Modern sci-fi has old roots. Doctor Doom, the villain of the much anticipated Avengers: Doomsday first appeared in Fantastic Four #5, back in July 1962. The sci-fi television bedrock The Twilight Zone, which is still mentioned today, aired through the early 1960s along with other similar anthology series. The iconic 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes films both premiered in 1968.
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Many of these creations from the 1960s still have popular franchises today. The first installment in Frank Herbert’s Dune series was published in 1965, while the blueprint for the Blade Runner franchise — Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep novel — came out in 1968.
Unfortunately, not all 1960s creations are so lucky. Many never left the ‘60s, except in the case of reruns on television networks, while others experienced stagnating revivals. When taking an IP from an earlier decade, there’s always the question of what to do with it.
Do you attempt to capture the exact feeling of the original series, or do you take the main tenets while trying for a modern feel? Either way, there are four such iconic 1960s sci-fi franchises that desperately need a 2026 reboot.
4. Out of the Unknown
From 1965 to 1971, the BBC aired an science fiction horror anthology series titled Out of the Unknown. The show was hosted by actor Boris Karloff, known for playing Frankenstein’s monster, and featured adaptations of sci-fi stories. As the show progressed, it shifted from sci-fi to horror-fantasy, and from published stories to those written for the show. Think of it as a precursor to the popular Netflix series Black Mirror.
As the success of Dune and Blade Runner undoubtedly show audiences, sci-fi literature is a goldmine for adaptations. Merging the expansiveness of sci-fi with the creative freedom of anthology shows would create something not only popular with viewers but also performers and writers wanting to stretch the boundaries of their abilities. A reboot of Out of the Unknown also could platform lesser known sci-fi stories, given the breadth of the genre. Given the host component, the show could function as an elevated podcast, a medium that doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.
3. Doctor Who
Doctor Who, perhaps more than ever, needs new voices behind the scenes and a new look. The show is no stranger to reinvention — it has done it numerous times and it’s literally part of the show through the Doctor’s numerous regenerations — but it also keeps stagnating.
In his most recent run, Russell T. Davies brought back Doctor Who Classic villains but failed to bring the context of why viewers should care. With the botched depiction of the Rani and the tease of Billie Piper as a future Doctor, it felt like the show was cannibalizing itself, using nostalgia to propel itself forward instead of genuine writing interested in pushing the story in a new direction.
2. The Jetsons
‘90s and 2000s kids growing up will undoubtedly remember The Jetsons. Created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera — creatives responsible for such hits as Tom and Jerry, the Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Super-Friends, and more — the cartoon originally ran from 1962 to 1963. After proving successful, and airing reruns, new episodes were developed and produced from 1985 to 1987.
Despite its long-lasting impact on its fans, the show wasn’t originally successful. The Jetsons was cancelled after its first season due to poor ratings. Additionally, the 1990 Jetsons: The Movie garnered neither critical nor commercial success. Afterwards, there were attempts to revive the property, but none have progressed past the development stage. In 2015, Warner Bros announced an animated Jetsons film that failed to come to fruition, and most recently, in 2025, a live-action Jetsons was reportedly in development with writer/director Colin Trevorrow.
Given the love of the retro-futuristic vibe in Fantastic Four: First Steps, it isn’t hard to imagine a similarly themed The Jetsons live action movie or show appealing to viewers. The premise of the show is perhaps more relatable than ever — all the buildings in their society are high in the air in order to avoid pollution — while the charm of the ‘60s remains intact.
1. Star Trek
When Starfleet Academy announced a cancellation following the second season, it marked a new age for Star Trek. For the first time since 2017, there was no new Star Trek show in the works, bringing the so-called modern streaming era to an end. The current era’s had its problems, and yes, Starfleet Academy isn’t perfect, but its cancellation is still hard to accept.
Star Trek desperately needs to “go where no one has gone before” once again. Like Doctor Who, Star Trek can fall into the nostalgia trap — see Starfleet Academy’s episode dedicated to Sam’s fixation on trying to figure out what happened to Benjamin Sisko in the aftermath of Deep Space Nine — but Star Trek is still telling compelling stories.
Starfleet Academy took some big swings in bringing forth a federation that isn’t perfect — even if the first season’s finale tried resolving them of wrongdoing — and showing the impacts it had on both citizens and non-citizens of the alliance of planets. The show also managed to strike a balance between the fun camp of the Original Series and the seriousness that many off-shoot series have taken since.
Supposedly, Paramount Skydance is already planning a fresh start for the franchise. What that will look like is still uncertain, and hopefully it won’t just be a rehash of the Kelvin Timeline films. Yes, Kirk, Spock, and Bones are iconic, but Star Trek is more than just the original series and notes should be taken from Starfleet Academy.
Which 1960s franchise would you like to see rebooted? Let us know in the comments!
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