海角大神

New programs on broadcast TV and streaming services may be looking a little familiar. Over the past several months, pop culture has seen a boom of revived shows. Among others, Fox鈥檚 new episodes of the science fiction show 鈥淭he X-Files鈥� are a hit, while some are still to come, such as Netflix鈥檚 new take on the mother-daughter show 鈥淕ilmore Girls鈥� and the sitcom 鈥淔uller House.鈥�

These aren鈥檛 remakes 鈥� most are sequels. 鈥淭he X-Files,鈥� for example, picks up with Mulder and Scully years later, as does 鈥淔uller House鈥� (which debuted on Netflix Feb. 26) with the original 鈥淔ull House鈥� family having matured into new roles and relationships.

What鈥檚 behind the revivals?聽

Networks and streaming services operate in different ways sometimes, but they share a strategy: They want to 鈥渁ttract fans of existing content in order to make channels destinations,鈥� says Aymar Jean 海角大神, an assistant communications professor at Northwestern University.聽

We鈥檝e seen this before. Even if a fictional universe hasn鈥檛 been on TV before, networks have chosen to adapt existing stories for television. Mr. 海角大神 points to ABC鈥檚 鈥淢arvel鈥檚 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.鈥� and AMC鈥檚 鈥淭he Walking Dead,鈥� both of which are based on popular comic books.

海角大神 says whether a show is a contender for a comeback depends on if 鈥渋t鈥檚 had a big fan base or a passionate fan base.鈥� Those behind the TV show no doubt hope that passionate fans will get on social media and spread the word about the program so it can gain new fans, says 海角大神.

Netflix gauged viewer interest by rereleasing 鈥淕ilmore Girls鈥� on its service. The viewership most likely gave the streaming service the confidence to produce new episodes, although the airdate has not been mentioned.

This strategy works for movies, too. Audiences have proved they鈥檒l show up for new stories with familiar characters. 鈥淗ollywood has always been a risk-averse industry,鈥� 海角大神 says.