Who's The Boss? Reboot - What We Know So Far
It's been almost 30 years since Who's the Boss? left the airwaves, but the folks at Sony Pictures Television are sincerely hoping viewers stuck around, because the series will indeed be back in a moment.
Reboot-mania continues to sweep through Hollywood, and it appears the next beloved '80s sitcom to hop on the nostalgia train is the long-cancelled ABC hit Who's the Boss?. For those who came of age in a post-'80s world, Who's the Boss? starred Tony Danza as former baseball player, widower, and all-round good guy Tony Micelli, who, seeking a better life for his young daughter Samantha (Alyssa Milano) after an early retirement, takes a job as a live-in housekeeper in the upper-class Connecticut home of divorced New York ad exec Angela Bower (Judith Light).
With Agnela's precocious son Jonathan (Danny Pintauro) and her quippy, sexually liberated mother Mona (Katherine Helmond) in tow, the sort of family-friendly hijinks one would expect from an '80s sitcom naturally ensued. Though it was still a fairly traditional series, Who's the Boss? was also deceptively progressive for the era, particularly in its gender-role swapping setup and its depiction of a makeshift family partially enabled by divorce.
Who's the Boss? made its small-screen premiere in the fall of 1984 and became an instant hit for ABC, running for eight full seasons on the network before airing its finale in 1992, just shy of the 200-episode mark. After nearly three decades off the air, Sony brass are hoping there's "a brand new life around the bend" for the once-adored series. Here's everything we know so far about the Who's the Boss? reboot.
When will the Who's the Boss? reboot be released?
If you count yourself among Who's the Boss? fandom, you're should be quite excited (or at least genuinely intrigued) to see what Tony and the gang have been up to for the past 30 years. You're no doubt just as curious about when you'll be able to do so. Unfortunately, the series has only just been announced by Sony Pictures Television, so there's no official timetable as to when it will hit the airwaves. And, as is the case with most production news these days, it's unclear how or if the current state of the world will effect the show's production timeline.
It's also a bit unclear as to whether the Who's the Boss? reboot has been given a full series order, or if it will follow the typical television series track of simply shooting a single pilot episode before it gets shopped around to potential broadcast partners. That will obviously be greatly impacted by whether or not the reboot's producers (including the legendary Norman Lear) are eyeing a premiere network for the series' revival or looking to take their concept to the land of streaming.
Given that the series aired on ABC for the entirety of its original run, one might assume the network will have first crack at the Who's the Boss? revival series, but it's just too early to tell when or where the reboot will make its premiere.
Who will be in the Who's the Boss? reboot?
As await details surrounding the whens and wheres of the Who's the Boss? revival, the bigger question becomes, "Who will be returning for the new series?" Fans of the original program will no doubt be over the moon to learn that O.G. stars Tony Danza and Alyssa Milano are set to reprise their roles for the new series. Both actors recently confirmed the fact via social media, with Danza making several posts to his Instagram page and Milano hitting Twitter with her own post proclaiming, "I AM SO EXCITED! #WhosTheBoss is coming back!!!"
With both Danza and Milano set to return to Who's the Boss?, it seems only a matter of time until their former co-stars get in on the reboot madness as well. At the moment, however, neither Judith Light nor Danny Pintauro has been confirmed to return for the revival series. Per Deadline's report, however, Sony producers remain confident that might still happen, noting in a press release both former stars are, "supportive of the new series," and that, "The cast remains very close to this day and the hope is to find creative ways to work them and their characters into the show."
Unfortunately, the new series will not see the return of Katherine Helmond's firecracker of a matriarch Mona, as Helmond passed away early in 2019 due to complications from Alzheimers. Helmond's presence on the show will be greatly missed, and we can only hope producers on the Who's the Boss? reboot will find some way to pay their respects to the beloved actor.
What's the plot of the Who's the Boss? reboot?
Now that we have a slightly better idea who's going to be in the Who's the Boss? revival series, it's also a bit clearer what the series will be about. In case it wasn't obvious, the new Who's the Boss? will find Danza and Milano (both of whom will also be serving as producers on the show) at the heart of the story.
The new series will reportedly be set 30 years after the original. It'll also find Danza's Tony now retired from both baseball and his housekeeping gig, and will be centered around his relationship with his now-adult daughter Samantha (Milano), herself getting by as a single mother. In an interesting turn of events, it also seems Samantha is still living in the Connecticut home in which the original series took place.
As is the case with pretty much every Norma Lear series (see: All In the Family, Maude, Good Times, One Day At A Time, etc.), Deadline also reports the Who's the Boss? reboot will utilize comedy to, "Rxplore generational differences, as well as opposing world views and parenting styles within the dynamic of a modern family in 2020."
Opposing world views and generational differences are obviously as amplified today as they have been at any point in modern history, so it should be interesting to see exactly what track Who's the Boss? takes on that front, not to mention how far they push the boundaries with potentially divisive topics. Given the dexterity with which the original series managed the same sort of approach, we're betting the revival will also find just the right mix of humor and social commentary. As it is, we'll just have to wait and see.