Steven Levitan Talks ‘Reboot,’ Navigating the Boundaries of Comedy and Whether He’d Revive ‘Modern Family’

variety.com:

Ethan Shanfeld Steven Levitan is a veteran of the American sitcom, starting his career on long-running multi-cam “Wings,” creating NBC’s “Just Shoot Me!,” and co-parenting “Modern Family,” which won the Emmy for outstanding comedy series five years in a row.

On his latest project, however, Levitan looks at the sitcom through a different lens. “Reboot,” on Hulu, follows the cast of fictional early-aughts sitcom “Step Right Up” reuniting when, yes, Hulu decides to reboot it.

There’s Reed (Keegan-Michael Key), pretentious capital A actor who never got his big break; Bree (Judy Greer), who returns from a small Nordic country after a royal divorce; Clay (Johnny Knoxville), a filthy stand-up comedian who can’t stay out of trouble; and Zack (Calum Worthy), a child actor who never really grew up.

Meanwhile, the veteran comedy writers of the original show clash with the young, politically correct writers also on board, and the original show’s creator is forced to compromise with a new showrunner, whose claim to fame is an indie film called “Cunt Saw.” Ahead of the series’ three-episode premiere, Levitan sat down with Variety to discuss the meta nature of “Reboot,” how its onscreen writers’ room compares to those actually in Hollywood and whether he’d consider reviving “Modern Family.” Hulu is basically a character in the show.