Reboot (2022)

Reboot is right up there with Abbott Elementary as 2022’s funniest new series, mainly because the confidence Levitan has in creating character-driven comedy is enhanced by a fantastic cast.

Semantics aside, Reboot is still a very funny show that hits hard at what’s wrong with everything from Peak TV culture (Krista Marie Yu plays Elaine, a Hulu executive who does her job by metrics and spreadsheets) to legendary sitcom writer hackery (“he lost his job because he falls asleep whenever he hears a bell!” offers up a TV writer played by former Hill Street Blues actor George Wyner), and proper workplace conduct in a post-MeToo era.

Everyone is clearly having fun, and it’s just exciting to watch a capable cast deliver unflinching dialogue. (Who knew?) The biting insights into Hollywood’s business strategies are much appreciated. Even if you’re not a fan of the meta approach, Reboot still makes a striking first impression.

There’s no question Hollywood loves to look at itself and a TV show about a TV show is more than a bit indulgent. But audiences also like to look at Hollywood and “Reboot” at least manages to be witty and entertaining.

It never goes as hard or gets as dark as, say, BoJack did… but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, either. The lighter touch makes it an easier watch, and it does deliver more laughs per minute than most anything out there these days. A TV comedy that’s actually funny — what will they think of next?

Their neurotic antics are enjoyable, but many of my favorite scenes are set in the multigenerational writers’ room where Hannah and original producer Gordon (Paul Reiser) bring together the woke and the reawakened. Not since The Dick Van Dyke Show and 30 Rock has pitching jokes generated such a geyser of genuine humor. [26 Sep - 9 Oct 2022, p.5]

Tt’s cleverly written, with laugh-out-loud bits and a regular stream of amusing meta humor (including references to Hulu).

“Reboot” proves to be plenty smart and funny while celebrating how much work goes into the eternal form of the sitcom.

With an all-star cast of reliable veterans deftly handling the mix of pure sitcom dialogue with the occasional legitimately moving dramatic movement, “Reboot” is a breezy workplace comedy.

Like Step Right Up’s writing room, Reboot occasionally seems torn between two ideals: the standard world of sitcoms, and an attempt to do something new and fresh. But like that writer’s room, the show eventually finds an equal balance that will likely please both fans of Levitan’s more standard sitcom work and something that takes a few solid shots at the television industry in general.

Reboot has a structurally sound plot to support itself and a perfectly assembled cast to work with. All it needs is a tad more retooling.

Created by "Modern Family's" Steve Levitan, it's a breezy and very-inside look at Hollywood, with a few too many rim shots but still a fair amount of laughs.

Reboot is a show that is going for actual, out-loud laughs and very often gets them — thanks to clever writing, a crackerjack cast and a cheerful willingness to go for the broad humor of, say, an avalanche of popcorn (albeit with a knowing wink). If it’s neither as cutting nor as heartwarming as it could be, that is, in a way, part of its charm. ... Finding and maintaining that balance does sometimes prove a challenge, however.

Though Reboot exists to deftly skewer the contemporary television landscape, it does so with pleasant reverence. That Modern Family-ish combination of heart and hilarity can sometimes make Reboot feel uneven, though it’s always enjoyable.

“Reboot” benefits from a great cast – Judy Greer and Paul Reiser are among the show’s series regulars – and some funny moments. But occasionally it feels like there’s something missing. ... Still, “Reboot” has enough going for it that I’ll stick with it to see how it develops in later episodes.

Reiser is truly the series' best scene stealer, but the tension or the complexity never really goes far enough. It's all fancy dressing for a sitcom that, despite its great ensemble, is fairly run-of-the-mill.

Reboot is at its best when it takes shots at a business that could withstand more of them, leaning into the meta spiral of a show about a show. ... Handling the meta-sitcom is trickier; Reboot struggles to differentiate its fictional stars from the caricatures they play, on Step Right Up and off.

In the end, Reboot seems caught between wanting to skewer the old ways and desperately missing their simple satisfactions. There are twists in the series opener that came as a genuine surprise, but nothing is so messy or nuanced that it can’t be settled by a good punchline. The show wants to have its meta-cake and eat it too.

Levitan’s latest is a pleasant enough diversion, but the more you focus on its individual parts, the more frustrated you get that they don’t add up to anything greater.

In going out of its way to poke fun at “dramedies” without punchlines (“It’s both the funniest thing you’ve ever read and you won’t laugh once!”), “Reboot” sets itself up for needing to do better, but only occasionally does.

At its core, it’s about a program within a program that’s being pushed and pulled between old-fashioned comedy and a more progressive brand of humor, and there’s a meta reading of “Reboot” itself wherein it’s doing the exact same thing. This is interesting on paper. Sadly, that doesn’t make it funny.