Classic WB Sitcom Is Getting Rebooted

A Smart Guy revival is in the very, very, very early stages, star Tahj Mowry revealed in a new interview last week. The series starred Mowry as child prodigy T.J. Henderson, who jumps from elementary school to high school to attend with his older siblings. It originally aired on the now-defunct The WB from 1997 to 1999. It was co-produced by Disney, which has made it available for a new generation of fans to stream on Disney+.

“There’s been lots of Zoom meetings and talks about this, so we do have the ball rolling on it,” Mowry, the younger brother of Sister, Sister stars Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry, told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s just a matter of time and timing, but we do have the possible home for it.” Mowry, 35, said they have even hired a writer for the project and he believes it will have a “really fresh take” on the story. He hopes to bring back the entire main cast to create “something that is fresh and new… but also something that the diehard fans will still get that nostalgic aspect of it as well.”

Aside from Mowry, the series also starred Jason Weaver and Essence Atkins as T.J.’s older siblings Marcus and Yvette. John Marshall Jones played their widowed father Floyd, while Omar Gooding starred as Marcus’ best friend Mo Tibbs. Tinsley Grimes, Arvie Lowe Jr., J.D. Walsh, James K. Ward, Dann Florek, and Kyla Pratt also had recurring roles on the three-season show.

In a perfect world, fans would see “the whole cast” on the reboot, Mowry told ET. “But we’re not at that stage yet where we’re checking everyone’s schedule,” the actor said. “We’re still in the pre-phases. So that will come. But if all goes according to plan, everyone will be in it.”

If Mowry’s reboot does get off the ground, he will have at least one former co-star jumping at the chance to be involved. In a May 2020 interview with PopCulture, Marshall Jones said he would “love to be a part” of a Smart Guy reboot. “I think that we’ll see, through its release on Disney+,” he said. “Apparently it’s one of the top 10 shows on Disney+ already.”

Although Smart Guy only ran three seasons with 51 episodes, it still holds a place in the heart of fans who watched it when it aired over two decades later. “I think that that there was an amazing relationship going on within this family that was all based on love,” Marshall Jones said when discussing the show’s staying power. “That the parent on the show was so committed to loving and protecting his family that it came through the screen and it made people at home feel loved and protected when they watched it. And because of that, the young genius could go out and have adventures that were beyond the scope of normal kids, because he was protected.”