#notmyreboot

Many minutes ago... much longer than I would like to think about... ReBoot released their third season. I am a huge fan of that beautiful little cartoon. It had been years since the nail-biting cliffhanger of season 2. To celebrate, I built myself a Guardian key-tool. Being a particular type of nerd, I needed mine to be functional as much as looking like Glitch.

So I took an Altoids tin and mounted it on a watch strap with a couple of rivets. Some paint, a few bits of junk from the hardware store, and it looked the part. Then, I went to the dollar store and loaded up on gadgets. I managed to cram a clock, calculator, tweezers, sewing scissors, pen and a space for my keys into it. This was before smart phones, so they had to be applied separately.

I was in the last couple of years of high school by now. Swiss army knives were absolutely forbidden at school, but the need for things like tweezers, scissors, screw drivers was ever present. Almost every day I would need something out of my key-tool so I kept wearing it for a long time.

Fast forward to when I somehow got a date? (Still have no idea how that happened) We were leaving the Ontario Science Centre when she says to me, “Do you remember where we parked?”

I did not. Therefore, I aimed Glitch vaguely into the parking lot and commanded in by best Bob impression “Glitch, Car!”

You could hear my date rolling her eyes out loud. That was about the reaction I was going for. Then, by some cosmic coincidence, proving that the Programmer has a sense of humour, there was a survey crew working in the parking lot. Just as I commanded Glitch to find the car, someone raised a giant orange flag right behind my vehicle!

“There it is. Glitch found it.”

She’s still mad at me because it worked. For some reason she married me? (That’s an epic tale for another time) And when I found the fandom again due to the guardian code trailer provoking all the Anti-virus programs into action; her first comment was: “I’m still mad about your stupid Glitch stupid working!”

We come from the net. Through systems, peoples and cities to this place: Mainframe. 

Already tired of The Guardian Code? Wanna show off your awesome Bob fan art? Talk about your favorite moments in the series? Then we have a server for you. 

Ok, so after a second viewing (this time sober) I have decided that this show is actually awesome!

The original show absolutely needed context about how the computer world interacted with the User world. We get to see real people working with the computers, and the real computers being fully intelligent without changing how people and computers interact at all.

The new characters are really interesting and unique. The natural leader is CisMan HeteroWhite. He’s joined by Nerd, Sportsball, and of course: Girl. It’s always exciting to see them morph into video game characters and battle waves of mindless drones. Who wants random viral binomes to have speaking parts or personality?

I love the new Megabyte design. Noses are for losers! And the old viral skull paint job never made him more interesting or threatening. Plus, his voice is spot on!

Then, there is episode 10. Oh My User! Bob is back! He looks good! Dot is shiney, and Enzo has those big puppy dog eyes we all remember. Speaking of puppy dogs, Frisket is back! Ans Megabyte is so awesome now that Frisket runs away at the mere mention of his name.

I’m gonna throw out my DVDs of ReBoot classic to make room for the Guardian Code in my collection. This timeless classic will never die, and the video game CGI will never look dated!

Happy April Fool’s Day!

30 MARCH 2018

Corus Quay

25 Dockside Drive

Toronto, Ontario

M5A 0B5

Dear Programming Department at Corus Entertainment, and specifically YTV,

I am a concerned parent and a long time fan of ReBoot. Corus Communications, and specifically YTV have a long standing reputation for quality. I remember when YTV was first going on the air and it was revolutionary. I particularly loved the idea to have Program Jockeys (The famous YTV PJs) between episodes.

The adventures and hijinks of the PJs were often as entertaining as the shows they were hosting. There was a particular incident that I will always remember where one of the puppet sidekicks, Warren P Grog, took over the station for a day. That was more years ago than I think any of us would like to admit, and I still remember it vividly. This is the standard of entertainment your organization is known for.

The shows chosen to air may not all have been gold, but they were clearly chosen by informed people in keeping with the high standards the audience had come to expect. Perhaps the jewel in the YTV crown was ReBoot: the world’s first fully CGI television program. The third season, which was produced completely for YTV, was the best one.

Alas, the property has been bought by Rainmaker “entertainment” and left dormant for decades. Despite the continuous call from fans to resolve the fourth season cliffhanger, there was nothing. Premiering today on Netflix (not in Canada) is a disaster called “ReBoot: The Guardian Code”. I understand YTV plans to air it in Canada starting in June.

I urge you to reconsider that plan.

The backlash against this show from ReBoot fans and general audiences has ranged from dismal (13,000 “dislikes” to 900 “likes” on the youtube trailer) to pure outrage. The sort of outrage that forces the e-mail generation to send a physical letter! “The Guardian Code” is far, far from the standards we have come to expect from YTV. Their use of the ReBoot name and logo is a sad attempt to cash in on nostalgia.

The writing is generic and uninspired. The animation is shoddy, nothing like the groundbreaking CGI of the original. The last straw was posted in the fan community today: a clip of the Guardian Code overtly insulting the original ReBoot fan base. If being openly offencive to some of the most loyal fans in the world is how they want to behave, I say it is not up to the quality YTV is known for.

I write this letter not out of hatred for The Guardian Code, but out of love for YTV and the many good memories I have of growing up watching. For love of ReBoot, and the pioneers who developed the show, from the script to the very technology to make it possible. It would be shameful for YTV to be associated with such a project. It is disrespectful to long time fans, and to new fans, and to the network.

There is still time to prevent this abomination from souring YTV’s reputation. I hope that the executives in charge of making the decision to air the show will watch it first and do the right thing.