Amazon Is Making An "A League Of Their Own" TV Series
THR- Amazon Studios is ready to take a big swing. The retail giant/streaming service is developing a TV series based on Penny Marshall’s Tom Hanks and Geena Davis feature, A League of Their Own. Mozart in the Jungle’s Will Graham and Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson will co-write and executive produce what is being described less as a traditional reboot and more as a modern look at the story. The project is being envisioned as a half-hour comedy series.
Here’s the official logline: “A League of Their Own is a half-hour comedy infusing the warmth, humor and DNA of the classic film, while taking a contemporary spin on the stories of the women surrounding the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The show will begin with the formation of the league in 1943 and follows the Rockford Peaches, season to season as they struggle to keep the team alive through close games, injuries, late night bar crawls, sexual awakenings, not crying and road trips across a rapidly changing United States. The series dives deeper into the issues facing the country while following a ragtag team of women figuring themselves out while fighting to realize their dreams of playing professional baseball.”
On the spectrum of nostalgic movies being rebooted by the Hollywood Recycling Factory these days, this news registers squarely on “OK I guess”. I liked the original a lot and it’s always a pleasant surprise if you find it while flipping around. I’m not sure if I would want to binge a full season or anything, but I’d at least give it a shot. In fact, one of the biggest issues I had with it was having to deal with the Hinson sisters again. But apparently that won’t be a problem.
Amazon’s modern take will not feature either Davis’ Dottie or her kid sister, Kit (Lori Petty), both of whom served as the central characters of the 1992 movie.
Oh hell yeah! Don’t get me wrong, I respect the shit out of Big Dottie Hinson. She was Mike Trout before Mike Trout and got more media coverage out of her split than Trout’s people have gotten him during his whole career.
But I don’t know if I can ever forgive Dottie for dropping that ball on purpose at the end of the movie. And even though it’s not her fault, the way she rips out Jimmy’s heart for her husband who just so happens to be an army hero makes me way angrier than it should. I’ve seen all I need to see out of Dottie. Great ballplayer, even better wife, and too good of a sister in my humble opinoin.
As for Kit, fuck Kit. Kit is was always a goddamn whiny brat and I couldn’t be happier she isn’t in this reboot. I’m fine watching Marla Hooch hit balls to Neptune, “All The Way Mae” slang that thang and Betty Spaghetti…I don’t remember what the hell Betty Spaghetti did but her nickname was fucking great. And I need a bunch of Scumbag Jimmy Dugan. I know the focus of the show will be the girls overcoming stereotypes, the haters, and the times. But Scumbag Jimmy is one of the funniest movie characters in cinematic history before he has his inevitable and necessary character change. An entire season of Scumbag Jimmy nursing multiple hangovers while giving and receiving The Clap like a bad Yankee Swap may get my attention and view from my parents Amazon account since I don’t believe in paying for Prime despite being a soon-to-be parent of two.