From “Buffy” to “NYPD Blue,” we’re revisiting the planned TV reboots that prove a greenlight is never a guarantee.

10 TV reboots that were canceled before they ever made it to air

From "Buffy" to "NYPD Blue," we're revisiting the planned TV reboots that prove a greenlight is never a guarantee.

June 12, 2026 12:15 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

'Clueless'; 'ER'; 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. Credit:

Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection; NBC/Courtesy of Everett Collection; Hulu

Reviving a beloved TV series may seem like a surefire bet, but these scrapped reboots prove that a greenlight is never a guarantee.

Tim Allen's planned reboot of the hit ABC sitcom *Home Improvement *recently fell apart before it ever really got off the ground. But some reboots make it much farther along in the development process, occasionally even entering production before finding out they've been nixed — like *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*, which was sadly canceled by Hulu with little explanation, leaving us forever wondering what might've been.

Below, we're breaking down 11 TV reboots that were given the greenlight and then canceled before they ever made it to air.

Lizzie McGuire

Hilary Duff as Lizzie on 'Lizzie McGuire'.

First announced in 2019, the *Lizzie McGuire* reboot would've reunited Hilary Duff with original costars Hallie Todd, Robert Carradine, Jake Thomas, and Adam Lamberg 16 years after the series ended. Disney halted production in January 2020, and showrunner and original creator Terri Minsky subsequently exited as the studio said the show was headed "in a different creative direction."

Duff expressed her hope that *Lizzie McGuire* could move over to Hulu, where the show would have more freedom in depicting the lead character's life in her 30s. But in December 2020, Duff announced that the reboot was canceled. "I'm very sad, but I promise everyone tried their best and the stars just didn't align," Duff said, while a representative for Disney told ** that "*Lizzie McGuire *fans have high expectations for any new stories. Unless and until we are confident we can meet those expectations, we’ve decided to hold off."

In 2025, Thomas, who played Lizzie's younger brother Matt, reflected on how the reboot "fell apart," saying, "It was bad timing with everything. It was right at the beginning of COVID."

Still, Thomas was grateful for the experience. "It's kind of crazy how embedded *Lizzie McGuire *has become within a millennial culture as something that we're still referencing today," he said. "It blows my mind, and I'm thankful for that."

Clare Carey, Bill Fagerbakke, Craig T. Nelson, Shelley Fabares, and Jerry Van Dyke on 'Coach'. ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images

NBC axed a planned *Coach* reboot just six months after it was first announced. Craig T. Nelson was set to reprise his role as football coach Hayden Fox, who gets pulled out of retirement 18 years after the series ended its nine-season run in 1997. Series creator Barry Kemp was also on board as writer and executive producer, with Bill Fagerbakke also reprising his memorable role as Michael “Dauber” Dybinski.

The reboot was canceled in 2015, shortly after heading into production on a 13-episode order, according to *The Hollywood Reporter*, with the outlet adding that sources close to the project said it "was not going well."

Nelson confirmed the *Coach* reboot was "done" in 2017, telling *The Insider*, "They really tried and it just didn't work. It's just really hard to bring something like that back."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'.

After years of pleas from devoted fans, Sarah Michelle Gellar was set to return as beloved slayer Buffy Summers in Hulu's *New Sunnydale*, a reboot of the classic series that ran from 1997 to 2003. Gellar's Buffy would be passing the torch to a younger protagonist, played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong, in a series written by *Poker Face*'s Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman and executive produced by Oscar winner Chloé Zhao — who also directed the pilot.

Gellar broke the news of the series' cancellation in March 2026. "I am really sad to have to share this, but I want you all to hear it from me," the actress said. "Unfortunately, Hulu has decided not to move forward with *Buffy: New Sunnydale*." Gellar thanked Zhao for helping convince her to reprise the role, and reminding the actress "how much I love [Buffy] and how much she means not only to me, but to all of you," adding, "I promise, if the apocalypse actually comes, you can still beep me."

Though a rep for Hulu told EW the streamer was still interested in pursuing a reboot in another form, two of the show's original stars have since passed away: Nicholas Brendon, who played Buffy's friend Xander, died in May 2026 at the age of 54. He was followed by Anthony Stewart Head, who played the slayer's dear mentor, Giles, and passed away in June at 72.

Murder, She Wrote

Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher on 'Murder, She Wrote'.

Back in 2013, NBC was developing a reboot of the classic detective series *Murder, She Wrote*, which starred Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, a teacher who pivoted to writing and solving mysteries. Octavia Spencer was cast as the new protagonist, a nurse and amateur sleuth who self-publishes her first novel.

At least one person was glad when NBC scrapped the reboot in 2014, as Lansbury told the BBC she was "terribly pleased and relieved" that the series was no longer going forward. "I knew it was a terrible mistake," the actress said. "I didn't want to sully the memory."

Lansbury, who died in 2022, added, "Octavia Spencer is a superb actress. She had no business being put into a situation that she couldn't win."

Spencer actually agreed. "You know, that would not have been the right fit for me," the Oscar-winning actress later told *E! News*. "Although I love Bob [Greenblatt] and everybody over at NBC, I think things happen as they're supposed to."

While the TV reboot was canceled, *Murder, She Wrote* is returning in 2028 as a feature film starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

The best TV reboots and revivals

Every TV show canceled so far in 2026, from 'Brilliant Minds' to 'Gen V'

Who’s the Boss?

Judith Light as Angela and Danny Pintauro as Jonathan on 'Who's the Boss?'.

*Who's the Boss?*, the classic sitcom that ended its eight-season run in 1992, was on track for a revival at Amazon Freevee in 2022. The original series starred Tony Danza as a former baseball player who takes a job as a housekeeper for a career woman and single mom (Judith Light), and moves into her home with his teen daughter, Sam, played by Alyssa Milano.

Both Danza and Milano were set to reprise their roles, with Sam now living as a single mom. Two years later, in 2024, EW confirmed that Amazon was no longer moving forward with the reboot. Danza reflected on the cancellation in February 2026, telling the *New York Post*, "I thought we had a real opportunity because of the timing of it, to address what was happening in the culture. Because you have Alyssa, who knows what’s going on, and me, mixed up."

"We had a real good script," Danza added. "I think it would have been funny."

In 2020, ABC announced a revival of *L.A. Law*, Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher's classic legal drama that originally ran on NBC from 1986 to 1994. Original star Blair Underwood signed on to return as attorney Jonathan Rollins, who would be butting heads with a millennial lawyer at the Mckenzie Brackman firm, which reinvented itself to tackle "the most high-profile, boundary-pushing and incendiary cases."

The *L.A. Law* reboot completed production on a pilot that also starred Hari Nef, Toks Olagundoye, Ian Duff, and Corbin Bernsen, reprising his role as Arnie Becker. But ABC scrapped the series, with network boss Craig Erwich telling *Deadline*, "Unfortunately the pilot just did not come together as we had hoped it would."

Bernsen opened up about why the *L.A. Law* revival was canceled in an April 2026 interview. "I felt that everything was a bit shiny in the reboot, and it didn't work," he said. "It's a shame that it wasn't given a little bit more time to figure it out and maybe go back and redo some things."

Xena: Warrior Princess

Lucy Lawless as Xena on 'Xena: Warrior Princess'.

Geoffrey Short / Universal Television / Courtesy: Everett Collection

NBC scrapped a *Xena: Warrior Princess* reboot in 2017, just a couple of years after ordering a pilot from *Lost* vet Javier Grillo-Marxuach, with original creators Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert overseeing the new series. Grillo-Marxuach exited the series ahead of the cancellation due to good old-fashioned creative differences, seemingly related to the writer's stated desire to genuinely explore the romantic relationship between Lucy Lawless' Xena and her sidekick, Gabrielle, played by Renee O'Connor.

"There is no reason to bring back *Xena* if it is not there for the purpose of fully exploring a relationship that could only be shown subtextually in first-run syndication in the 1990s," Grillo-Marxuach wrote on his blog.

Jennifer Salke, then the president of NBC Entertainment, said of the cancellation, "We looked at some material; we decided at that point that it didn’t warrant the reboot," adding, "I’d never say never on that one because it’s such a beloved title but the current incarnation of it is dead."

Sherry Stringfield as Dr. Susan Lewis, Anthony Edwards as Dr. Mark Greene, Noah Wyle as Dr. John Carter, Julianna Margulies as Nurse Carol Hathaway, George Clooney as Dr. Doug Ross, and Eriq La Salle as Dr. Peter Benton on 'ER'.

NBCU Photo Bank

In 2025, Noah Wyle scrubbed back in for *The Pitt*, the HBO Max medical drama created by *ER* vets John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill. That reunion raised more than a few eyebrows, leading to speculation that the series would be a reboot of *ER*, an idea that had been floated in the past.

While discussing his new series with *Variety* that year, Wyle revealed that *The Pitt* was indeed originally developed as an *ER* revival in 2020, and that it "got pretty close to being a reality." Gemmill said the reboot would've incorporated footage from the original series of Wyle's Dr. Carter. "That would’ve been a unique show, to be able to see Noah at 23 and then flash-forward to when he’s 52 or 53 and see that dichotomy,” the writer explained. “Whether it would have worked or not, I don’t know. But it would have been a fun experiment.”

But Warner Bros. Television wasn't able to reach a satisfactory legal agreement with the estate of *ER *creator Michael Crichton, so Wyle, Wells, and Gemmill reconvened in 2023 after the writers strike and put together their idea for *The Pitt*.

A month into filming the first season in 2024, Crichton's widow, Sherri Crichton, sued Wyle, Wells, Gemill, and Warner Bros. Television for breach of contract. Crichton claims that *The Pitt* is merely *ER* with a different title, which the studio denied in a statement to EW, saying, "*The Pitt* is a new and original show. Any suggestion otherwise is false, and Warner Bros. Television intends to vigorously defend against these meritless claims."

Dennis Franz as Det. Sipowicz on 'NYPD Blue'. ABC Photo Archives

ABC announced a reboot of *NYPD Blue* in 2018, ordering a pilot for a sequel to the Emmy-winning cop drama created by Steven Bochco and David Milch. The new series would center on the son of Detective Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) as he tries to climb the ranks in the 15th precinct while investigating his father's death. Fabien Frankel (*House of the Dragon*) was cast as the younger Sipowicz in the pilot, which was directed by Jesse Bochco, son of the series' late co-creator.

When the network passed on the pilot in 2018, then-ABC entertainment president Karey Burke explained the "heartbreaking" decision to *TVLine*: "The main problem was that the bar was *so* high. It was a very good pilot. On any other network, in any other circumstance, that show [likely] gets on the air. We all felt like unless we can really advance the ball from the original let's let the original rest. They did as good a job as one can do with something that is that revered."

Alicia Silverstone as Cher in 'Clueless'.

Paramount Pictures

A streaming network passing on a reboot of one of the most successful and critically acclaimed teen comedies of all time? *As if*. But that's what Peacock did in April 2026, when the streamer passed on a reboot of *Clueless*, the classic 1995 riff on Jane Austen's* Emma*, starring Alicia Silverstone as a bougie Beverly Hills teen navigating love and friendship.

Since 2025, Silverstone has been attached to reprise her role as Cher Horowitz and executive produce the series alongside the writer and director of the original film, Amy Heckerling, with *Gossip Girl* creators Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz on board as writers.

Despite the talent involved and potential for multi-generational appeal, Peacock passed on the series, but CBS Studios and Paramount are shopping it around in the hopes of finding another home.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Reboots”