Will & Grace, Friends, The Nanny, Dharma & Greg–These shows from the mid 90s and early 00’s  are to young millennials and old gen Z what The Munsters, Leave It to Beaver, and The Brady Bunch were to past generations. We love these shows. We grew up on these shows. So why do the reboots always forget we exist?

 

One of the main problems with reboots is on full display in Will & Grace; they kept the characters encapsulated in some 1990s alternative reality where nothing has changed for them. Or they go in the opposite direction like in And Just Like That where they completely change the personalities of our beloved characters. 

 

Our Dharma & Greg reboot avoids these pitfalls. Over the 20 years since we last saw them the characters have grown. They have changed. They have loved. They have lost. All while remaining who they were. 

 

Dharma & Greg was a show on the forefront of social issues without being woke or preaching.  It brought topics into the cultural zeitgeist without anyone even noticing, 

 

Dharma & Dad picks up on the 19th birthday of Dharma and Greg’s non-binary intersex child, Atticus Elmo Montgomery-Finkelstein. Atticus embodies all of the good and bad characteristics of both parents. From a garden party at the country club to a vision quest at a sweat lodge, Atticus is equally ill at ease  in every social situation. 

 

Keeping up with the changing trends in television, Dharma & Dad will be a single-camera show. But whenever Atticus reminisces about their childhood they remember it as a live studio audience sitcom. Dharma & Dad  is designed for streaming services like Hulu or Netflix

 

Like most Gen Z, Atticus embodies the emotions of hope and fear–hopeful that they can change the world and fearful that they won't.  Aside from the high-strung anxiety they inherited from Greg, Atticus’ main problem is their undying belief in true love. In the first episode, Atticus falls in love with someone who will never love them back. 

 

It's hard not to buy into that Disney fairytale of love at first sight when that is your parents’ love story 

 

Dharma & Dad would be a realistic look at what it is to be young and in love in the 21st century. With references and homages to Dharma & Greg, the new show works in tandem with the original while still being able to stand alone. 

 

Dharma and Greg are still happily married and an excellent parenting team. How is that possible given their differences? The answer to that and my other decisions I've taken for the characters will become obvious by the end of the script.