In television history, leading dynamic duos made countless shows worth watching. Older sitcoms like “Laverne and Shirley,” “Sanford and Son” and “Tom and Jerry” paved the way for duo comedies. In the early 2000s, television executive Dan Schneider followed this suit when he created a show of his own featuring two leading characters on Nickelodeon called “Drake and Josh.”

Now, most students who grew up in the early 2000s will tell you that above all other shows on Nick, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, “Drake and Josh” ranks toward the top of the list. That is why the show needs a reboot.

In a previous column written last year, I wrote that current reboots for shows like “Full House” and “That’s So Raven” “make me feel like I’ve stepped back into my childhood.” After some thoughts danced around in my head, I hatched a question: Why hasn’t Nickelodeon made a “Drake and Josh” reboot yet? It’s hard to believe they haven’t thought about it before now.

During its time on television between 2004 and 2007, the show featured Drake Bell and Josh Peck portraying step brothers in San Diego. The chemistry between both actors and the situations they found themselves in are the reason why the show was so successful.

With Drake’s persona, he always found a way to cause friction in each episode. No matter what Drake did, honor student Josh followed the rules while even making mistakes of his own. Even with their constant antics, Miranda Cosgrove’s character as their little sister Megan and her routine pranks on the boys added to the show’s comedic genius.

Not only did Drake and Josh make the show worth watching but so did all of the supporting characters. Whether it was Crazy Steve yelling through the movie theatre, Josh’s boss Helen’s witty rebuttals or eccentric nerds Craig and Eric always doing the right thing, the show never seemed to have a dull moment. 

The dynamic duo characters aspect has played so well in other shows too. Like Norm Peterson (George Wendt) and Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) in “Cheers,” Will (Will Smith) and Carlton Banks (Alfonso Ribeiro) in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) and Barnie Fife (Don Knotts) in “The Andy Griffith Show,” those characters make the shows not only great but memorable.

In this potential new reboot, Nickelodeon would have to cast all of the same actors to play their respective characters once again. Who knows what would happen in each episode, but if Nickelodeon can’t hire the original cast back, they should drop the idea entirely.

Assuming they would hire the original cast once again, perhaps Nickelodeon could include classic show moments like Josh running into Oprah Winfrey, Drake wrestling his girlfriend and Megan making more salsa with the fictitious Peruvian Puff Pepper. Even if they don’t, they would have to include memorable lines like “Megan!” and “Hug Me Brotha!” 

When discussing this with friends here on campus, so many of them told me that they would love to see a “Drake and Josh” reboot. Shows we grew up watching like “iCarly,” “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” and “Hannah Montana” were great in their own respect, but none of them compared to excellence of “Drake and Josh.”

If Nickelodeon played their cards right, the “Drake and Josh” reboot would be one of the best shows they’ve made in recent years. There’s no doubt a potential reboot would rake in millions of viewers and ratings would soar through the roof. 

So what do you say Nickelodeon, are you ready to make this reboot?

Noah is a sophomore in the College of Media.

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