*Lee Daniels has teamed with ABC to give “The Wonder Years” the reboot treatment, and this time with an all Black cast.
Daniels will exec produce the comedy from ‘Big Bang Theory’ writer Saladin Patterson, with original series co-creator Neal Marlens and star Fred Savage also attached, per THR.
“The Wonder Years” ran on ABC from March 15, 1988 until May 12, 1993, and centers on Fred Savage as Kevin Arnold, a teenager growing up in a suburban middle-class family. Throughout the series’ six-season run, Kevin deals with middle and high school, encounters puberty, has ups and downs with childhood sweetheart Winnie Cooper, deals with annoying older brother Wayne, and hangs out with geeky-but-lovable Paul. The series is told from Kevin’s point-of-view, per Wiki.
ABC is teaming with the “Empire” co-creator for a reboot of the coming-of-age comedy and it will feature a Black family.
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It’s about time they try to tell a realistic story of a black child growing up during the 60’s & 70’s. I hope it sheds light on our current society – from civil rights through the Vietnam war- and now Black Lives Matter – hope this show makes a difference. #TheWonderYears pic.twitter.com/3BwWeUKhgS
— Dan Lauria (@realdanlauria) July 9, 2020
The goal, per sources, is for the new Wonder Years to be developed for the 2021-22 television season.
In related news, we previously reported… Paramount Pictures has secured global rights for Lee Daniels’ biopic on the life of Billie Holliday starring Multiple Grammy and NAACP Image Award Nominee Andra Day.
According to Variety, the pic was sold by Endeavor Content in an eight-figure deal out of Cannes’ virtual market this week.
Daniels will direct and produce from a script written by Suzan-Lori Parks, who was the first Black American woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize for her play TOPDOG/UNDERDOG. She also penned the “Native Son” script in 2019.
“The United States vs. Billie Holliday” follows the iconic jazz musician and singer as “she’s being targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics in an undercover sting operation led by federal agent Jimmy Fletcher, with whom she had a tumultuous affair, per Broadway World. The biopic will examine Holliday’s struggles with addiction, fame and heartbreak.
“It is an extraordinary responsibility to tell the story of the iconic Billie Holiday. Her story is very personal to me and I hope to do justice when bringing to light this profound and complicated soul — a great artist and an unsung civil rights warrior,” Daniels said in a statement.
The film is inspired by the 2015 New York Times bestseller “Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs.”
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