Many hit shows from the 2000s are getting rebooted as Americans give in to their collective craving for nostalgia. Many Gen Zs and Millennials vocalized a desire to go back to the simpler times of their young childhood and shared collective memories of falling asleep in the car and waking up in their bed, watching George Lopez after its theme song scared them awake, and loading music onto their iPod, especially at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Many parts of pop culture from the ’90s and 2000s have subsequently resurfaced, but this resurgence has been especially prevalent in reboots of kids shows.
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In recent years, there have been reboots, remakes, and reunions of many television shows from that time, some with the original cast and some with a similar story but different characters. These include but are not limited to Gossip Girl, Sex and the City, Full House, Rugrats, iCarly, The Proud Family, and High School Musical. Many of these shows have been well-received sparking conversation on social media and making the original productions popular again, but despite the popularity not all of them have been well executed or well deserved. One show that really deserves its reboot is Life with Derek.

What Was Life with Derek?

Disney Channel

Life with Derek was a Canadian television show that aired on Disney Channel in the United States and centered on a recently blended family and their struggles to live under one roof. Casey McDonald (Ashley Leggat) and Derek Venturi (Michael Seater) were the main characters. Casey, her mom, and her younger sister move in with Derek, his dad, and his two younger siblings, and immediately there is tension between the two of them.

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Casey is a typical 2000s female TV character. She is smart, put-together, Type A, ambitious, and overly involved in school activities going hand in hand with loving to feel in control. Derek on the other hand is relaxed and for the most part harmless. He just gets by in school but focuses his time on sports, his band, and pulling pranks. The show chronicles the two of them and their siblings plotting against each other, coming together in teenage antics, and growing up.

Why the Cancelled Life with Derek Was Special?

Disney Channel

Life with Derek was special because of the relationships and the timeless nature of the show. There was always fan speculation that Derek and Casey had “will they or won’t they” flirtatious tension and while that couldn’t happen since they were step-siblings, the producers never denied it either. While the fan-shipping was a little strange, it’s a reflection of the great banter the show created between the two of them. They bickered and plotted, but in the end, they cared about each other.

Life with Derek was a show full of harmless fun and jokes that weren’t hurtful. This show could also be set in any time period. While the aesthetic of the 2000s lends itself to nostalgia that people feel towards the show if it was placed in the past, present, or future, struggles with change and qualms of growing up will always be relevant. That is why the remake is going to be iconic.

What Is Life with Luca?

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The remake is titled Life with Luca and will focus on Derek and Casey all grown up with kids of their own. Derek made it as a musician and is a single dad to a 14-year-old girl. Casey, unsurprisingly, is a lawyer, and she has three kids. Ironically, her oldest son, Luca, takes after his Uncle Derek with his love of pulling pranks and stressing out his mom.

Related: Why The Wizards of Waverly Place Deserves a Reboot

When Derek and Casey’s parents decide to build a new house, they get the gang back together. Surprisingly, Casey and Derek are excited to see each other, but history repeats itself and their kids are acting the same way their parents did fifteen years ago. In some ways, nothing has changed, but in other ways, it couldn’t be more different.

Why Life with Luca Is Going to Be a Great Reboot

Disney Channel

This will be a reboot to remember. Life with Luca is going to be a movie, which is the first thing it has in its favor. Oftentimes, TV shows will be rebooted as TV shows and tend to drag on several seasons too long, or can even be stretched thin for content in a limited series. Sometimes it forces us to look at characters we used to love in a new, less flattering light, ruining the reboot along with the original. A movie will pack all the nostalgia, unanswered questions, and new ideas into a short amount of time, leaving no room to lag and have fans wanting more.

Life with Luca being a movie also means they won’t need to flesh out the characters and create new plot lines for them that may make them less lovable. It preserves the original show and gives fans a taste of what their favorite characters are doing now without doing too much and ruining both. Life with Luca may not be perfect when it comes out, but it surely has all the right elements for an excellent and deserving reboot.

Life with Luca is said to be available in February 2023 on Canada’s Family Channel and America’s Disney Channel.