30 Classic TV Shows We'd Like to See Rebooted

“The Fugitive” is a Primetime Emmy winning series, starring David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble. Kimble is wrongly convicted of murder, and attempts to evade police until he can identify the true killer. A film based on the show, starring Harrison Ford, came out in 1993. There was a one-season reboot of the show in 2000, and in 2020, the short-lived streaming platform Quibi released a series of the same name with a similar plot but different characters, consisting of 14 episodes lasting six to nine minutes each.

Animal/human friendships were a popular theme among now-classic TV shows, among them the boy-and-his-dog series “Lassie” and the boy-and-his-bear series “Gentle Ben.” “Fipper” – adapted from the 1963 film of the same name – left dry land to center around marine preserve warden Porter Ricks (Brian Kelly), who was the caretaker for the titular bottlenose dolphin, and his two sons, Sandy (Luke Halpin) and Bud (Tommy Norden). The series was rebooted in 1995, and the following year, another film version was released.

Witch Samantha Stephens ( Elizabeth Montgomery) needed only a mere nose wiggle to send the life of her mortal husband Darrin’s into chaos in this well-loved series that won three Primetime Emmys. There was a short-lived spin-off called “Tabitha” (the name of the Stephenses’ daughter) in 1977. In 2005, a poorly received “Bewitched” film starring Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman was released, and TV revivals have been announced several times, but so far a reboot has yet to grace our screens.

“Lost in Space” brought us adventure, science fiction, and family drama. The series follows the Robinson family as their spaceship is detoured due to a stowaway, who is secretly an enemy government agent. The show was inspired by the 1812 novel “Swiss Family Robinson.” Netflix rebooted the show in 2018, starring Toby Stephens as John Robinson.

“The Wild Wild West” centers around two Secret Service agents (Robert Conrad and Ross Martin) who travel to the West and complete missions for the government. A loosely adapted film starring Will Smith, “Wild Wild West” was released in 1999, and a TV reboot was scheduled in 2021, but was subsequently canceled.

Science fiction and history buffs rejoiced when “The Time Tunnel” hit television screens. The series follows scientists Tony Newman (James Darren) and Doug Phillips (Robert Conrad), who work on a government project that sends people through time. The scientists get trapped in their own time tunnel, with each episode bringing Newman and Phillips to the site of a famous historical event. The show won a Primetime Emmy for cinematography.

Prior to the seven-film-deep “Mission Impossible” movie franchise starring Tom Cruise, there was the original “Mission: Impossible” series, starring Peter Graves as secret agent James Phelps. The series was about a secret agent who completed seemingly unachievable missions through the use of wit, expertise, and technology. The series brought home 10 Primetime Emmys.

Another secret agent classic, “The Prisoner” follows Number Six (Patrick McGoohan) after he is abducted and thrown into a seemingly pristine town called “The Village.” In this environment, his captors attempt to find out why he quit his job, while he tries to escape. AMC rebooted the cult favorite with a miniseries of the same name in 2009, and both Christopher Nolan and Ridley Scott were considering directing a film version, though nothing came of either project..

In “The Immortal,” Ben Richards (Christopher George) has blood that can cure every ailment known to humanity, – which makes him immortal. This power causes him to be pursued by nefarious powers, who seek to use his unique abilities for their own gain. The sci-fi classic won a Primetime Emmy.

Where “Twilight Zone” centered around story-of-the-week science fiction episodes, “Night Gallery” did the same for the horror genre. Each episode, narrated by “Twilight Zone”‘s Rod Serling, did a deep dive into a horror story inspired by a painting. The series is one of the few to score a 100% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. According to Looper, a reimagining of “Night Gallery” is in the works at SyFy.

Peter Falk was “Columbo,” a disheveled blue-collar homicide detective who was often underestimated by his suspects. The series raked in 13 Primetime Emmy wins and remained on air for 13 seasons. A spin-off called “Mrs. Columbo” lasted only 13 episodes.

Part supernatural sci-fi, part crime drama, “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” is a series about Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin), a Chicago reporter who solves crimes, many of which are supernatural in nature, facing the skepticism of his editor. McGavin had played the same character in two earlier movies. A reboot, called simply “Night Stalker,” had a short run in 2005. The original lasted only a single season, but gained a cult following.

“Good Times” joined shows like “That’s My Mama” and “Sanford and Son” as a sitcom based on African-American characters at a time when all-white casts were the norm. The sitcom – a spin-off of “Maude,” which was in turn spun off from “All in the Family” – follows the lives of family members from a poor neighborhood in Chicago. The series aired for six seasons, and won a TV Land Impact Award in 2006. “Family Guy” creator Seth McFarlane and basketball star Steph Curry are working on an animated “Good Times” reboot for Netflix.

“Logan’s Run” is based on the William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson novel of the same name, which was also made into a film. This classic science fiction series takes place in a world where no one is allowed to live past the age of 30. Logan (Gregory Harrison), age 26, seeks freedom, and the series follows his journey to escape an untimely death.

“Facts of Life” was a sitcom centered around young women living at a boarding school, and learning various life lessons from their housemother Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae). The female-focused show, a spinoff of “Diff’rent Strokes,” aired for nine seasons.

The E.C. comics of the same name inspired “Tales from the Crypt,” a haunting, anthology-style horror and science fiction series. John Kassir voiced the Crypt Keeper, who is the ghoulish host of the show. It was known for featuring a constellation of guest stars, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brad Pitt, Dan Aykroyd, Daniel Craig, Kirk Douglas, Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael J. Fox, and Ted Danson. The series was nominated for seven Primetime Emmys.

At a time when police-focused reality TV was getting off the ground a la “COPS,” “Rescue 911” became a hit. This William Shatner-hosted show featured reenactments of real 911 calls. While the show was never meant to last for multiple seasons, it garnered many fans and remained on the air for eight years.

In Eerie, Indiana, strange things happen. The short-running series followed Marshall Teller (Omri Katz) who moves to the small town, where bizarre adventures ensue. He befriends another boy in town (Justin Shenkarow) and the two must face off against supernatural foes. Some critics believe that this series inspired “The X-Files.” There was a one-season 1997 spinoff called “Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension.”

This science fiction space opera about humans and aliens in space was released at a time when story-of-the-week narratives were the main method of TV storytelling. Instead, “Babylon 5” used the now-familiar televised novel format, which allowed a larger story to unfold over the span of the acclaimed series, which took home two Primetime Emmy Awards.

“The X-Files” is one of the most celebrated sci-fi shows of all time. The TV series took home 16 Primetime Emmy Awards, and spawned movies, merchandise, and reboots. In the series, FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) solve X-Files – cases with a mysterious and supernatural twist. While Mulder is ready to dive into conspiracy theories (and is often correct in doing so), Scully has a scientific and skeptical approach.

Hey, football head! For anyone who grew up in the ’90s, “Hey Arnold!” was a must-watch Nickelodeon cartoon. The series followed the lives of Arnold and his friends, fourth graders living in Brooklyn. The animated series aired for five seasons, and in 2017 a two-part TV movie, “Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie,” was released. There has been talk of a series revival, but nothing has come of it as yet.

Before the popularity of the prison-based Netflix series “Orange is the New Black,” “Oz” was featured on HBO. The acclaimed series gives viewers a window into life in the prison otherwise known as Emerald City. Ernie Hudson plays warden Leo Glynn, Terry Kinney plays the unit manager, and Harold Perrineau plays inmate Augustus Hill, who also narrates the series. The show was nominated for two Primetime Emmys, and a slew of other awards.

The popularity of the film “Stargate” in 1994 gave rise to a ten-year run of the series “Stargate SG-1.” In the series, scientists, researchers, and other explorers are able to travel through Stargate, which is a portal into other worlds. The series spawned multiple spinoffs, including “Stargate Atlantis,” “Stargate Universe,” and “Stargate Infinity.”

Another Nickelodeon classic, “The Wild Thornberrys” is about Eliza Thornberry (Lacey Chabert), an adventurous young girl who explores the world with her family. Her parents, Nigel (Tim Curry) and Marianne (Jodi Carlisle) host a show about nature, and Eliza frequently interacts with wildlife throughout the cartoon series. A TV-movie prequel came out in 2001, followed by “The Wild Thornberrys Movie” in 2002 and “Rugrats Go Wild” – a crossover with the Rugrats characters – in 2003.

“Freaks & Geeks” was a great show for many reasons, but the series’ all-star cast added to its magic. Seth Rogan, Jason Segel, and James Franco all starred in the series about a group of misfit ’80s high schoolers. The series won a Primetime Emmy. In 2021, the show’s creator Paul Feig said that he is open to a reboot under the right circumstances.

In the post-apocalyptic world of “Dark Angel,” Max Guevera (Jessica Alba) has superhuman abilities, and must evade government agents who are trying to capture her. The series gained a cult fandom, yet was only on the air for two seasons. The series ended on a cliffhanger, so many fans have called for a reboot in order to tie up loose ends.

This Primetime Emmy winning cartoon is about a kid who summons fairy godparents to grant him wishes, and hilarity ensues. The show aired for 10 seasons. A live-action and animated reboot called “The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder” was released in March of this year.

“Hindsight” was a time-travel story about friendship struggles between Becca (Laura Ramsey) and Lolly (Sarah Goldberg). Despite the fact that it was approved for a second season, new leadership at VH1, which had developed the show, canceled it just before production started. Feeling confident that a second season was coming, the producers intentionally ended the first season on a cliffhanger, planning to resolve it in season two.

“Vinyl” was a short-lived TV series about the music industry in the ’70s (Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese were among the creators of the show). The series was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, but did not have massive viewership, and though a second season was announced, it was never produced.

“Imposters” centers around a con-woman Maddie (Inbar Lavi) who forms relationships with both men and women, then steals their money and disappears. The show aired for two seasons, but a lack of viewership led to its cancellation.