Netflix is a great way to rewatch all of your favorite shows, including ones that stop airing on television, and to discover shows that are long over or were way before your time. Since beginning production of its own shows, starting with House Of Cards in 2013, Netflix has become one of the biggest producers of TV hits in recent years. However, looking at its more recent original shows is like going back in time. Shows like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Fuller House reimagine fan favorites like Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Full House in new ways that leave old fans with mixed emotions.
No matter the quality of the content, people flock to watch the first seasons of these revivals and reboots ostensibly for nostalgic reasons. This isn’t the first time revivals and reboots have been popular either. In the 1980s and 1990s, as Nick at Nite started to popularize old reruns, TV networks realized there was a market in nostalgia. Instead of creating shows though, networks mass-produced made-for-TV movies like Rescue from Gilligan’s Island and The Addams Family.
Another possible reason for the popularity of classic revivals is the new feminist attitudes in these shows–light years ahead of character portrayals in the ‘80s and ‘90s. In recent years, there has been a surge of focus on women’s right movements, and this new focus has translated itself into new Netflix shows including Fuller House and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
Fuller House features three female leads – Candace Cameron as D.J. Tanner, Jodie Sweetin as Stephanie Tanner and Andrea Barber as Kimmy Gibbler. They are all career driven women on different paths with differing views towards the idea of marriage and children. Early on in the season Stephanie discusses with her sister D.J. that she doesn’t want to have children, an idea not as widely accepted in the 1980s when Full House first aired. In the finale of season one, D.J. decides to not get married again and focus on herself and her children. The episode finishes with a scene between the three women concluding that as long as they have each other, they’ll never feel unloved or alone. They choose to define themselves by their relationships to other women in their lives. While there is lack of racial diversity among the main cast, there is currently stronger representation in the supporting cast than the original series. Although the show also fails to address white privilege and economic privilege, two things that allow the white characters to pursue their ambitious dreams. However, while Fuller House isn’t perfect, it is still far ahead of its 1980s counterpart.
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is the second show on air based off the 1939 comic series Archie Comics. It is a much darker remake of the original show from the 1990s that starred Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman and her talking cat Salem as they got into weekly mishaps that could be solved with the pointing of a finger. Here Sabrina (Kiernan Shipka) is a half witch, half mortal with doubts about pledging her allegiance to Satan. Sabrina the Teenage Witch was a fun sitcom, but The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is, at its core, a horror show — it’s dark, scary, and while there’s humor, it is more creepy than fun. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has themes of freedom and power, specifically feminine power, featured throughout the show. Episodes feature discussions about banned books, assault, women in powerful roles, and unlike the original show, it has characters of color and LGBTQIA characters. Sabrina the Teenage Witch never tackled those themes as intensely. The newer Sabrina and her friends fight against their sexist principal in many episodes. One of Sabrina’s friends, Susie (Lachlan Watson), is non-binary (as is the actor in the role) and Netflix makes a point to be realistic about the discrimination kids like Susie still face.
By incorporating social and political issues into these shows, Netflix gives old series a new life that allows them to stay relevant in 2018– a year filled with political turmoil and the rise of new social movements. This is a chance for television writers to update older, beloved shows and make them culturally relevant. However, there is also a clear demand for nostalgic television because viewers want to see their childhood favorites on the small screen again. As politics get muddier and muddier, it is always a nice feeling to return to a show that reminds you of times where things seemed to be better.
