The revival of a TV show is sensitive because so many beloved programs were canceled before ever reaching their finales. Why this show?"
Dexter was a major hit for Showtime while airing, and on Netflix as one of the streaming platform's earliest binge-hits. It set the stage for the golden age of modern television and earned its full run of eight seasons only to bomb the finish with GOT-esque disappointment. While plenty of beloved canned-shows collect dust without even a first chance at closing, Dexter gets a re-do. So, which shows better deserves this revival treatment?
Last Man On Earth
Fans of Will Forte's Last Man On Earth undoubtedly miss Tandy's booms, Carol's literal interpretations, and of course Todd's popping and locking. For those less familiar, the four hilarious seasons of this half-hour delight starring Forte alongside Kristen Schaal are currently streaming on Hulu.
Spoiler alert, Season Four ends with a classic, "Oh farts," from Tandy (Forte) as the group finds themselves surrounded by a community of masked people who've emerged from an underground bunker. Aiming for a fifth season before being canceled by Fox, Forte would've likely delivered some hysterical interactions between the gang and their new... captors? friends? who knows?
High Fidelity
Hulu's episodic reimagining of High Fidelity turned out to possess more charm and musical insight than the source material. In addition to the fantastic soundtrack, the show followed an equally-self-involved, but far chiller protagonist in Rob Brooks (Rob Gordon (John Cusack). It also featured a number of unforgettable friends like Cherise (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), and Simon (David H. Holmes).
After an acclaimed first season, High Fidelity's unexpected cancellation was a shock and disappointment to Kravitz, critics, and fans everywhere. One of 2020's only positive offerings, this show amassed a ionate fan base who would welcome a return with major enthusiasm.
Masters Of Sex
The Showtime series Masters Of Sex was an under-watched gem that featured a number of riveting performances throughout from the likes of Lizzy Caplan, Michael Sheen, Caitlin Fitzgerald, and Annaleigh Ashford. Chronicling the groundbreaking work of Dr. William Masters (Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Caplan), the show offered a historically-inspired and detailed look into the development of the sexual psyche of our country.
Development was a major theme in Masters Of Sex, as it told its dramatic plots with realistic arcs and long-term character growth. This patient writing made the show better and better each season, and then the network cut all of its main characters off at their most compelling turns due to poor ratings. After demonstrating how Masters and Johnsons' work helped kickstart the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the show never got to find its own way out of that climactic period.
Party Down
An imaginary study of the reasonable imagination recently proved that everyone who has ever watched Party Down feels like it was cut down in its prime, and would warmly welcome a revival. The show's use of the catering company as a vehicle to travel in and out of the homes of endless personalities is super sustainable, especially with a central cast of absolute killers.
Ken Marino's heart-breaking, knee-slapping performance as Ron Donald offers an equally-funny aloof-boss character as Michael Scott. Across him, a lineup of workers features comedic performance legends such as Martin Starr, Jane Lynch, Megan Mullally, Adam Scott, Lizzy Caplan, Jennifer Coolidge, and Ryan Hansen. The show featured the sweetest friendships, the funniest of pranks, and hijinks galore. The two existing seasons are ever re-watchable, but a new season would undoubtedly result in more laughs, especially with this cast.
Togetherness
The Duplass Brothers directed every episode of Togetherness, and in doing so, they created an intimate and touching glimpse into the lives of a few friends, partners, and parents simply struggling to keep it together. Centered around Brett Pierson (Mark Duplass) and Michelle Pierson (Melanie Lynskey), the show looks at a tired marriage between two people who, despite being grown up, are still realistically trying to figure out who they are.
The earnest plight of hefty actor Alex Pappas (Steve Zissis) and his tragic love for Tina Morris (Amanda Peet) adds to the show's comprehensive look at a group of close, wayward souls. Each performance is honest and emotional. The thoroughly enjoyable program was canceled after just two seasons, and marking a real change for each character in that time, it only had interesting space to venture into
Baskets
This offbeat delight spearheaded by Jonathan Krisel features Baskets is a heart-warming tribute to an overlooked America.
The show's three seasons drift between the classic physical comedy of an inept clown, to dreamy sequences of artful performance and poetic rollerblading, to emotional observations of lost people searching for their own identities. Creative and original at every turn, Baskets possessed the potential to conjure a lot more humanity and hilarity from its characters.
Man Seeking Woman
Simon Rich's Man Seeking Woman spent three seasons curating an imaginative series of relationship entanglements magnified by playing out metaphors and exaggerations with enlightening grace. Centered on Josh Greenberg (Jay Baruchel), the FX program looked at somewhat typical struggles with self-doubt, lacking romance, and roommate drama in dramatic sequences such as debating a text message in a war room, dating a literal troll, and Mike (Eric Andre) turning into the Joker when planning a bachelor party.
It was original and witty while possessing an ability to blow things out of proportion to an unrealistic degree while remaining educational on the many very real ways we all tend to get overworked in everyday life. That balance was struck by the writing of Rich, as well as other acclaimed writers such as Stefani Robinson (Atlanta, What We Do In The Shadows) and Ian Maxtone-Graham (The Simpsons, Veep).
Bored To Death
In Bored To Death, Jonathan Ames casted Jason Schwartzman to play a self-titled protagonist who decides to himself on Craigslist as a private eye. On one side, Ames has his boss-best-friend hybrid in the form of a witty, stoned, and marvelously self-absorbed magazine-executive named George Christopher (Ted Danson). On the other, a fantastically self-conscious also stoned comic book artist named Ray Hueston (Zach Galifianakis) serves as an equally committed best friend.
The adventures, stakeouts, and shenanigans this standout trio get into throughout the three seasons of Bored To Death were stylized, silly, and the source of many great laughs. Cut off too soon, the characters still have the potential to breathe new life, even years later.
Community
Six seasons and a movie! Where's the movie? During one of many COVID-Zoom reunions, the long-running talks of a Community revival movie resurfaced, and all major cast expressed interest. So did Dan Harmon. So, whoever is in charge of funding revivals, this feature-length return to Greendale Community College is far more urgent than handing Dexter another chance to get away with killing people.
Community is one of the all-time half-hour comedies, and with cast changes, and showrunner-writer changes throughout the later seasons, it's been a while since the magic of the original study group surrounded the table. Who knows if we'd get more paintball, or pillow forts, or even more timelines? And as long as that particular collective of creatives got together to do it, then whatever extension of the story they landed on would likely be full of thoughtful-yet-stupid laughs.
Easy
Periodically checking in on a scattered group of young adults throughout Chicago, Joe Swanberg's Netflix's most original originals, and it, unfortunately, did not make it over that pivotal three-season hump. Empathetic, patient, and straight-forward, the show's approach of just annually checking in on its characters both felt complementary to the meandering-yet-visceral nature of good mumblecore, and super sustainable.
What a thing it would have been to check in on these characters with a small collection of episodes once a year for decades? If Netflix decided to revive it at any time, the show's format would allow viewers to step right back in with the characters in brief, insightful windows. And with a cast highlighted by many including Jane Adams, Aya Cash, Marc Maron, Jake Johnson, and Elizabeth Reaser, another brilliant season would likely await.