*CBS is planning a reboot of the Nancy Drew mysteries and president Glenn Geller revealed Tuesday that the network’s reimagining of the iconic character will be diverse.
“She is diverse, that is the way she is written,” the executive told THR at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour Tuesday. While Geller said it was too early to explain just what he meant by diverse, he did stress that the character will not be Caucasian.
“I’d be open to any ethnicity,” he said.
The network announced in October that it is bringing back the popular Nancy Drew mystery series, and fans and curious critics will have to tune in to see if the new Drew will be black, Asian, Latino, or even a biological female. Geller said the decision would be dependent upon finding the right actress for the part.
He also confirmed that Drew will be in her 30s and a detective for the NYPD. She will use her “uncanny observational skills,” while “navigating the complexities” of the new world of social media.
Geller stressed that “diversity” will play a major role in upcoming CBS programming. “We have a lot of new series in development, both series targeted to have full African-American or Latino casts but also many leads that are being developed [as diverse]. We’re not casting color blind, we’re casting color conscious,” he said.
The Nancy Drew mystery fiction series was created by publisher Edward Stratemeyer in 1930. The books have been ghostwritten by a number of authors and are published under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene. The franchise has included spinoff series including “Nancy Drew Files” and collaborations with “The Hardy Boys.”
“Nancy Drew Mysteries,” initially starring 24-year-old Pamela Sue Martin, ran from 1977 to 1979 on ABC. The series reboot news comes on the heels of the Netflix announcement that it was teaming with Norman Lear for an all-Latino remake of his classic sitcom “One Day at a Time.”
