Reboot, the new Hulu comedy, drops on Tuesday, September 20th with a three-episode premiere. Reboot was created by Steven Levitan, the television juggernaut who is well-known for creating the hit ABC sitcom Modern Family. As the first Steven Levitan-created streaming show, Reboot looks to be a winning blend of Levitan's signature style and humor more suited for a streaming platform.
As the title suggests, Reboot centers around the reboot of a beloved early 2000s family sitcom, and the reunion of an estranged and dysfunctional cast. The show certainly leans into the meta nature of its premise, and makes jokes at the expense of writers, actors, and studio executives alike. Reboot even pokes fun at its own distributor in the trailer, as a seemingly-clueless executive who is "new to comedy" reveals she has been promoted to Vice President of comedy at Hulu.
That executive, Elaine, is played by Krista Marie Yu (Last Man Standing), who joined Calum Worthy (The Act) to speak with Screen Rant about being a part of this new comedy. Worthy plays Zack, a former child star who was a cast member of Reboot's fictional television show, Step Right Up. Yu and Worthy touched on the nature of their characters, joining this show as veterans of multi-camera sitcoms, and more.
Stars Talk Reboot
Screen Rant: Both of you have actually done multi-cam sitcoms in the past. How did that experience play into being a part of Reboot?
Krista Marie Yu: It was really exciting. The set of Reboot - the fake one - was actually the same set from Last Man Standing. Our living room. So it was very, very meta for me to walk onto the set that I had just worked on. The same front door and everything. It was actually very meaningful and nostalgic for me. I do think I've learned most of my lessons from both shows I've been on in terms of comedy, just being brave and bold, so it's just an honor to have an opportunity to implement all those lessons.
Calum Worthy: We did this one scene where we actually had a live studio audience, and what I remembered while filming that is how great it is to know if your joke works in the moment. Because when you're filming a single-cam show, you feel it, you can kind of judge it for yourself, and of course you have great directors and showrunners that help make sure you know when things are working, when they're not working. But with a live studio audience, if you knock it out of the park, you know it because they laugh. And if the joke doesn't quite work, you hear it as well. I missed that, and I didn't realize that was something that I'd missed until we did the "fake" multi-cam shoot. And then I was like, "Oh, that's a fun thing to have."
It seems like both of your characters are maybe a little lacking in self-awareness. So how is it to play that, especially if you have scenes together?
Krista Marie Yu: The scenes together, especially, we live in our own little Disneyland and just kind of go with it. It makes it, in my opinion, really light and fun and a place that I'd love to live in in everyday life. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
I know there's that shot [in the trailer] of you guys riding on the bikes, but it doesn't say too much about your characters and how they interact. What can you say about Zack and Elaine and how they might get along?
Calum Worthy: I would say that Zack and Elaine both are missing things in their lives. Experiences that they need to have. What is cool about whenever they see each other is that they can kind of trade things that they're better at, and the skills that they have acquired. And that develops into a really fun storyline.
Krista Marie Yu: Fun, unexpected.
Finally, what made you both want to be a part of the show?
Calum Worthy: As soon as I read the script, it said "Steve Levitan" on it, and I said, "I'm in." I didn't even have to go past that. He's just so good. His track record is incredible, and I'm just also a huge fan of his way of making shows. I love all the shows he's made, and the idea of spending time with him on set sounded like a dream environment to work on in a comedy. And then seeing the other cast members, and then reading the script, and falling in love with it, and realizing that this script is something I would dream of doing even if none of these people were involved. It just felt like it was such a no-brainer.
I just wanted to be a part of the team. That was the thing that I was wanting to be a part of. I just thought, "If I could just be on this team and playing on it..." because it felt like I was playing on the Bulls in the 90s, because it's just an all-star team. Even if I had to just toss them water on the sidelines, I'd do it.
Krista Marie Yu: For me, I was just like, "I just would love a job." And then the fact that the job was a Steve Levitan project was the biggest gift. And similar to what Calum said, they kept announcing more people in the cast, and the dream just kept getting bigger and bigger. I couldn't be more grateful.
About Reboot
Hulu reboots an early 2000’s family sitcom, forcing its dysfunctional cast back together. Now they must deal with their unresolved issues in today’s fast-changing world.
The series stars Keegan-Michael Key, Judy Greer, Johnny Knoxville, Paul Reiser, Rachel Bloom, Calum Worthy, and Krista Marie Yu.
Check out our other interviews for Reboot here:
The first three episodes of Reboot are available to stream on Hulu.