The reset button technique (based on the idea of ''
status quo ante'') is a
plot device
A plot device or plot mechanism
is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelie ...
that interrupts
continuity in works of fiction. Simply put, use of a reset button device returns all characters and situations to the ''status quo'' they held before a major change of some sort was introduced. It is typically used in the middle of a program to "negate" some portion of what came before.
Often used in
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
television series,
animated series
An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...
,
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
s, and
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
s, the device allows elaborate and dramatic changes to characters and the
fictional universe that might otherwise invalidate the premise of the show with respect to future episodes' or issues' continuity. Writers may, for example, use the technique to allow the audience to experience the
death of the lead character, which traditionally would not be possible without effectively ending the work.
One-off use
When this device is used in shows that do not use it regularly, its effective use depends on the audience being unaware of the continuity status until the moment when the intention to use the reset button technique is made clear. This requires the show to cause successful
suspension of disbelief in the audience while introducing plot developments that would seriously alter the future of the show, without revealing that continuity is or will be interrupted. It is frequently employed as a
plot twist
A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist or surprise ending. It may change the au ...
that effectively undoes all the happenings of the episode. Common uses of this technique draw liberally from science fiction and metaphysical ideas, perhaps explaining its widespread use in those genres.
Examples of the reset button technique include dream sequences, alternate-history flashbacks, parallel universes, "alternate realities", "alternate timelines", daydreams,
time travel
Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...
, and hallucinations. In one trope that uses this technique (typically in science fiction or fantasy), a character will find themselves in a situation that seems familiar, but during the episode, some things seem odd. Then one or more major events happen, such as the death of a lead character. By the end of the episode or
story arc
A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vid ...
the character realizes that they have been placed in a copy of their normal surroundings, usually to try to obtain information from them, and that the mastermind behind the plan made a few mistakes in fashioning the copied environment.
Perhaps the most infamous example
of the reset button technique is the
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
**Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal enter ...
season premiere
A season premiere is the first episode of a new season of a returning television show. In the United States, many season premieres are aired in the fall time or, for mid-season replacements, either in the spring or late winter.
In countries such ...
of ''
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
'' in which it is revealed that
Bobby Ewing
Bobby James Ewing is a fictional character in the American television series ''Dallas'' and its 2012 revival. The youngest son of Jock and Miss Ellie Ewing, he was portrayed by actor Patrick Duffy (1978–1985, 1986–1991). Bobby had been kil ...
's death in the previous season was merely a
dream
A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...
in the mind of one of the characters. This was parodied in the "
Da Boom
"Da Boom" is the third and special episode of the second season of the animated comedy series '' Family Guy'' and the tenth episode of the series. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on December 26, 1999. The episode features the Gr ...
" episode of ''
Family Guy''. In
comics, the
Spider-Man storyline ''
Spider-Man: One More Day'' undid the marriage of Peter Parker and
Mary Jane Watson
Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is a Character (arts), fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., and made her first appearance in ''The Amazing Spider-Man' ...
, drawing criticism due to the continuity issues, with some critics even comparing it to ''Dallas''.
However, used appropriately, it can be devastating in terms of its effect. Near the end of the series finale of ''
Newhart
''Newhart'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, ...
'', innkeeper Dick Loudon (portrayed by
Bob Newhart
George Robert Newhart (born September 5, 1929) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery style. Newhart came to prominence in 1960 when his album of comedic monologues, ''The Button-Down Mi ...
) is struck on the head and knocked unconscious. The scene switches abruptly to Dr. Bob Hartley, the character Newhart portrayed in his earlier series ''
The Bob Newhart Show
''The Bob Newhart Show'' is an American sitcom television series produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a p ...
'', waking up in bed next to his wife Emily (portrayed by
Suzanne Pleshette). Hartley describes the strange dream he has just had about running a Vermont inn, which Emily blames on the Japanese food he ate before going to bed. The entirety of ''Newhart'' is thus established to be part of Hartley's dream.
Use as a frequent plot device
In many series, the reset button trope is used as a standard, and frequently explicit, plot device.
Implicit usage of the technique can be seen in episodic fiction, such as when the results of episodes regularly cause what would seem to be massive changes in the status of characters and their world; however, it is understood by the audience that subsequent episodes will not take into account such events. An example is ''
South Park'', in which the character of
Kenny
Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names.
In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant of Cionnaith" ...
dies in almost every episode in early seasons, only to reappear in future episodes without explanation.
''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' is one show that generally uses this technique, while occasionally introducing lasting continuity changes. Creator
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...
referred to this flexibility as a "rubber band reality".
[{{cite news, last1=Lloyd, first1=Robert, title='The Simpsons': Q&A with Matt Groening on reaching 500 episodes, url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2012/02/qa-matt-groening-on-the-simpsons-at-500.html, accessdate=3 March 2017, newspaper=LA Times, date=20 February 2012]
Reset-button using shows sometimes, as a form of
self-referential humor
Self-referential humor, also known as self-reflexive humor, self-aware humor, or meta humor, is a type of comedic expression that—either directed toward some other subject, or openly directed toward itself—is self-referential in some way, int ...
, point out their own use of the technique.
Alluding to the trope, the
CBBC
CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
television series ''
Hounded'' features a literal reset button that, at the end of each episode, rewinds the entire day's events back to the beginning.
Similar devices
In many episodic shows, sudden changes to a character's past or attributes are not examples of the reset button technique, but merely a lack of continuity. For instance, in early episodes of the popular Fox TV show ''
House'' Dr. Wilson's character was explicitly stated to be Jewish. However, in later episodes, it was implied that he was not, such as in the episode "The Social Contract" when House tells Dr. Taub that he cannot hope to compete in racquetball against Dr. Wilson because "Wilson played tennis at his college team. And you are a Jew, you're not athletic."
In many adventure-oriented series, the characters are defined essentially by what they do and encounter in the course of their adventures. Character development is kept to a bare minimum in favor of action and adventure. In some long-running series, characters do not appear to age, but are instead revised to fit the times. Examples of this include cartoon characters such as
Scooby-Doo
''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are ...
, series film characters such as
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
, and serial novel characters such as
Mack Bolan
Mack Bolan, alias '' The Executioner'', is a fictional character who has been serialized in 631 novels with sales of more than 200 million books. Created by Don Pendleton, Bolan made his first appearance on the printed page in ''The Execution ...
and
Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew is a fictional character appearing in several mystery book series, movies, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwritten by a number of authors and published under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Crea ...
.
Simple failure to maintain continuity is not the use of the reset button technique, although in some cases, such a failure can be considered a
reboot
In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...
. For instance, when the
Superman films came out in the 1970s, the
screenwriters largely ignored the decades-long comic book
storyline and frequently contradicted previous "facts". For example, in the comic books,
Krypton
Krypton (from grc, κρυπτός, translit=kryptos 'the hidden one') is a chemical element with the symbol Kr and atomic number 36. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas that occurs in trace amounts in the atmosphere and is often ...
, Superman's home planet, had a climate similar to Earth's, but in the film series, it had an icy climate.
See also
*
Canon (fiction)
In fiction, canon is the material accepted as officially part of the story in an individual universe of that story by its fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction. The alternative terms mythology, tim ...
* ''
Deus ex machina
''Deus ex machina'' ( , ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; English "god out of the machine") is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly and abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function ...
''
*
Retcon
Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subs ...
References
Continuity (fiction)
Plot (narrative)