After the biggest success of his career, an award-winning writer-producer chooses an ambitious follow-up project that has both a personal and professional edge. It's exactly what you want from a smart and esteemed creator like Steven Levitan: Instead of resting on his laurels or repeating himself, the "Modern Family" engineer turned to a current and complicated TV show in "Reboot." ”, a Hulu series about an early sitcom that is renewed today… on Hulu. The original cast of the fictional sitcom even returns, along with its creator, and the group has to navigate reigniting romances, generational divides, and family issues, all while guiding the new and improved version of "Step Right Up" to success in the era. of the transmission.
Given the possibilities, meta jokes! Office dynamics! "will they or won't they" relationships! - there's a lot to get excited about. In the hands of a veteran writer, it can even be tempting to say that history writes itself. But that's the thing about challenges: they take you out of your comfort zone, they may take longer to solve, and they may not even meet expectations. "Reboot" manages to do all three. Over the first season's eight half-hour episodes, the ensemble's comedy is pulled in so many different directions, that only a few aspects feel fine-tuned by the end. The industry satire is inconsistent, both in bite and budget. The office comedy can't decide if it's playing for jokes. And the characters are never completed beyond the thin sketches of what they represent.
Creator: Steven Levitan
Stars: Keegan-Michael Key, Johnny Knoxville, Rachel Bloom
As befits its origins and intentions, "Reboot" begins with a writer. Fresh off an indie film that she knows is edgy because it has a swear word in the title, Hannah arranges a meeting with Hulu and, to the surprise of the studio suits, hosts the reboot of "Step Right Up," a family comedy from the firsts years. Her 2000s vision is a more edgy take on the show, where the main characters don't always have to do the right thing. After assuring him that he loves risqué shows and making sure "people keep doing reboots" (hearing his assistants rattle off dozens of real-world examples from "Fuller House" to "Gossip Girl"), the anonymous development exec from Hulu gives Hannah her own green light, and it's time to meet the cast.
Key among them is Reed Sterling, who played the stepfather on the original sitcom and has been trying his hand at dramatic acting ever since. Despite him now living in New York and his committed relationship with a theater director, Reed is impressed enough by the new scripts to fly back to Los Angeles for the reboot. But professional posturing aside, Reed's real concern about coming back is seeing Bree Marie Jensen again. Reed and Bree used to date when they did the O.G. “SRU”—befitting two people whose names share a pair of Es—and his persistent nerves and overcompensating gestures make it clear that he's still hung up on his former love.
Whether Bree is harboring affection for her ex is a little harder to read, but the ease with which Greer steers her character between interested and disinterested makes the potential courtship more compelling. Plus, she has her own concerns about returning to the show, namely that she'll be leaving her life as a duchess behind for another step in a sustained acting career, and Levitan wisely gives her more to do than sit around waiting like the one who got away. . Her shared scenes with Clay Barber are laid-back and fun, even if the "Jackass" star somehow seems too buttoned-up to be a recovering Hollywood savage.
Rounding out the ensemble are Zack Jackson, the former child star still stuck in arrested development, and Gordon Gelman, the original creator of "Step Right Up" who just wants to make more of the same show he did before. Both characters illustrate missed opportunities. Zack is clumsy and childish; he's naive about what's going on around him, and his mother still accompanies him to the set. But "Reboot" never tries to say anything about how being raised on TV could warp a boy's life, or use Zack for specific satire. He's just a goofball, while Gordon is just, well, a stereotypical old man. Reiser may deliver a punchline with the best of them, but it's loaded with some real moans, covering up the "what's that" misunderstanding.
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