December 13, 2000

8:50 AM

Oh, yeah. Reboot!, truly one of the geek shows of all time, is returning Fall 2001. Two made-for-television moives have been in production forever. But, now this: not movies, but a freaking full 13 episode season! With talk of another 13 after that! And a season-ending musical number! Fall 2001 can't come soon enough. Reboot! is a Canadian production; anyone know about US release dates and network? (more inside)
posted by mrmorgan (29 comments total)

I am going to park myself at alt.tv.reboot. I'm very impressed with Mainframe's commitment to its fans. Mairi Welman, Mainframe's Director of Communication, is a USENET regular and none of these announcements look to be at the actual Mainframe site. The fans get the scoops first, unfounded rumours get squashed, the woman posts teasers to make you suffer through the weekend...How Cluetrain is that? The series' presence on Cartoon Network (another webpage gloriously information-free), the movies, and now the season are all a result of the intense fan interest. Mainframe has themselves to thank for that. Alt.tv.reboot is a remarkably high-content newsgroup, and Mairi is easily the prime reason for that. This is in sharp contrast to certain other (X-Files) profiteering (Star Trek) franchises that shall remain nameless.


Good show, all around.
posted by mrmorgan at 8:50 AM on December 13, 2000

This is the best news I've heard all week! I love that show, and so do my kids. Thanks for sharing the info.
posted by Sal Amander at 8:56 AM on December 13, 2000

It's fun. A bit weird though, first time I saw it, it looked silly, then the cartoon network re-runs, I saw an ep, and then another. Not at all bad. Still, nothing beats Space Ghost.
posted by tiaka at 8:59 AM on December 13, 2000

This past season of Beast Machines was incredible. Mainframe pulled out all the stops for this season. 5 stars.

The animation and cinematography was top notch. The story was much deeper than in the past. I really got caught up in it this year. The old school Beast Machines left a bit to be desired, imo. Check it out if you can (just set your Tivo to grab it).
posted by jamescblack at 9:15 AM on December 13, 2000

I'll bet we call it Rebout in the US.
posted by jennyb at 9:23 AM on December 13, 2000

Yes. I'm really looking forward to seeing Reboot! with the advances in computer animation. Even the differences between season one Reboot! and season three are startling. It's going to be a spectacle.
posted by mrmorgan at 9:23 AM on December 13, 2000

I love that show. I taped almost every episode when it was on, and I watch them with some regularity while I am drawing late at night. I hope they reissue the action figures, I never found a Dot Matrix tha first time around.
posted by thirteen at 9:44 AM on December 13, 2000

I never found a Dot Matrix tha first time around.

Hehe, I did. I have them all and they sit on a self above my computer at home.
posted by Sal Amander at 9:58 AM on December 13, 2000

I never found a Dot Matrix tha first time around.

<--- has the whole set...nyah, nyah! ;)

posted by rushmc at 9:58 AM on December 13, 2000

I mispelled "the", how embarrassing. Do you have Hexadecimal too?
posted by thirteen at 10:03 AM on December 13, 2000

Do you guys have the second series released only in Canada? Me neither.
posted by thirteen at 10:04 AM on December 13, 2000

Do you have Hexadecimal too?
Got Hex also.
posted by Sal Amander at 10:13 AM on December 13, 2000

Here's something interesting; If you go to Mainframe's site and go to Shows>Reboot, there's an inactive link titled "The return of Reboot". So it looks like the show's coming back!
Nice site also...
posted by Sal Amander at 10:19 AM on December 13, 2000

Finally finally finally! Season 3 ended with so many unfinished plot pieces, and had such a compelling story!

Not to mention the best story recap ever done in any form of media.

I don't know if you Merkins got to see it. I know you didn't during it's first run since ABC dropped it (and Dot got breasts!), but did the Cartoon Network ever get around to showing Season 3?
posted by cCranium at 11:16 AM on December 13, 2000

did the Cartoon Network ever get around to showing Season 3?

Yes they did show season 3, and Dot was in tight-fitting PVC!!!
Cartoon Network may still be showing them, but I'm not sure. I have them all on tape because when they did show them last year they were all in episode order.
posted by Sal Amander at 11:33 AM on December 13, 2000

Yes, the Cartoon Network has shown Season 3. I missed the finale, although I read a description of it somewhere. I definitely want to see some of those loose ends explored.
posted by harmful at 11:33 AM on December 13, 2000

Yes, the Cartoon Network has shown Season 3. I missed the finale, although I read a description of it somewhere. I definitely want to see some of those loose ends explored.
posted by harmful at 11:37 AM on December 13, 2000

Harmful, you missed all the fun by missing the season 3 finale.

Not to mention the best story recap ever done in any form of media. Yes, the musical number! The posting I point to way up there at top, they talk about having the season 4 finale be a musical number. I almost fell out of my chair the first time I saw that. Season 3, done as Gilbert and Sullivan. Hilarious!
posted by mrmorgan at 11:38 AM on December 13, 2000

I almost fell out of my chair the first time I saw that. Season 3, done as Gilbert and Sullivan

You can view this clip at Mainframe's site by going to the Preview Theatre in the Fun Stuff area.
posted by Sal Amander at 12:34 PM on December 13, 2000

Happy happy joy joy!Happy happy joy joy!Happy happy joy joy!Happy happy joy joy!Happy happy joy joy!Happy happy joy joy!Happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy joy joy joy!Now, if they'd just bring back 'Duckman', 'Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist', 'Ren and Stimpy', 'Rocko's Modern Life' and 'Dick and Paula', I'd be a very happy camper!
posted by Mr. skullhead at 1:01 PM on December 13, 2000

Am I the only one who thought this show stale and insipid? Who found the animation dull? Who found the 'witty' references to all things Unix simply pointless and unfunny? Who wanted to beat the crap out of the little kid with the fucking baseball cap? Who wondered why cyber-humans are all caucasian?

Blecch. Bring back THE TICK and I'll rejoice. REBOOT isn't worth the effort.
posted by peterme at 2:15 PM on December 13, 2000

Am I the only one who thought this show stale and insipid?

Apparently so, although I liked The Tick also. But the witty references weren't just in the Unix references, there were bits and pieces hidden in the animation itself. Sometimes you would have to watch a show many times to catch them. Was I the only one to see the Wallace & Gromit references in one episode?
posted by Sal Amander at 2:54 PM on December 13, 2000

I never really cared for Reboot that much either, though I remember being impressed at the time that they were able to do a weekly series, even if it was only half an hour.
posted by kindall at 4:00 PM on December 13, 2000

peterme: Did you ever watch more than the first season? The first season was, admittedly, a whole lot of "Geez, look what we can do with computers, and we're so witty about our character names" but beginning with the second season the show developed actual plot, arcing storylines and parody of a very high calibre.

If you're ever bored some [whenever Reboot's on - Sundays at 3pm on YTV in Canada I believe] try watching an episode, especially if it's third season.

The annoying kid with the baseball cap grows up to be a disturbed, brooding renegade trying to reclaim his youth and find his way home. Literally.

Speaking of witty character names, is an Enzo (annoying baseball-hated kid) Matrix actually a matrix of some kind? Is Enzo an anything? Dictionary.com turned up nothing, but Google returned a biochemical company and a cosmological application (the only link I followed).

Oh, and Enzo Ferrari a race car driver, and from what I gather from that link the namesake, if not founder (it's a pretty small blurb on him) of the car.

None of which seem to be any sort of geekish reference, like the rest of the character names.
posted by cCranium at 5:58 PM on December 13, 2000

I'd rather see the Tick comic than the cartoon. But that's somewhat unlikely given Ben Edlunds burgeoning Hollywood career. And Reboot was okay. More Brendan Mcarthy = alarming. Less stupid computing "in jokes" = cool.

And yes Enzo founded Ferrari (and built most of the early cars if I remember correctly).
posted by davidgentle at 6:11 PM on December 13, 2000

Reboot was pretty cool. I saw most of the seasons on Cartoon Network and surprisingly no, I don't think it's showing anymore. at least not on Toonami that I know of.

I saw the third season's ending musical like 3-5 times. hee! I did find it pretty cool. I'd get it in my head each time. it was catchy.

it's cool they're going to be doing more episodes.
posted by aekastar at 7:29 PM on December 13, 2000

Umm, you Tick fans do know about the upcoming live-action series and the online comic, don't you?
posted by harmful at 10:17 PM on December 13, 2000

Me thinks that the live action Tick might just be lame.
posted by jamescblack at 8:48 AM on December 14, 2000

Didn't know about the live action series (which could easily suck) or the online comic. But I did just check the comic. And it isn't written by the boy Edlund. So I didn't bother to read it. Do you see?
posted by davidgentle at 6:33 PM on December 14, 2000