The 5 best TV reboots of all time

Finding an entirely new cast to play beloved characters is harder than it looks

portrait of David Tennant during the era he played Doctor Who
David Tennant was one of the 'it' factors that helped relaunch 'Doctor Who' for a new generation
(Image credit: Wendy Redfern / Getty Images)

Reboots are an increasingly popular form of television because they appeal to nostalgia and familiarity while leaving space for originality and creativity. They are distinct from revivals, which star the same actors in the same roles years or — in some cases — decades later. In a reboot, a show or movie is reimagined, with timelines reset or discarded and an entirely new cast playing familiar characters. It's a tough trick to pull off, and relatively few TV shows have done it as successfully as those below.

'Battlestar Galactica' (2004-2009)

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David Faris

David Faris is an associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. He is a frequent contributor to Informed Comment, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and Indy Week.