Fuller House and TV’s Full-On Nostalgia Trip

With Fuller House, The X-Files, and more reboots to come, TV banks on the power of nostalgia.

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By Marie Lodi

February 17, 2016 at 8:51 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the February 22, 2016 issue of businessweek.

“Whoa, I’m having an acid flashback,” says wacky next-door neighbor Kimmy Gibbler upon entering the Tanner home in the first episode of Netflix’s Full House reboot. Fans of the sitcom, which aired from 1987 to 1995, will feel the same déjà vu seeing the Tanners together again around the kitchen table. When Kimmy (Andrea Barber) corrects herself and says she’s actually having an antacid flashback, viewers old enough to have watched the show on Friday nights in the ’80s may identify with that, too.

Hollywood studios have banked on the nostalgia-inducing power of revived franchises for years; now TV networks are committing to the practice with the glee of a live studio audience. Already this year, Fox brought back The X-Files for a six-show miniseries. New Twin Peaks and Gilmore Girls episodes are being plotted, too.