To Mend & Defend

Growing up in Canada in the early nineties, one of my favorite television shows was called ReBoot. The show was groundbreaking for its time, both for its use of computer animation and its unique computer-world setting. The characters, plot, concepts and voice acting were all top notch, and the show was littered with jokes and references that only an adult would get (not entirely unlike recent animated films such as Shrek). I still get a kick out of the rare occasions when I catch a rerun while flipping channels.

Browsing Wikipedia the other day, I found an interesting Wired article from 1997 profiling the creators of ReBoot and how the show came to be. Page four of said article, however, was especially interesting as Gavin Blair discussed some of the difficulties the show faced under the BSP's oppressive and often ridiculous rulings with respect to acceptable content. For instance, they objected to Dot's figure, and insisted she be re-fitted with a much more acceptable monoboob. They considered a kiss on the cheek from sister to brother to be incestuous, and imposed a moratorium on the words hockey and wuss due to their apparently filthy slang meanings.

Fortunately, by the third season ReBoot had parted with ABC's thought police and was able to explore more complex storylines and darker themes. As creator Ian Pearson put it: "I think the third season is blowing the first two out of the water. We haven't gone hideously violent or anything like that - it's just more action-filled and fun-filled." This might be part of why the show had such a lasting impression on me; the characters grew up with me, in a way.

I'm not sure if ReBoot achieved any kind of popularity outside of Canada, but if you've never seen it I urge you to check it out. The second season is when the longer story arcs begin, so it's a great place to start. The fourth season's quasi-movie Daemon Rising is also terrific.