Reboots and Revivals Missing Beloved TV Stars

Credit: Nigel Parry/Darren Star Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

Reboots and Revivals Missing Beloved TV Stars

It’s officially the time of reboots and revivals on TV. While many original cast members return for new series revisiting old stories, many shows have left out major stars when returning. From reality TV like Jersey Shore — Samantha "Sammi Sweetheart" Giancola did not return for the spinoff, Jersey Shore Family Vacation, when it debuted in 2018 — to scripted shows like Fuller House — which included all of the main cast with the exception of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen — many shows have been bringing back abbreviated casts. In 2021, HBO Max announced that the cast of Sex and the City is returning for a new show, And Just Like That, which will follow the women in their 50s living in New York City. While Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis are set to return for the eight-episode sequel series, Kim Cattrall, who played the fourth best friend in the original HBO series and both films, will not return. Over the years, she has been very open about her choice to distance herself from the franchise and from Parker specifically, once claiming that the shoe designer "could have been nicer." Parker, who is also a producer on the show, revealed that they have no plans to replace Cattrall's character, Samantha Jones. "We’re not looking to bring in a fourth character. We have New York City as a fourth character," she told TMZ in January 2021. "There will be lots of interesting, new characters that we’re excited about.” The Divorce alum also fired back at claims that she and Cattrall didn't get along following the announcement. "I don’t dislike her. I’ve never said that. Never would. Samantha isn’t part of this story, but she will always be a part of us,” she replied to an Instagram comment at the time. "No matter where we are or what we do. X." Scroll through the gallery below for more revivals and reboots that took place without a main star. [podcast_block]

Credit: Nigel Parry/Darren Star Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

Reboots and Revivals Missing Beloved TV Stars

It’s officially the time of reboots and revivals on TV. While many original cast members return for new series revisiting old stories, many shows have left out major stars when returning. From reality TV like Jersey Shore — Samantha "Sammi Sweetheart" Giancola did not return for the spinoff, Jersey Shore Family Vacation, when it debuted in 2018 — to scripted shows like Fuller House — which included all of the main cast with the exception of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen — many shows have been bringing back abbreviated casts. In 2021, HBO Max announced that the cast of Sex and the City is returning for a new show, And Just Like That, which will follow the women in their 50s living in New York City. While Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis are set to return for the eight-episode sequel series, Kim Cattrall, who played the fourth best friend in the original HBO series and both films, will not return. Over the years, she has been very open about her choice to distance herself from the franchise and from Parker specifically, once claiming that the shoe designer "could have been nicer." Parker, who is also a producer on the show, revealed that they have no plans to replace Cattrall's character, Samantha Jones. "We’re not looking to bring in a fourth character. We have New York City as a fourth character," she told TMZ in January 2021. "There will be lots of interesting, new characters that we’re excited about.” The Divorce alum also fired back at claims that she and Cattrall didn't get along following the announcement. "I don’t dislike her. I’ve never said that. Never would. Samantha isn’t part of this story, but she will always be a part of us,” she replied to an Instagram comment at the time. "No matter where we are or what we do. X." Scroll through the gallery below for more revivals and reboots that took place without a main star. [podcast_block]

Credit: Matt Sayles/AP/Shutterstock

Teen Wolf: The Movie

While most of the OG Teen Wolf cast returned for the Paramount+ revival, which premiered in January 2023, Dylan O’Brien and Arden Cho were notably absent. Cho, for her part, declined to reprise her role as Kira amid salary disputes.

“I think I was actually offered even less [than the other stars],” the Partner Track alum told The Cut in February 2022. “I probably would’ve never shared it.  … I could probably, off the top of my head, think of over 10 Asian American actors I know who were paid significantly less than their counterparts. Sometimes you don’t have a choice to say ‘no.’ Sometimes you just need it. You’ve got bills to pay. I wasn’t saying ‘no’ necessarily for me or because I was angry. I was saying ‘no’ because I hope that there will be more equality in the future.”

O’Brien decided not to come back as Stiles, telling Variety in March 2022 that he wanted to leave his arc where it ended in the series finale. “Ultimately, I just decided it was left in a really good place for me and I still want to leave it there,” he said. “I wish them well and I’m going to watch it the first night it comes out. I hope it f—king kicks ass, but I’m not going to be in it.”

Credit: Nigel Parry/Darren Star Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

Sex and the City

The new series, titled And Just Like That, did not feature main star Kim Cattrall when it debuted in 2021 on HBO Max. The actress has been vocal about her lack of interest in returning to the franchise amid costar drama. Additionally, Chris Noth, who portrayed love interest Mr. Big in the series and both movies, was scrubbed from the season 1 finale amid his sexual misconduct scandal. (He has denied the allegations.)

Credit: Peacock

Saved by the Bell

Peacock brought back many members of the original Saved by the Bell, including Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tiffani Theissen, for a new series, but Dustin Diamond was not invited. The actor, who had legal struggles in the years that followed the sitcom's original run, died of cancer at age 44 in February 2021.

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TRL

When Total Request Live returned to MTV in October 2017, it was hard to really get that TRL feel without the show’s original host, Carson Daly. Instead, MTV brought in social media stars to stand in as rotating hosts. Addressing the new show, Daly admitted he wasn’t sure it would work in the present time. “It’s a tough nut to crack to bring back the glory of yesteryear, but I do wish them well,” he told Huff Post.

Credit: Michael Weaver/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

Fear Factor

The show originally ran on NBC from 2001-2006 with host Joe Rogan, then briefly came back in 2011 for only eight episodes. The finale never aired. MTV revived the show in 2017 with host Ludacris. “Some of the fears are like forgetting your cellphone somewhere and they don’t have to eat anything gross. It was really dumb to keep that out,” Rogan said of the revival in November 2017 on his podcast.

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24

When Fox brought back 24 (renaming it 24: Legacy), it was missing its star, Kiefer Sutherland. Corey Hawkins took over as the lead and while the producers of the show said they'd love to see the original Jack Bauer show up, Sutherland said he had “absolutely no plans” to do that. 

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Will & Grace

When Will & Grace returned to NBC in 2017, most of the original cast and many guest stars signed on to return. However, Shelley Morrison, who played Karen’s maid Rosaro Salazar on the sitcom, did not. She retired from acting before the revival and turned down the invite to appear.

Credit: Warner Bros

Gilmore Girls

The idea of a Gilmore Girls reunion was formed at the ATX TV Festival in 2015 — the first time the cast was all together without Edward Herrmann. The actor who portrayed the family’s patriarch died in December 2014 and was honored in the Netflix reboot. At the reunion panel, they left an empty chair at the end of the row for Herrmann.

Credit: FOX/WireImage for Fox

American Idol

Many fans assumed Simon Cowell would return to American Idol to judge the show for its revival on ABC, set to premiere in March. However, he reveled in an interview with Extra that while he was asked to do so, he had no interest in coming back, especially not without Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.

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Fuller House

Netflix convinced nearly every star — and oh so many guest stars — to return to Fuller House. However, no matter how many times they asked, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have yet to make an appearance. “Personally, I’ve given up asking them,” creator Jeff Franklin told TVLine in September 2017. “The door is open, but I’m not going to be calling them anymore to invite them."

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The Office

NBC is eyeing a revival of The Office and while Melora Hardin said she’d be happy to appear, the actress told Entertainment Tonight, "I know for sure Steve Carell's not going back, so I'm not quite sure how they're gonna make that work.” Can the show work without him?

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Roseanne

Roseanne will be returning to ABC on March 27, and almost the entire original cast will reprise their roles … with the exception of Glenn Quinn, the actor who played Mark and passed away in 2002. However, the missing character will be briefly discussed on the reboot. Mark will also have died.

Credit: Getty Images

Jersey Shore

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation will include Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Paul “Pauly D” Delvecchio, Jenni “JWOWW” Farley, Vinny Guadagino, Deena Nicole Cortese, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino. However, Samantha “Sammi Sweetheart” Giancola will not appear, despite the entire cast begging her. Polizzi and Farley revealed to Us Weekly that Giancola didn’t want to be filming with Ortiz-Magro, but they were secretly hoping she’d show up for a night out in Miami with the gang.