Do Over

Did You Know?

• The show was scheduled on Thursdays at 8:30 EST.
• It was pitted against CBS's Survivor and NBC's Scrubs.
• The entire series aired on Channel 4 in Great Britain in September 2008.

Synopsis

The show opens with Joel Larsen as a grown man working a dull paper sales job, single and unhappy about the path his life took. His sister, once popular, became addicted to drugs; his best friend abandoned his ideals; and his mother left, leaving his father bitter and unhealthy. A jolt from defibrillator paddles throws Joel back to 1981, where he wakes up as his fourteen-year-old self, but with all his memories from 2002 intact. He eventually comes to terms with this, confiding only in his friend Pat. Armed with adult insight but struggling with teenage impulses, Joel aims to fix the mistakes that ruined his family and himself. He has to get used to early-80s culture, junior high, and the ups and downs of adolescence, always trying to change things for the better. A recurring joke has Joel’s inventive mother creating items like fanny packs, Lunchables, and Post-it notes, which his father mocks, preferring to back things like asbestos tile, Betamax tapes, or electric typewriters. Joel occasionally uses his future knowledge for personal gain—buying Intel stock, passing off 1990s songs as his own, or befriending someone who will become a billionaire—but these plans always backfire, teaching him that the real goal is to guide his loved ones toward better choices. In the final episode, Joel talks his father into investing in one of his mother’s creations, which surprises Joel because that invention doesn’t exist in the future. The series ends with Joel and his family raising a toast to what lies ahead.