what it all means.
Fantastic premise. Mediocre execution. It dragged on, got bogged down in unnecessary subplots, and never fully delivered on its potential.
A modern reboot could take inspiration from Westworld and Black Mirror — leaning into the philosophical and psychological impact of knowing your own future.
What happens to religion? Crime? Free will? If people don’t like their vision, can they change it? And if they do… was it ever the future at all? As we all struggle to understand our place in the world, we need shows that make us consider the possibilities within our grasp.
Revolution (2012-2014)
Who doesn’t imagine the day all the electricity on Earth stops working and civilization collapses? It sounds like an amazing show concept, right?
Unfortunately, instead of focusing on realistic survival and the more profound questions, the show went off the rails with magic pendants that could turn the power back on.
A reboot should strip away the nonsense and focus on real survival drama. Think The Road meets The Last of Us — a dark, gripping story about how different factions rebuild when the old world is gone for good.
No magic tech. No easy answers. It’s just a brutal, grounded take on what happens when the lights go out forever.
After the Paradise finale, a second season (or a spinoff?) could already have something like this on their agenda.
Under the Dome (2013-2015)
It’s hard to imagine that one of the longest-running adaptations of a Stephen King novel was this bad. The premise of a small town is suddenly trapped under an invisible, impenetrable dome with no escape, dwindling resources, and societal breakdown should have been great TV.
King’s novel Under the Dome had that brilliant premise, but the TV adaptation dragged on too long, introduced alien egg nonsense, and wasted its potential. It was one of our favorite shows to hate-watch, which isn’t the best selling point.
A rebooted version should be a tight, two-season psychological thriller. The Mist meets Yellowjackets, where the dome is treated as an existential disaster, not a supernatural gimmick.
The focus should be on human nature under extreme pressure because, honestly, the dome isn’t the real threat – the people inside it are.
The River (2012)
The River followed a documentary crew searching for a missing explorer in the Amazon, only to find something deeply wrong.
It had the perfect Blair Witch meets Lost setup but relied too much on cheap scares and underdeveloped characters.
A reboot should go full slow-burn horror. The Terror meets Annihilation — where the deeper they go, the less reality makes sense. The jungle itself feels alive, and the real horror isn’t what’s chasing them; it’s what’s already inside them.
Done right, this could be one of the scariest shows on TV.
Dollhouse (2009-2010)
Here’s another high-concept drama that didn’t live up to its premise — a secret organization wipes people’s minds and reprograms them to become whatever the client needs, from spies to lovers to assassins. But some “Dolls” start to remember.
The concept was brilliant, but the execution was a rushed mess, thanks to network interference, uneven storytelling, and a finale that was crammed into half a season.
A reboot should ditch the corporate wish-fulfillment angle and go full biotech espionage thriller. Think Severance meets The Bourne Identity, where the Dolls aren’t just hired playthings but covert operatives unknowingly being used in global power plays.
Instead of the usual “who am I?” amnesia trope, make it a noir mystery where the lead is trying to piece together a past that was systematically erased, all while their former selves leave breadcrumbs in the deep corners of their mind.
With espionage, action, and a psychological war over identity, Dollhouse could be reimagined as the kind of high-stakes, cerebral sci-fi thriller that Westworld wanted to be before it lost the plot.
Miracles (2003)
This show could have been the next X-Files — a team investigating modern miracles, uncovering eerie supernatural mysteries, and slowly realizing something big and terrifying was happening behind the scenes.
But in classic ABC fashion, ABC had no idea what to do with it. It got buried in the schedule, wasn’t properly promoted, and was canceled way before it could become something great.
A reboot could lean into that X-Files meets Evil structure — a mix of case-of-the-week investigations that slowly build toward a larger, horrifying mystery.
The team investigates “miraculous” events — some real, some explainable, and some that should not be happening at all. At least one skeptic is needed, but rather than being a flat-out naysayer, they’re terrified of being proven wrong.
Every episode leaves just enough doubt. Even when there’s a rational answer, a lingering “what if?” always makes you question everything.
It should have a sharp, self-aware edge — not full comedy, but the kind of dark humor that makes the weirdness even creepier (think Evil’s best moments).
Done right, this could be a genre favorite for fans of clever, eerie supernatural mysteries. And in today’s world of viral “real-life” paranormal encounters, urban legends, and unexplained phenomena, it would be terrifyingly relevant.
This is certainly not a comprehensive list of genre shows that could be rebooted, so tell me what I missed.
Would you want to watch any of these reboots? Drop your thoughts below.
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