Nostalgia in Revival Shows
There is a feeling of nostalgia when I reflect back on the shows I watched growing up. The shows bring me back to a time when I was just focused on having fun. There have been revivals of shows from the late 80s and 90s like Saved by the Bell, Full House, and Boy Meets World. Now, there is the reemergence of the shows I personally watched growing up. This includes possible revivals of iCarly, Lizzie McGuire, and Hannah Montana. I believe there will be a different dynamic when watching revivals because I have distinct memories attached to the shows and characters.
Paramount+ is a new streaming service that will host Nickelodeon shows. Paramount+ has announced that there will be a revival of iCarly which “follows Carly Shay and her friends as they navigate work, love, and family in their twenties.” This revival creates different relationships than the original because there will be new characters like “Harper, Carly’s roommate and best friend” and “Millicent, Freddie’s snarky and social media-savvy stepdaughter” (Paramount+). Revival shows are very prominent on streaming platforms in order to attract previous viewers of shows to tune in. This is especially the case for iCarly’s revival because it is trying to promote a new streaming service. With a strong fan base already established, the streaming service has at least a first episode guarantee from viewers, but it will be difficult to maintain the cult following. I fear that the revival of iCarly will not be as great as the original especially without my favorite character, Sam. Jennette McCurdy, the actress who played Sam, will not be returning for the revival due to her retirement from acting. I think the absence of Sam will alter the relationships established in iCarly and may indicate Carly and Sam going their separate ways in life.
Revival shows can change their character focus to the child of the previous show’s main character. This was done in Girl Meets World, which focused on the life of Cory Matthews, the main character in Boy Meets World's daughter, Riley. This decision created little character development for Cory Matthews considering all we learn in the three seasons is that he is a history teacher at his daughter’s school. Boy Meets World was created in the 1990s, aired on the ABC Network, and the audience is now in their late 30s and early 40s. Girl Meets World was created in 2017, aired on Disney Channel, and was targeted towards tweens. Despite being from the same franchise, the shows were targeted towards a different audience.
Another way to approach revival shows is to have the target audience be the same original viewers who watched the show previously. The revival of Lizzie McGuire would have focused on Lizzie as a 30-year-old living in New York City. The revival would have been a continuation of the narrative the original show told. However, with the audience growing up with the character, this posed a challenge for where the show would reside since it would go from a children’s show to one targeted to adults. The difficult navigation of age-appropriate content led to the show being canceled.
An official Twitter account for Hannah Montana was created the day before the 15th anniversary of the Disney show that told the story of a teenage girl who had a double life as a pop star. Although the show is not confirmed, the popularity of Hannah Montana would be a reason for studios to potentially make a revival of the show. However, just because the show was popular fifteen years ago does not translate to what will succeed now. The uncertainty of the show’s success is due to the audience growing up and having different interests as a result.
Nostalgia is a strong feeling towards a time or place filled with joyous moments. The memories we hold of that time or place are treasured and reflected on with positive thoughts. There is no way to return back to the period of time when the original show aired, but should there be revivals to remind us of that time? I believe that in order for revival shows to succeed, the original characters have to age with the audience and encounter new situations that further their character development. I would also hope the original cast remains in order to get a reunion. Revival shows can be successful if they understand the audience they are targeting and evoke nostalgia in the original audience.
