Will 'Mad About You' revival appeal to a younger and more enlightened audience of the post-woke era?
When the 'Mad About You' revival was announced, it was unexpected, to say the least. After all, the co-creator and star of the beloved 90s sitcom, Paul Reiser, had for years insisted that there would never be a reboot or a revival.
However, the 12-episode limited series will arrive shortly on Spectrum's On-Demand platform shortly — the first six episodes will be released on November 20, while the remaining six episodes will be released on December 18.
However, as with the many reboots and revivals and retellings that have arrived on our screens of late, one question remains, will the show be updated to reflect the post-woke world?
Take for instance 'Friends', the beloved sitcom that aired through half of the 90s and the early 2000s. After the iconic series ended in 2004, many people have pointed out that the show would have had no place in the woke era. Many of the storylines, situations and characters on 'Friends' were problematic because they were laced with homophobia and sexism. The show has also been criticized for its lack of diversity with barely any notable non-white character.
Sure, cinematically, it was a different era and rather than those issues not being important then, it was that most writers and producers chose not to focus on them. However, with diversity and inclusion being the keywords in today's entertainment industry and the vastly different political atmosphere of the late 2010s, revivals must choose to reckon with finding themselves in a different world.
Whether 'Mad About You' will choose to do that will be something viewers would be interested in. However, in the first five episodes that have been provided by Spectrum for review, it would seem that the revival chooses to remain blissfully stuck in the 90s, with the only updates being in the characters' ages.
To be fair, 'Mad About You' was always about the somewhat wealthy couple Paul and Jamie (Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt) navigating their married life. The revival is more or less the same, but with nothing new to add — except tell us that they are struggling empty-nesters — there seems to be nothing the revival can offer its audience, except for a brief step back into the ignorant times of the 90s. For viewers expecting a different New York, or even a set of more aware characters, the revival will disappoint.