Reboot-Mania 2022: 4 Shows Enter- Only 2 Will Survive!

Welcome! Thank you for joining us for Fight Night!

I've gathered you all here today to witness the fight of champions- the tournament of kings, if you will: Reboot-Mania! Four shows enter, only two will win! 

Tonight, two reboots are facing off against their original shows in this nostalgia-battle: The Proud Family vs. The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, 

The Proud Family (2001-2005)

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (2022)

and iCarly vs. iCarly (2021):

iCarly (2007-2012)

iCarly (2021-present)

After watching multiple episodes of both of these sitcoms and their reboots, I can confidently determine the winner of the ensuing smackdown. And so- LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!

First round, The Proud Family and its reboot.

*Ding!* *Ding!*

The Proud Family is a black animated sitcom about a 14-year-old girl named Penny Proud and her family as they live in the suburban city owned by basketball tycoon, Wizard Kelly. Oscar Proud, her father, is the owner of an unsuccessful snack company called Proud Snacks, while his wife and Penny's mother, Trudy Proud, is a veterinarian. Oscar and Trudy also have twin babies, Bebe and Cece, and they all live together with Oscar's mother, known only as Suga Mama.

About a month ago, Disney announced the 20th anniversary of the original Proud Family series, along with their release of the new DVD box set of the entire 52-episode run. As a fan of the original- naturally- I ordered it and watched the entire first season over the course of two weeks.

And... let me tell you- I forgot how old The Proud Family was. Truthfully, I didn't realize how dated the show was until I started watching the first season, which initially premiered in 2001.

Do you know what else was popular in 2001? Parodies about The Matrix, and lessons about illegally downloading music from Napster (flashbacks to the piracy "You wouldn't download a car" meme come to mind). Not only did The Proud Family have both of those things (in the same episode might I add), but there were also dated cultural references to things like Destiny's Child and B2K, and many jokes/comments that wouldn't hold up in the year of our Lord 2022 (take literally anything Papi says about Suga Mama, for example).

HOWEVER, for the most part, the show still does a good job at scratching a cultural itch that hasn't been acknowledged before or since the show went off the air. Black animation kind of peaked with The Proud Family, and it's really easy to see why upon rewatch.

Something that I realized upon rewatching it was that I loved this show growing up because I could see myself in it. There were so many times when I could see myself in Penny, despite her hijinks. She was a smart, funny black girl with big ideas and (sometimes) a bigger head. I could also see elements of my family in Oscar and Trudy and Suga Mama. I could even relate to having annoying siblings like Bebe and Cece. Compared to other animated Disney Channel sitcoms at the time, The Proud Family was the most authentic version of a modern black family I had seen in a cartoon.

Sure, the characters were ghetto, cheap, trifling, and ashy, but they were also funny, smart, loving, and real.   

This show meant a lot to me growing up, and upon rewatch, I still think it makes a lot of good points about family and standing up for what's right. Sure, Penny's friends were all terrible to her in the original series (which is something that was addressed to some modicum of success in a couple of episodes), but it could be argued that The Proud Family was trying to teach us about fake-friends, too.

Overall, I have to say that I love the original Proud Family. It is my second favorite black Disney Channel sitcom from the early 2000s (That's So Raven will forever have my heart). So, when I heard that they were making a reboot of the original show and bringing back the cast for the updated spin on The Proud Family, I was excited. I was just sure that I would love The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder just like I loved the original.

And... Well...

I'll just say this about The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder- they didn't false advertise. When I first started this show, my first reaction was that there was a lot happening in the first few seconds, and everyone on screen was screaming for no reason.

Straight off the bat, this show just feels... hollow? But not for the reasons that you may think. 

My opinion of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is that it's trying too hard to make itself relevant. In the first couple of episodes, I was immediately put off because I found there were too many quips and rapid fire cultural references in the first three minutes, that all served to say "This ain't your mama's Proud Family. We know what the kids like today. They like Chloe & Halle, and smart phones, and drones, and they don't like things that aren't 'woke.'"

As an old fan, it's a little disconcerting. It's clear that The Proud Family is still a kid's cartoon, but it's been coopted by a new generation of kids, which is tripping me up a little bit.

There's something strange about growing up with The Proud Family seeing Penny beg her mom for a flip phone, only to see her again 20 years later with a smart phone and a full awareness of social media, all without having aged more than a year. 

It feels like this show is a shadow of the former show, in which they're attempting to capture the magic from the original without understanding what made the original fun in the first place. For example, there's a lot of flanderization going on with the main cast. Everyone is amped up, playing into their worst or most known characteristics from the original show. Oscar is known for being cheap and trifling, and so he's cheap and trifling every episode. Suga Mama is notoriously mean and beats up Oscar all the time in the reboot, because that's something that happened in the original show. Bobby stays eating people out of house and home in the reboot, because that's what Bobby did in the original. And so on, and so on...

That’s not even to mention the inconsistencies with the original canon of the show. For example, in a recent episode of Louder and Prouder, Suga Mama’s real name is revealed to be Charlette, and it is discovered that her family is from Oklahoma. She is revealed to have three brothers and a misogynistic father, who she does not speak to. This is all well and good, only, this goes against some of the shows original canon, in which Suga Mama had a sister named Sista Spice who was a psychic that her parents adored for her special abilities. Louder and Prouder mostly ignores this lesser known episode in favor of this new idea for Suga Mama’s past, in which she was forced to face her misogynistic family and prove them wrong.

Despite my complaints, the show isn't all bad. There are changes and updates that I liked (The theme song isn't one of them.). For example, I like the fact that Michael from the original series is now included in Penny's crew instead of Sticky (since Disney has distanced themselves from Orlando Brown for obvious reasons). I also like that he is canonically queer, and that there are other examples of explicitly queer representation. I liked that they did an episode about LaCienega's Quinceanera, even though the episode itself kind of went off the rails. 

The best episode of Louder and Prouder for me, though, was when the reboot went back to its weird roots and brought back everyone's favorite demon, Al Roker, for an episode where Penny wishes she was old enough to go to college. I liked this episode for a couple of reasons: 1. It seemed like a return to form in which we get to see Penny learn the consequences from her actions after being tricked by Al Roker (again), and 2. It seemed fun to explore what the show may have been if the creators had allowed Penny to grow up. Realistically, Penny should have been in her 30s by now, as she was a teen in the early 2000s. Getting a glimpse into what a college sitcom would have been like with these characters was fun, even if only for a 20-minute episode.

All that said, I can't help but feel like I wouldn't be so disappointed or annoyed by this reboot if there were more accessible black cartoons out there for kids. The only black cartoon I can think of that is still currently airing in 2022 is Craig of the Creek on Cartoon Network, and I haven't had the chance to watch it yet. There aren't many other black cartoons for kids, period. A show like The Boondocks was not made for kids, and Static Shock went off nearly 20 years ago.

So really, what else are little black kids supposed to watch? 

I know I've complained a lot about this reboot, but truthfully The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder isn't hurting anybody. It's just not for me. 

Even though this reboot got picked up for a second season, it feels forgettable in a way. Something about it feels bland and generic, as it leans too far into its cartoon silliness for its points about social commentary to stick to anything. Unlike the original that felt like a cultural touchstone for early 2000s black kids, this show just feels like it's not really for anybody, because it's trying to appeal to everybody.

After watching both shows and comparing them, I can confidently say that I wish a new black animated show was greenlit by Disney instead of this unnecessary reboot. I would probably like it more.

So, if you ask me, I'll confidently declare that, "The Proud Family beats The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder in a clean knock-out!"

This round goes to the original series!

Round two: iCarly and its reboot.

*Ding!* *Ding!*

iCarly was a Nickelodeon sitcom about a teenaged girl named Carly Shay who lives in Seattle with her older brother, Spencer. After getting into trouble after school, she starts a comedy web-show (named iCarly) with her aggressive best friend Sam and her tech savvy neighbor, Freddie. Their web-show quickly becomes a viral sensation and launches the trio into internet stardom.

The original series is... quirky, to be sure. After recently binging the entire show from pilot to series finale, I have to say that this show has a vibe that feels very mid-2000s. Most of the comedy on the show is very silly and childish- but it works because the entire premise of iCarly as a web-show is centered around a couple of girls not taking themselves too seriously as they post funny videos on the internet. iCarly (the web-show) was born out of the character's desire to be as free as possible to express themselves and share that with others, which was very reminiscent of YouTube culture at the time that the show originally aired. 

Speaking of internet culture, the original iCarly inadvertently predicted some of the biggest events that would hit the internet in later years. Episodes that come to mind are "iPromote Tech Foots" in which the iCarly gang accepts a sponsorship to promote a shoe brand that is less than safe (see the BetterHelp scandal for a real world parallel), and "iCarly Saves TV," where Carly and Sam are discovered on the internet by a TV executive, only to be given a TV show that deviated from the original content, and ultimately sucked (see A Little Late with Lilly Singh for a real world parallel). iCarly also had episodes featuring boxing matches with internet celebrities, being shipped by super-fans, being canceled for doing/saying something offensive or unpopular, and so on, and so on. This show was truly ahead of its time in the way it incorporated internet culture and was aware of the newer generation of kids who grew up using it.

I watched iCarly when it originally aired on Nickelodeon and I watched it all again recently, and for the most part, the show holds up. There are certain things that don't exactly sit right with me anymore, like Sam's abusive relationship with Freddie and the clear child abuse and neglect Sam receives from her mother, along with their frequent use of the word hobo throughout the show as if homeless people were caricatures- HOWEVER, the show is still a solid children's comedy.

For the most part, the show is lighthearted, silly, fun, and random. They even have a segment on their web-show called "Random Dancing!" iCarly  encouraged a lot of kids to use the internet for fun, as iCarly.com was a real website where kids could watch videos of the original cast in exclusive online sketches, and play games with their friends (now going to iCarly.com will lead you to the Nickelodeon website where you can watch episodes from season 2 of the original series and a few other behind the scenes clips). 

All in all, the original iCarly was about letting your inner weird kid out and having fun with your friends on the internet. So, when I heard last year that they were bringing the old show back for a more mature reboot of iCarly, I was cautiously optimistic.

And... (*Sigh*) Well...

Let me put it this way: the new iCarly is not a bad show. 

It’s just... unfunny.

I'm not saying that to be controversial. I'm saying it because when I watched the eleven-episode first season of the iCarly reboot, I laughed a handful of times, and I liked a total of 2 episodes. The other episodes of this reboot are throwaway garbage.

Some of this can be attributed to the fact that the cast is out of practice. Miranda Cosgrove hasn’t really acted since the original iCarly ended back in 2012. She comes across as wooden and rusty in the first few episodes of the reboot, as Carly is explaining where she's been since we last saw her nearly 10 years ago. She gets better as the series goes on, but because she essentially has to carry the show without Jennette McCurdy, it is incredibly noticeable at first (I'll touch on that later).

Aside from the acting, the writing for the reboot just isn’t as strong as it was for the original. For one thing, the language of the show isn’t fun.

One thing that made the original iCarly special was its colorful language. Sam was especially known for making up phrases to sub in for popular curses (mostly to get around the Nickelodeon kid filters and FCC broadcasting rules about G television) however, they gave the show a sense of character that the reboot is lacking. Having Spencer and Carly be able to say “damn” and “hell” and “bitch” just isn’t as fun as calling someone a “wazzbag” or saying that something is jank. For example, the sentence, “that chiz is jank” makes no sense today, but it makes perfect sense in the world of the original iCarly. It may seem childish now, but so is the original iCarly.

(To the shows credit, they may be distancing themselves from that language as it was created by a very well-known and problematic producer/creator for the network who is no longer involved in the project. If that is the reason why they are not referencing old language from the original series, then I fully support this decision, even though I still believe it is ultimately to the show’s detriment)

The reboot lacks a lot of the iconic comedy that the original had in other ways, too. Most of this can be attributed to the fact that the writers are completely different, however, the show just lacks a certain silliness that the original show had. The new iCarly takes itself a little too seriously, and that's a problem for iCarly- the show that was born from its desire to let kids be weird online. Perhaps this show isn't as silly because adults can't be expected to act as wacky and irresponsibly as children do, but it's a little disappointing that most of the antics in this show arise from misunderstandings and not genuine wacky comedy. (The closest thing to wacky comedy the first season had to offer was "iRobot Wedding" where the gang goes to the wedding of their old rival, Neville. But to be honest, that episode was bad.)

An example of the type of wacky comedy that the original show had that is lacking in the reboot.

Conceptually, the new iCarly is the same, but in feeling, the show is wildly different. For example, the new iCarly feels more like a standard sitcom with the caveat being that Carly has a web-show, instead of that being the entire premise. iCarly (2021) could have been any other millennial show where the main character works in social media instead of a show about the social media itself.

The original iCarly started or ended most episodes with clips from the web show, as it was integral to the plot of the show itself. The new iCarly only uses the web-show and the set pieces of the iCarly studio as an excuse for the show to exist, really.

A lot of the reboot focuses on Carly, Spencer, Freddie, and the new characters introduced for the reboot, Harper and Millicent. I mean no disrespect to the actors playing these new characters, because heaven knows they've received enough hate as it is, but I do not particularly enjoy either of these characters in this show. Not necessarily because of any performance-based reason, but just because of their characters’ personalities on the show, and how they fit into the overall tone of the new iCarly.

Firstly, Millicent plays Freddie's ex-stepdaughter from his second marriage (which is already much too complicated if you ask me), and she's a business minded and savvy young girl who happens to talk back a little too much for my liking. I found her annoying in most of the episodes that she was in, but overall, I could tolerate her, even though her relationship with Freddie made little to no sense (I think it would have been better and made more sense character-wise if Millicent was Spencer's daughter instead, but I digress). 

Then there is Harper, a pansexual fashion stylist who works as a barista until her career takes off. She's currently Carly's new best friend since Sam left (presumably to star on Sam & Cat, but we'll touch on that later), and they live as roommates in Carly's old building. Harper is bubbly and sassy and a lot of fun to be around, but ultimately... I felt like she was in the wrong show. 

Unlike Sam from the original, Harper has little to do with the iCarly web-show. I know that the writers and creators of the reboot didn't want to replace Sam because they didn't want to disrespect Jennette McCurdy or upset fans of the original show. But because of this, Harper feels extraneous to this show about a girl running a web-show. In fact, a lot of the reboot focuses on Carly, Freddie, and Harper's personal lives instead of the comedy of the web-show.

Again, this show seems more like a basic adult sitcom with "iCarly" branding on it, which feels like a shame, to be honest.

There are some bright spots in the series, such as "iFauxpologize" and "i'M Cursed" which I personally thought were the best episodes of the first season. These two episodes felt like a return to what I thought an iCarly reboot would be, in which the comedy is silly and lighthearted, and the references to internet culture are prescient and spot on. Since the reboot's second season just premiered, I'm hopeful that there will be more episodes like those down the line (although I'm not holding my breath). I also appreciated the fact that they aged up the characters to meet their original audience where they are at in their lives now, unlike The Proud Family reboot that rebranded so its demographic aged out of watching it. But mostly, I like that they made a reference to this old Miranda Cosgrove meme:

Miranda Cosgrove in Drake and Josh (2004-2007)

Miranda Cosgrove in iCarly (2021)

One thing that I touched on briefly before was how Jennette McCurdy decided not to not take part in the reboot as Sam Puckett, Carly's best friend from the initial iCarly. (Noah Munk, who played Gibby in the original series, also declined to return for the reboot.) Let's briefly discuss this:

In recent years, Jennette has been pretty outspoken about not liking the roles she was taking when she was younger and looking back on her acting career with a level of shame. This would notably include the role of the aggressive and often hungry, Sam Puckett, much to fans disappointment. After iCarly ended in 2012, Jennette went on to play Sam once more in the spinoff of iCarly and Victorious, Sam & Cat, which also starred Ariana Grande. Shortly after the show's abrupt cancellation in 2013, Jennette quit acting, and pursued other avenues in writing and directing instead. She has since refused to be a part of this iCarly reboot because of this pivot in her life and career.

Clearly the iCarly reboot has no desire to replace Sam as a character, and yet, while her absence is noticeable, it's not terribly distracting from the show. In fact, all things considered, the reboot probably works better without her character in it. That's not to say that I wouldn't love to see how Sam would react to situations in this series (because I definitely would), but all of the changes that the reboot made to the characters and the setup of the show wouldn't really work so well with Sam in the picture. It was comical when Sam was pranking and assaulting Freddie and others as a teen, but as an adult these actions have much different implications, and much more severe punishments than juvie.

Even without Sam, though, this show could be so much better.

In fact, in an ideal world, the new iCarly would be fun. In my proposed version, Carly would stop doing beauty tips on her web-show and start producing an offbeat SNL type sketch comedy show that took her back to her comedy roots. Spencer could help her by making art pieces and backgrounds and Millicent and Freddie could help with the business and technical side of things, respectively. Since Harper likes styling people, she could be the wardrobe stylist for all of the sketches. I feel like this reboot had all of the necessary pieces to be fun and enjoyable to watch, but it just... isn't. The show itself is bland and unremarkable, in a way that is sad to watch.

Again, like The Proud Family Louder and Prouder, the iCarly reboot isn't hurting anyone. It just... isn't very good. I wouldn't recommend watching it, but if it brings joy to some other fans of the original, who am I to say that it's bad? I hope some people love watching it so that Jerry Trainor can stay employed for a little longer.

In the end, though, it's safe to say that while iCarly (2021) was swinging with all of its might, it just couldn't seem to score enough points to beat the original.

 

"And... The original iCarly takes it in a knockout!"

It looks like a clean sweep for the original shows, Ladies and Gentlemen. Who could've guessed?! The blowout of the century!

In all seriousness, I think I may just be tired of nostalgia culture.

Everywhere I look there are reboots and rebrands and spinoffs and sequels. Nowadays almost every popular IP has to have its own extended universe or new spin that makes it relevant to the kids of today. Without thinking too hard, I can name a handful of other iconic TV shows that have been rebooted recently, even within my lifetime (How I Met Your Mother v. How I Met Your Father immediately comes to mind- although that may be a spinoff instead of a reboot). And at the risk of sounding old and out of touch, I just don't get it.

I once loved The Proud Family and iCarly, but these reboots don't seem to capture the spirit of the originals. Not only were these shows groundbreaking during the time they originally aired, but they were incredibly influential to an entire generation of people like me. Somehow these reboots feel like a desperate cash grab or ploy to shift our attention to Disney+ and Paramount+ for the time being. It's clear that reboots have taken over the streaming war, and I would rather not participate in this war of attrition.

I think enough is enough. 

Maybe Kim Kardashian's ex-boyfriend, Pete Davidson, had a point:

No, Pete Davidson. No, it doesn't.

Thank you for reading everyone. 

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I hope you all are having a great day. Stay safe out there, and take care of each other.