Over the course of the last eleven years or so I have grown more and more disgusted with the way people, especially Entertainment Reporters, who are too lazy to actually use the correct word to describe something. Specifically the word reboot. So here is a primer on what things actually are.
If some one is making a new version of a movie or video game, etc. that has no sequels it is properly called a remake. It is NOT a bloody reboot! Footloose wasn’t a reboot!
If something is a continuation of a story it is either a sequel, a spin off or a revival. It is NOT a bloody reboot! Star Wars: The Force Awakens was not a reboot! Fuller House is not a reboot! Doctor Who is not a reboot! The X Files is not a reboot!
When you modify situations or characters in an effort to make your series or franchise more commercially successful it is a retool. It is NOT a bloody reboot! Galactica 1980 was not a reboot.
A reboot is when you take a SERIES or FRANCHISE and start over from the beginning. Effectively creating a new Universe from the same ideas but moving in an all new direction. Battlestar Galactica was a reboot. Ghostbusters appears to be a reboot.
Some of these should be fairly obvious but we live in a lazy world with lazy reporters. STOP BEING LAZY! Don’t call something a reboot unless it is one. The planned Mrs. Doubtfire remake will not be a reboot! The planned Highlander remake will be a reboot. Star Wars: Episode Eight will not be a reboot! It’s fairly straight forward. Now, stop overusing the word reboot!
