Buffy theVampireSlayeris returning from the afterlife! With Sarah Michelle Gellar!
The initial reports haveSarah Michelle Gellarreprising her role as Buffy, Oscar-winnerChloé Zhaodirecting the pilot, andHulustreaming the show. There’snorelease date.
Deadlinereports theBuffyreboot as “the next chapter in the Buffyverse,” that “Joss Whedon…has no involvement in the reboot,” and “it is unclear yet whether other originalBuffycast members would return; that is considered likely.”
Buffyjoins the list of cult series that have been rebooted in recent years. Here are three others.
A Universe Is Born
Dexter: New Bloodpicked up 10 years after the dramatic conclusion to the original show and brought back Michael C. Hall as the titular Dexter Morgan,killerof killers. A change in setting gave the show a new texture that allowed it to land positively with fans.
While it wasn’t a unanimous hit,New Bloodscored 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. And it did well enough that a prequel series,Original Sin, followed in 2024, with another sequel series,Resurrection, coming in 2025.Uma Thurmanrecently joined the cast.
A Few New Mysteries
Mixing the usual case-of-the-week format of the policeproceduralwith theparanormaland mysterious was a simple concept that allowed for dynamic, compelling, and unique stories that madeX-Filesone of the most beloved shows of the 90s. It ran from 1993 all the way to 2002, and was popular enough to have two spin-off shows.
A feature film, released in 1998, when the show was still on-air and popular, grossed $189M worldwide. But a 2008 follow-up, released 6 years after the series finale, failed pretty miserably, making only $20.9M domestically and $47.3 internationally ($68.3M total). That’s with the main characters, Mulder and Scully, returning as leads.
Those are the kinds of numbers that would typically make a studio weary of a reboot. But, in 2016,X-Filescame back. Season 10 picked up 14 years after the series finale. Once again, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson returned. And the six-episode series brought in ratings. The first episode had, according to Nielsen, 21.4 million viewers in its first three days. That’s better than many episodes during the 90s.
Fox was happy enough to greenlight a second, 10-episode season. While reviews were better, ratings plummeted. The least-viewed episode in Season 10 had 10.9M viewers. The best-viewed for Season 11 was 7.49M.
The show didn’t receive a Season 12.
1Twin Peaks
A Master’s Final Masterpiece
David Lynch’s return toTwin Peakswas a big deal for several reasons. First, the show is known as one of the most bizarre and confusing ever made. Lynch was part of it, then he wasn’t part of it, then he was, then he made a prequel movie (Fire Walk With Me). Over the course of 30 episodes and one movie, people fell in love but were also confounded.
The second reason is that Lynch, who recently passed away, was a legendary filmmaker. He’s had seminal films that have shaped the zeitgeist, even if you haven’t seen them.Eraserhead,Elephant Man,Blue Velvet, andMulholland Drive, have all helped shape modern cinematic language.
But Lynch hadn’t made a film since 2006. And he hadn’t returned toTwin Peakssince 1992. So whenTwin Peaks: The Returnwas announced, in 2014, everyone was flabbergasted in the best way possible.
The 18-episode series finally came out in 2017, after several long years. It’s arguably the best reboot ever. The score on Rotten Tomatoes is 94%. It made most of the major top-ten lists for 2017, including atRolling Stone,Collider,The Washington Post,The Ringer, andEsquire. And the Emmys nominated it for Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, as well as Outstanding Writing.
With Lynch passing away on June 11, 2025,Twin Peaks: The Returnmarks a master’s final masterpiece. It also serves as an ideal for all future reboots.
David Lynch Has Passed Away, At 78
Legendary filmmaker David Lynch has passed away at 78 years old.
