Exclusive: Reboot Stars Judy Greer and Johnny Knoxville, and Creator Steve Levitan on Their New Comedy

It’s 2022. Everything old becomes new again in some inventive way, which will be one of the reasons viewers tune into Hulu’s new comedy, Reboot. The new comedy series from Modern Family creator Steve Levitan stars Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon!), Judy Greer (The Thing About Pam), Johnny Knoxville (Jackass), Paul Reiser (The Kominksy Method), Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Calum Worthy (The Act), and Krista Marie Yu (Last Man Standing) in a show about a show that’s making its way back to the screen. The series pokes fun at showbiz, specifically targeting today’s fascination with reviving TV shows, something that really found momentum when Will & Grace returned to NBC several years ago.

Roseanne soon followed, later morphing into The Conners. Levitan was intrigued by all that. And so were the actors he’d eventually nab to star in Reboot.

“I had the idea for Reboot several years ago when the Roseanne debacle happened,” Levitan said, “and when that showed blew up, I thought that premise would be an interesting arena for a show. You know, people coming back together after many years and thinking their lives would be one thing, and maybe they weren’t, and there they are — forced back together.”

The return of Will & Grace and Roseanne sparked creative fires elsewhere. Suddenly there were so many reboots arriving. It was in the zeitgeist.

“It gave me a chance to start writing about all my years in television,” Levitan noted. “The way I wrote about my family in Modern Family was obviously very deep and personal for me, but my work is also very deep and personal for me, so this gave me a chance to reflect on all the fascinating characters I’ve known through the years [in the business] and the ridiculous situations I’ve been in.”

But Reboot also morphed into a show that illuminated Levitan’s joy for the business.

“I wasn’t keen on taking a cynical look at [showbiz],” he explained. “Because it’s been a wonderful business for me, but it’s also been filled with refreshing moments and very hard moments. And many joyful moments. I wanted to wrap all that up into something new.”

Judy Greer and Johnny Knoxville on Reboot

Any way you spin it, Levitan couldn’t have asked for a better cast. In Reboot, Key, Greer, Knoxville, and Worthy, are the former stars of Step Right Up, a hit sitcom from 20 years ago that fell flat after Key’s character reportedly left the show. Coming along for the ride here are Reiser and Bloom, two writers/behind-the-scenes execs hoping to hit gold with a retooled show and once-popular actors. Yu plays a Hulu HR exec, playing up what modern streaming titans go through to get any show launched.

All in all, Reboot is wicked fun, but its heartfelt nature caught Greer’s attention.

Well, that and, “Johnny and Steve used to date a long time ago,” she kidded, referring to Knoxville and Levitan. “They always wanted to work together again. Steve owed him. No. We just both loved, respected, and looked up to Steve. And his talent… I felt that anybody who has been in television that long had a lot to make fun of, and that we, as actors, would have a lot of great scripts. Right?”

Knoxville said he, “loved Modern Family,” so for him, being on Reboot, was “a no-brainer!” “And with all the actors involved,” he added, “it’s like a nice little move from my previous work.”

In Reboot, Greer’s character, Bree, had a relationship with Key’s Reed. Naturally, there’s a bit of tension when they reunite. Meanwhile, Knoxville’s Clay hopes to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of his scorched past. Can he keep it together without the booze and scandals?

“I love playing Bree,” Greer shared, “and I was excited about this because the cast brings something unique, special, and funny to the show. I also thought it would be interesting because everybody is a good actor, too. What keeps people coming back when you’re watching a comedy is being able to care about the character. So, for all of us to have good acting chops, I felt we could hit the comedy with no problem.”

“But there’s also more poignant and heartfelt moments in the show, and I’m hoping that is what gets us back [for season two],” she added.

Related: Exclusive: Keegan-Michael Key Says He’s ‘Approaching Roles With More Mindfulness’

This may be Greer’s time to shine. She’s long been “the funny friend” or witty neighbor in TV shows or movies. In Reboot she takes on a more commanding presence.

Knoxville didn’t personally know anybody in the cast except for Reiser prior to coming into the studio.

“There are so many lines that are funny, and Paul can just take a line or a word that’s not necessarily funny on the paper and say it in such a way,” he said. “And there are some moments in the stories we’re telling that just tickled me.”

Greer and Knoxville said they both learned a lot from Levitan during the Reboot shoot.

“After our first very first read-through — we had to do it by Zoom because of the pandemic — and Steve was like, ‘Don’t be so loud, you’re yelling!’” Knoxville joked. “And I’m hard of hearing. So, I thought, ‘Oh, I was super loud.’ I’m a little quieter now on Zooms. But really — I’ve learned a lot.”

“I don’t understand how his brain works,” Greer said of Levitan. “Sometimes, when you’re talking to him, he’s kind of like looking away — down or up. But in his mind, he doesn’t miss a thing. I could say, ‘Oh, I’m gonna die if I don’t have a Diet Coke sometime soon,’ just in passing. And then in another episode, Bree is drinking a Diet Coke. Everything is content for him. You really do have to be careful. But it’s great, too, because you really feel like your boss is listening to you and writing for you.”

Both stars admitted they were inspired by sitcoms of yore — Greer Three’s Company, among others, and Knoxville Sanford and Son.

“I love to make people laugh,” Greer went on, “And I hope people think the show is funny. I’d love for people to grab onto our characters. Each of our characters’ stories are interesting enough that it will keep audiences coming back.”

Why Reboot? Why now?

By all accounts, Levitan could have packed it up after Modern Family bowed several years ago. At that point, he’d won numerous Emmys and had given the world popular sitcoms like Just Shoot Me! and Back to You. He’d also written for and produced the show Wings, among others.

“It certainly was a daunting task to follow Modern Family,” he said. “And it was hard to imagine a show doing as well as that. But I wasn’t done working. I didn’t want to stop. I still like this job. I still like creating shows. Now, it’s about: ‘What do I really, really want to do? What do I want to write about that’s different?’”

He said he wouldn’t want to take on another family show like Modern Family.

“The idea of doing a show on streaming appealed to me because I can take that further than I did with network television, both in language and in situations,” he said. “And mostly in time. Modern Family was limited at 21 minutes and 30 seconds an episode. Reboot could go as long as it needs to go to feel right. I can let moments land and use music more effectively.”

Was launching a show about a show cathartic for Levitan, considering his showbiz history?

“That’s exactly the word I’ve been using,” he laughed. “But at first, I thought the idea for the show was a good arena because I like larger-than-life characters who also feel real. And our business is loaded with larger-than-life characters, between actors, writers, executives, all sorts of people. There are a lot of fascinating characters and situations. What surprised me was just how personal Reboot started to feel to me — those little moments of observation. And sometimes those little moments became like a love letter from me to this business.”

“Those little moment where you can capture the joy of what this business is like, or the heartbreak,” he went on. “Or to be able to express how much I’ve loved so many people in this business. And maybe to call out the bullshit of some people I didn’t love quite as much. Number one, I hope viewers are entertained. I hope people laugh. That’s first and foremost. I want people to come away from Reboot laughing and feeling better.”

Reboot streams on Hulu Sept. 20.