There have been severalsci-fiTV shows that have transformed small-screen storytelling over the decades, but one project in particular stands out for a really cool reason. It’s arguably one of the mostgame-changing sci-fi showsas it furthered certain tropes within the genre, but the larger TV industry also benefited from the show’s innovation.
It would perhaps be a stretch to call the project in question one of thebest shows on Prime, as sci-fi storytelling and production techniques have come a pretty long way since it first aired. That said, it actually holds up surprisingly well and deserves respect for being a trailblazer. It probably lacks any trulyiconic sci-fi TV characters, but it’s still a fascinating saga.
ReBoot Was The First TV Show To Be Fully Animated With CGI
The adventures in Mainframe were a first for the TV industry
CGI started to be introduced into filmmaking in the 1970s, and thefirst fully-CGI character appeared in 1985’sYoung Sherlock Holmes. In 1995, the industry gained its first fully CGI-animated movie when Pixar releasedToy Story. However, another project entirely beat Pixar to the punch when it came to an entirely CGI-animated endeavor.
ReBootran for four seasons between 1994 and 2001.
ReBootwas a Canadian show that aired its first episode in 1994 and was the first project of its kind. CGI shows are pretty commonplace in today’s TV landscape, butReBootwas revolutionary in its time, and I still think it didn’t get the recognition it deserved for what it achieved without the funding of bigger studios like Pixar.
ReBoot’s animation is a little janky by today’s standards, and comparatively basic compared to projects that have been made since. Thankfully, it’s still not unwatchable and has a certain charm that feels like a warming relic from another era. Plus, the visuals do improve as the show goes on and the animators become more adept.
The ReBoot cast & crew brought some surprisingly dark stories to life
As well as using an unprecedented level of CGI to bringReBootto life, the show pushed the envelope when it came to storytelling. While aimed at kids,ReBootdidn’t underestimate its audience’s ability to process some pretty high-concept storylines. There were high stakes, time jumps, and other concepts that are now used far more often in shows aimed at younger viewers.
ReBootoften had struggles with censorship and was told to remove certain elements from episodes that were deemed inappropriate for kids. The heroes didn’t always win, either, which resulted in some dark turns for the series' main characters. I don’t remember another show quite like it at the time, and I was hooked from the first time I saw it.
ReBoot’s Failed 2018 Live-Action Revival Failed To Live Up To The Original
The once-innovative sci-fi franchise couldn’t keep up with the shows it inspired
Several attempts to revive the franchise came and went afterReBootended in 2001, but only one ever actually happened. In 2018,ReBoot: The Guardian Codewas released and served as a soft legacy sequel to the original show. While the scenes in the classic series' primary setting, the Mainframe, were still CGI,The Guardian Codemade heavy use of live-action sequences.
The Guardian Codewas neither heavy enough on references to the original show nor good enough to stand on its own two feet.
A live-actionReBootrevival could have worked, but it ultimately flopped. It ran for 20 episodes, all of which were released in 2018.The Guardian Codewas neither heavy enough on references to the original show nor good enough to stand on its own two feet. Sadly, it also felt too much like a pale imitation of what modernsci-fishows were already doing.
