6 Best TV Drama Revivals
No TV show has truly had a series finale as long as the network or streaming service can produce a revival. TV sitcoms like Full House, Saved by the Bell, and Will & Grace returned. Dramas have reunited their casts, or at least passed the torch to the next generation. Here are six of the best TV drama revivals of the last decade.
‘Dallas’ revived the TV drama until real-life tragedy occurred
TNT brought back the hit drama Dallas with original cast members Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy, and Linda Gray as the original Ewings. Jesse Metcalfe, Josh Henderson, Jordana Brewster, Julie Gonzalo, and Emma Bell played the new generation battling over the family oil business.
Unfortunately, Hagman died while filming the second season. The show quickly adjusted existing footage to explain J.R. Ewing’s off screen death, but the show could never recover. Despite the best efforts of the new cast, no new character could be the magnificent foil J.R. was in both series.
‘The X-Files’ TV revival gave the drama closure
It had been a rough road for The X-Files. The original show ended with two seasons without David Duchovny, and appearing in the 2002 finale hardly made up for it. The second movie, X-Files: I Want to Believe had Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Mulder (Duchovny) married, but didn’t keep the franchise going.
Fox brought the duo back for two limited series in 2016 and 2018 though. These episodes both continued the alien mythology and gave Scully and Mulder new standalone monsters to investigate. This time, it was Anderson who decided she was done with Scully for good, but at least fans got 16 new episodes through which to say goodbye.
‘Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life’ made movies out of the TV drama
After leaving the CW series in later seasons, Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino returned for a Netflix revival. Instead of a new set of hour-long episodes, Sherman-Palladino made four movies, each covering a season in Rory (Alexix Bledel) and Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham)’s life.
A Year in the Life was a mixed bag. Not everyone loved the new direction, including Scott Patterson. But, Sherman-Palladino got to conclude with the four words she intended, and fans and stars are still hoping for A Year in the Life 2.
The ‘Law & Order’ mothership revival changed nothing
When Law & Order ended after 20 seasons, it was the end of an era. The spinoff, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was continuing, but the mothership was over. Then came the drama revival in 2022. Little had changed. There was still a police investigation and a trial.
So, the cops were new (Anthony Anderson and Jeffrey Donovan) but Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) was still the DA. All the Law & Order spinoffs proved the formula still worked, so why not bring back the original?
The ‘Dexter’ revival gave the drama the right ending
Dexter: New Blood ended years of speculation with a proper TV drama revival in 2021. The original Showtime series left fans disappointed, with Dexter (Michael C. Hall) surviving but appearing to become a lumberjack in the pacific northwest.
New Blood found Dexter living under an alias in upstate New York. Now Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) is the voice in his head. Dexter starts murdering again right when a grown-up Harrison (Jack Alcott) shows up to complicate his life. While this may be the end of the road for Hall, it was at least a proper Dexter story and it does leave room for spinoffs.
‘Quantum Leap’ revived the drama without the original cast
The new Quantum Leap offered Scott Bakula the chance to return as Sam Beckett, but he declined. Hopefully he changes his mind but nevertheless, NBC’s Quantum Leap revival does justice to the 30-year-old series.
Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) leaps into the past and addresses social issues just like the original series did. A present day story actually continues the mission of Sam Beckett, including the daughter of Al (Dean Stockwell) played by Georgina Riley. The weekly leaps ought to make Sam proud and the new mysteries are certainly engrossing to fans.
