The hottest thing on TV right now, or at least Netflix: Fuller House, the sequel series to the 1987-1995 family sitcom Full House. It’s not the first time that characters from a beloved show have returned to screens years later.

Dragnet

Arguably the first major revival in TV history, the straight-laced cop drama Dragnet aired on NBC from 1951 to 1959. Jack Webb (Sgt. Joe Friday) became a TV star, but he was also the show’s creator, and the success of Dragnet led to more of Webb’s shows getting on the air, including Adam-12, Emergency!…and more Dragnet. He revived the show in 1967, when NBC needed an emergency replacement for the failed sitcom The Hero. Webb couldn’t get Ben Alexander to reprise his role as Friday’s partner, Frank Smith, so he enlisted Harry Morgan to play a new character, Officer Bill Gannon. The show was a hit, but Webb ended Dragnet for the second time in 1970 to focus more on his writing and producing. But he did try to revive Dragnet one more time, in 1982. Facing the same problem he did in 1967, this time Harry Morgan was too busy, starring on M*A*S*H, so Webb hired Kent McCord of Adam-12. This Dragnet never made it to the air. Why? Webb died.

Still the Beaver

Leave it to Beaver went off the air in 1963, but its reruns aired in constant rotation for decades. That’s why in 1983, CBS commissioned a TV movie to check in on the Cleavers called Still the Beaver. It did so well that The Disney Channel ordered a series based on the movie. After a season it moved to TBS (as The New Leave it to Beaver) and aired a whopping 105 episodes. The synopsis: It’s a little depressing. Ward Cleaver has died (as had star Hugh Beaumont), and Beaver, now a divorced father, moves back in with his mother. Wally lives next door.

Mission: Impossible

In 1988, the new fall TV season was delayed because of a writers strike. The networks had to scramble to find content to fill the airwaves. ABC had a novel idea: It revived the classic 1966-73 spy series Mission: Impossible. Bringing back star Peter Graves, the revival series simply used old scripts from the original show.