Reboot Premiere Early Review

*The following is a spoiler-free review of the first 3 episodes of Reboot, premiering September 20th on Disney Plus Star and Hulu.

We are currently living in an age of countless TV reboots and revivals. An era where Hollywood brings back beloved TV shows to new audiences, and give fans of the original a warm sense of nostalgia. This surge of reboots and revivals makes finding an original, refreshing TV series very hard to come by. But in comes Reboot, a fresh and genius satirical sitcom that already in its first three episodes could rank as one of the funniest series this year.

As the title suggests, Reboot follows a young writer Hannah (Rachel Bloom) as she attempts to revive the fictional early 2000s sitcom “Step Right Up”, but with a modern twist, giving the characters depth and forcing them to deal with real issues. The reboot will also feature the original series cast including Reed Sterling (Keegan-Michael Key) who left the show to pursue his career in cinema that crashed and burned, Marie Jensen (Judy Greer) an actress-turned-duchess who has an intimate past with Sterling, Clay Barber (Johnny Knoxville) an offensive comic dealing with substance abuse, and Zack (Callum Worthy) a grown up child star who still acts like a child. While the original cast are excited about modernizing the rebooted sitcom, the creator of the original series named Gordon (Paul Reiser) wants to keep the new series more inline with the original.

Created by Steven Levitan, responsible for co-creating one of the best sitcoms of the past 10 years, Modern Family. The influence from Modern Family is clearly there from the perfectly timed jokes down to the camerawork that enhances the comedy in every scene. Levitan’s writing is fearless, witty and charming, whilst providing great no holds bared comedy, Levitan likewise writes engaging and well developed characters. However, they may not become household names like the characters from Modern Family.

The comedy is top notch, whilst it may not be as laugh-out-loud as something like Levitan’s previous work or The Office US, its wit and genius jokes still make for an entertaining series. Humor is a very tough nut to crack these days, especially with cancel culture being more heightened than ever and audiences being so easily offended, it seems the state of comedy isn’t were it used to be. Reboot however flips the script, offering many jokes and references that many might find offensive. But for a series such as this one, that’s okay because it not only feels refreshing and a breath of fresh air for modern comedy, it also delicately handles the “offensive” comedy with a lot of respect. In the end, Reboot is a satire and a brilliant one at that. Going above and beyond its crude, physical comedy and providing many satirical and meta jokes are also sure to elicit some chuckles. It isn’t afraid to poke fun at everything, from sitcoms, reboot and revival culture, and the television industry as a whole.

The main draw of the series is undoubtedly its cast and their impeccable comedic performances. Key is as always a delight to watch on screen, bringing his subtle facial expressions and perfectly delivered humor while also bringing a nuance to his character. Greer is great in her role, although the character she portrays may take a little while to take to. In spire of this, there is no doubt Greer is still brilliant and hilarious in the role. The real surprise however, was Knoxville. When he isn’t being charged by raging bulls or breaking his “pee-pee” with a motorcycle, he is quite a compelling actor, at least in this show anyway. This is Knoxville at his most tame, so don’t expect the eccentric Jackass cast member, because he is not here. Reiser has had a brilliant year in TV, from Stranger Things to The Boys and now Reboot. His comedic talents go without saying as he excels in making his extremely flawed character very likeable. The best performance by far was from Bloom, who after only three episodes already deserves an Emmy nomination for her performance. That doesn’t even account for the exceptional chemistry between her and Reiser as they seamlessly bounce off each other and authentically feel like they have worked with one another forever.

Based on the first three episodes, Reboot is so far proving very promising. Although it may not be for everyone, those who enjoy a delightful, witty satirical comedy will fall in love with Levitan’s latest sitcom.

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Olly Dyche

Journalist, Writer, Film Critic and Professional Nerd. You will probably find Olly at the cinema chomping down on some popcorn and taking in the glorious visuals of the latest theatrical release.