Remakes aren't just Hollywood being lazy (though, let's be real, sometimes they are). The good ones give us a chance to keep what worked—the warmth, the humor, the actual family dynamics—while updating the stuff that aged like milk.

Take Full House versus Fuller House. The original had its moments, but it was also peak "dad knows best" energy with a side of casual sexism. Fuller House flipped the script—literally putting DJ in the dad role, surrounded by her sister and best friend helping raise her kids. Still cheesy? Absolutely. But it's cheese with a different flavor.

The real value here isn't just in watching remakes. It's in using both versions to talk with your kids about what's changed in our culture and why. When your 10-year-old watches an episode from 1992 and goes "wait, why is everyone making fun of that kid?" you've got a teaching moment about empathy, inclusion, and how we do better.

The original was genuinely great television—coming-of-age storytelling that treated kids' emotions seriously. But it was also the story of a white suburban family in the 1960s, told through an incredibly specific lens.

The Wonder Years reboot (2021) did something smart: it kept the heart of the original—a kid navigating growing up during a turbulent time—but told it from the perspective of a Black family in Montgomery, Alabama. Same structure, completely different (and necessary) perspective.

Watch both with kids ages 10+ and talk about how the same historical period looked different depending on who you were. It's a history lesson disguised as family TV.

Hear me out. Boy Meets World was peak "earnest life lessons" television, and Mr. Feeny remains an all-timer TV mentor. But the show was also very 90s in its handling of... basically everything.

Girl Meets World tried to update it for Disney Channel, and honestly? It wasn't terrible. But it was still too sanitized, too "Disney." A proper remake that kept the original's willingness to tackle real issues—but with 2025 sensibilities about mental health, identity, and family structures—could actually work.

Plus, imagine the conversations you could have with your middle schooler about how Cory and Topanga's "perfect" relationship from the original would look pretty toxic by today's standards. (Seriously, rewatch it. Cory was... a lot.)

Okay, this one's more "reboot" than "remake," but Reading Rainbow deserves to come back in full force. LeVar Burton's original run (1983-2006) made reading cool before that was even a thing we worried about losing.

In an era where kids are getting their book recommendations from BookTok and YouTube, imagine a modern Reading Rainbow that bridges that gap—short-form content that actually gets kids excited about physical books, hosted by someone who genuinely loves reading.

For kids ages 5-10, this would be the antidote to brain-rot content. And you know what? Adults would watch it too. LeVar Burton's already been trying to make this happen, and we should all be louder about wanting it.

The original (1982-1989) was about a hippie couple raising a Reagan-loving son, and it worked because it actually engaged with political differences within families. Imagine a modern version: progressive parents, a kid who's gone down the YouTube pipeline into some questionable content, and everyone trying to still love each other.

This would be perfect for families with teens because it would give you language for the conversations you're probably already struggling with. How do you maintain family bonds when you fundamentally disagree? How do you challenge your kids' views without pushing them away?

A good remake would tackle this without being preachy—just showing a family that disagrees but still shows up for dinner.

Not everything needs to come back. Saved by the Bell got a reboot in 2020 that was actually self-aware and funny, but did we need it? Debatable.

And some shows—looking at you, Alf—were products of their time in ways that just don't translate. Let them live in your memories and on YouTube clips when you want to show your kids what passed for entertainment in the 80s.

Here's the move: find a show you loved as a kid, watch an episode or two with your kids, and don't explain it away. Let them react. Let them be confused or uncomfortable or think it's hilarious for the wrong reasons.

Then talk about it:

You're not trying to cancel your childhood. You're showing your kids that culture evolves, that we can love something and still recognize its flaws, and that critical thinking applies to everything—including entertainment.

The best remakes aren't just nostalgia cash-grabs. They're opportunities to keep what worked—genuine family dynamics, actual humor, treating kids like people—while updating the stuff that didn't age well.

But honestly? You don't need to wait for Hollywood to greenlight the perfect remake. You can create your own version of this by watching old shows with your kids and having real conversations about what's changed and why.

That's the real remake: taking the shows of your childhood and reimagining them together with your kids as a way to talk about values, culture, and how we keep getting better.

And if you want to dive deeper into any specific show—old or new—just ask our chatbot. We've got the receipts on pretty much everything.