4 Reboot Mistakes The New Buffy Must Not Make

I’m a lifelong fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer; in fact, before my tiny hometown got the WB, I joined an online mailing list and got a helpful fan to send me VHS recordings of the first two seasons. I was hooked and have remained a lifelong fan, but when it comes to the upcoming Buffy reboot, I am (in the fashion of Saved By the Bell’s Jessie) both so excited and so scared. That’s because a number of high-profile TV reboots have made some serious blunders, and unless Buffy can avoid them, her own reboot TV show will fail to (ahem) slay.

What are those mistakes? Grab your favorite stake (is that you, Mr. Pointy?) and keep reading to find out!

Mistake 1: Not Enough Cameos From the Original Cast

It’s inevitable that the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot is going to focus on new characters. Sure, fans are excited that Sarah Michelle Gellar is coming back to reprise her role, but it’s a safe bet that she will play more of a Giles role and serve as a mentor to a new Slayer (played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong). Therefore, we can expect most of the show’s runtime to be dedicated to the misadventures of an entirely new cast of characters.

With that said, this reboot is likely to flop if we don’t get plenty of cameos from the original show. Even if they only pop in for an episode or two, it would be a crime if this new Buffy the Vampire Slayer doesn’t fill us in on what characters like Willow and Xander have been up to in the intervening years. Personally, I’d love to see Angel pop up, which would give the writers a chance to officially explain what happened to him after the shocking cliffhanger ending of Angel.

Without enough cameos from OG characters past its pilot (hopefully, it will get a full season order), a Buffy reboot won’t really appeal to old-school fans. Without the support of the core fandom, this show will never survive to a second season.

Mistake 2: Changing the Core Plot

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the show’s whole deal is spelled out by its cheeky title. Buffy is a Slayer, someone who is charged with fighting vampires and other undead threats. By the end of the show, she has found a way of sharing her Slayer power with girls all around the world, which is why you can expect Gellar to play a mentor character: the last time we saw Buffy onscreen, she was creating a small army of Slayers, all of whom would need additional guidance regarding both their fantastic new powers and their responsibility to fight evil.

If the Buffy reboot is to be successful, it needs to maintain the show’s core plot of having a superpowered heroine fighting an army of undead monsters. Should the writers try to do something else, like presenting a Bright-esque world where the monsters now live with humanity, the show will most certainly bomb. That’s because fans are tuning in for Slaying; if they want to watch humans make nice with weirdos in scary makeup, they’d just go watch Star Trek.

While the reboot isn’t likely to change the formula, it’s more common than you might think. The Frasier reboot transformed its titular radio host into a professor, and Picard transformed its titular Starfleet captain into a disgruntled renegade. And both of those shows are much, much weaker for these changes, a fate I can only hope Buffy avoids.

Mistake 3: Boring Original Characters

Earlier, I mentioned that the Buffy reboot will most certainly focus more on original characters than familiar faces. With that being said, it’s vitally important that these characters are exciting and unique, with fun personalities and witty dialogue to rival that of the original show. Otherwise, fans will be disappointed because the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer is going to feel like a crappy, knockoff version of the best girl power show in television history.

You can pretty much throw a stone and hit a reboot that is filled with snoozeworthy original characters, including Frasier, Charmed, Gossip Girl, and so on. The original shows that they were based on were successful largely thanks to their ensemble cast of well-written and charismatic characters. If the Buffy reboot can’t match the comedic synergy and chill vibes of its original cast, the producers might as well stake the show and be done with it.

Mistake 4: Ignoring Classic Storylines

So far, the creators behind the upcoming Buffy reboot have been cagey about how much the new show will relate to the old one. But we do know that the new show will be set in the same universe and that Sarah Michelle Gellar is playing Buffy. With that in mind, I have one more recommendation for these creators: please, please don’t ignore classic storylines, even if (perhaps especially if) they are silly.

It’s more common than you might think: the Will & Grace reboot turned the original show’s last episode into a dream, and the Roseanne reboot retconned Dan’s death in the original. And take it from an ‘80s kid, it’s hard to count the number of storyline changes and weird character retcons in Fuller House. Here’s hoping that Buffy’s reboot doesn’t pull any of these shenanigans and honors the original show’s stories, warts and all.

Some audiences annoyed by old, cringeworthy storylines may be rooting for a few retcons. But remember, fans: if you don’t love Buffy the Vampire Slayer at its Season 6, you don’t deserve it at its Season 3!