'Regular Show: The Lost Tapes' and the Tricky Science of a TV Revival

"TV has always been partial to spinoffs and sequels and revivals, but lately, it feels like half the industry is devoted to mining the depths of people's nostalgia, bringing back half-remembered properties in hopes that they can break through in the fickle attention economy."

"The world of animation is particularly susceptible to a nostalgia revival, because many of the logistical challenges that come from bringing a show back after a decade-plus absence don't exist in the medium. You don't have to worry about the cast being older, or filling in the details of what the characters have been doing with their lives while still steering them into a status quo that's reminiscent of the original show, because so many animated shows preserve their casts in amber, never aging them or straying too far from who they were in the pilot."

"If a voice actor dies, you can recast (though certain shows choose to simply retire the characters). It's easy for an animated series to return after a long absence and more or less act like no time has passed at all."

"I'm particularly fond of last year's “King of the Hill” Hulu revival, a poignant and sweet new chapter for the beloved Fox sitcom that manages to find the perfect balance between recapturing the original run's tone and humor while evolving its characters in new and unexpected directions. But others come back as mere shadows of themselves: also on Hulu, new seasons of “Futurama” never really found a new angle for their characters, while a disastrous “Powerpuff Girls” revival from 2016 relied on meme references and scen"

TV increasingly relies on spinoffs, sequels, and revivals to mine nostalgia and compete in a short-attention market. Animation is especially suited to revivals because characters can remain unchanged, avoiding concerns about actors aging or explaining time passed. Voice casting can be recast if needed, and some shows retire characters instead. Animated series can return after long gaps while largely preserving the original status quo. Some revivals succeed by balancing familiar tone with character growth, as seen in a Hulu “King of the Hill” revival. Others fail by offering little new perspective, such as “Futurama,” or by leaning on meme references, as with a 2016 “Powerpuff Girls” revival.

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