’90s Sitcoms That Deserve a Reboot

At this point, there almost are not many ’90s sitcoms left to revive, remake, or reboot, but there are still a handful deserving of it.

Will & Grace returned to rave reviews from both fans and critics, going on to earn at least two more seasons worth of episodes in the future.

Netflix has had hot hits on their hands with Fuller House (Full House) and One Day at a Time (technically a remake of an ’80s sitcom).

Reboots have been so popular lately that revivals of both Roseanne and Boy Meets World (Girl Meets World) have already come and gone, with the former getting a spinoff for the upcoming TV season.

On the horizon there is a revival of Murphy Brown airing this fall on CBS, and the network is exploring the possibility of a Frasier reboot as well.

Even though a number of classic sitcoms have already been rebooted and revived, the ’90s dished out some top notch shows that could easily be brought back.

Scroll down to see out picks and let us know in the comments which classic sitcom you would bring back!

Family Matters

Without question, the first ’90s show on our list that deserves a reboot is Family Matters.

Frequently referred to as “The Steve Urkel show” by viewers, Family Matters debuted in late 1989 and ran all the way until 1997.

For nine side-splitting seasons, it brought Urkel’s hi-jinks into our homes at the sake of the of Winslow family’s collective sanity.

The show took its final bow with Steve and the never-ending object of his desire, Laura Winslow, getting engaged, so picking up where they are some 20 years later, now with their own established family, would be a perfect reboot.

Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper

The next ’90s sitcom on our list is one that deserves way more recognition for how great it was.

Lead by actor/comedian Mark Curry, Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper only ran for five seasons — between 1993 and 1997 — which is noticeably shorter than peers like Full House or Family Matters, but it still made a big splash with audiences.

The series ended with Mark and his love interest Vanessa, played by Holly Robinson Peete, having been engaged, but not yet married.

Word is, NBC had originally planned to bring the show back and to feature Mark and Vanessa’s wedding in the seventh season premiere, but alas, things didn’t work out and the show was sadly canceled.

Since Mark’s character was a former NBA player who had to take up substitute teaching/gym coaching, it would be easy to pick up where he is now and show fans that Mr. Cooper is still sarcastically plugging away. 

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Will Smith has since gone on to become an Oscar nominated actor, but it was The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air that made him a household name years earlier.

Playing a character very loosely based on himself, Smith charmed and chuckled audiences for six years on the NBC sitcom.

Along the way there were also moments of profound emotion blended in with the humor that left watchers in tears not cried out of laughter.

A show this iconic could very easily make a comeback and be rebooted with the focus on a new young Fresh Prince that represents the current culture.

He could Smith’s son, or daughter, and maybe go to live with his/her Uncle Carlton. There are lots of options available as the Banks’ family had quite a few members.

There is, unfortunately, a little hiccup in this reboot hope, as Smith said in a previous E! News interview that a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot happen “…pretty close to when Hell freezes over.”

Unhappily Ever After

This sitcom was nowhere near as widely acclaimed as many of the others, but somehow found an audience and ran for quite a while.

Unhappily Ever After launched on Jan. 11, 1995 on The WB and ran all the way until 1999, lasting 5 seasons.

If it had to be compared to another sitcom, the closest thing would likely be Married With Children. Both shows were comedic exaggerations, and sometimes dead-on realities, of suburban family life.

Where many shows only focused on the happy-go-lucky and everything wrapped up nicely in the end, Unhappily Ever After scoffed at that and made terribly inappropriate jokes, often through the voice of a talking, ill-tempered stuffed rabbit named Mr. Floppy who the father of the family spent a lot of time talking to.

Since stuffed animals don’t die, it would be funny to see the youngest kid of the family Ross, played by Malcolm in the Middle’s Justin Berfield, all grown up and hanging out with Mr. Floppy, just like his dad did.

The Drew Carey Show

Drew Carey is busy as the host of The Price is Right, but before that 1 or the wildly popular improve series Whose Line Is It Anyway? — Carey was the lead in one of the most underrated sitcoms ever produced by the ’90s.

The series ended in 2004 with Drew’s on-screen girlfriend going into labor before they could officially get married, which leaves the door wide open for how a reboot could pick up.

Seeing Drew parent a teenager could lead to some pretty hilarious storylines, especially if Diedrich Bader and Ryan Stiles return as his bumbling best friends Oswald and Lewis.

Then there’s Craig Ferguson and Kathy Kinney as Nigel Wick and Mimi Bobeck. The two of them had some side-splitting moments together and it would be great to see that chemistry again.

3rd Rock from the Sun

3rd Rock from the Sun was a sitcom that was in some ways like a spiritual sequel to Mork & Mindy, and yet wholly original at the same time.

It was about a group of aliens who came to Earth to study humankind, and featured a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt in one of his first major roles.

While the end of the show was pretty well-done — and would maybe be somewhat problematic as far as continuing the story — if the producers of Roseanne can bring Dan back to life without batting an eye then there could be a way to bring the The Solomons back to Earth.

Step-by-Step

Along with Full House and Family Matters, Step-by-Step was a staple of the TGIF line-up for all 160 episodes that aired between 1991 and 1998.

Essentially a modern day Brady Bunch retelling, the cast of Step-by-Step was led by ’70s sitcom icon Suzanne Somers and Patrick Duffy.

The couple each had three kids, and abruptly fell in love and got married, which forced their two separate, and incredibly different, families to become one.

By the time the show ended, the cast was quite extensive, so it would be nice to pick up and see where everyone is today. Especially, Cody, Patrick Duffy’s character’s idiot nephew with a heart of gold. He was Step-by-Step‘s Urkel, but with better people skills and a lower IQ.

Dinosaurs

The last show on our list is the incomparably brilliant…Dinosaurs. While this might not be the first thing you think of when you hear “sitcom,” it was considered one and it was pretty much the best one.

Debuting in 1991, Dinosaurs ran for 65 episodes, right up until 1994.

Following the Family Matters methodology, with one star stealing the show, Dinosaurs had the best “Urkel” since the real Urkel. They had Baby Dinosaur.

With his big purple eyes, he was very cuddly and you had to love him.

Since the show took place back in the prehistoric days, it would very easy to go back and work up new adventures of the Sinclair family. Come on, ABC. Give the people what they want.