My favorite show is being rebooted
And Pixar stripped Elio of its queerness
My favorite show is being rebooted
I don't know if you know this about me, but Scrubs is my favorite TV show of all time. So imagine my delight — and fear over this news: ABC has officially greenlighted a Scrubs sequel series with Zach Braff Donald Faison, and Sarah Chalke confirmed to return.
Look, I'll be the first to tell you, legacy sequel series don't always work and at their worst they can be hollow cash grabs. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited about this one, because when Scrubs was at its peak, it was really something special: A wholly unique mix of surrealist comedy and grounded drama that was unlike anything else on TV.
Anyway, original creator Bill Lawrence is executive producing, while former Scrubs writers Tim Hobert and Aseem Batra will serve as show runners. While no other deals have been announced, other former cast members are likely to return.
The official log line reads “JD (Braff) & Turk (Faison) scrub in together for the first time in a long time — medicine has changed, interns have changed, but their bromance has stood the test of time. Characters new and old navigate the waters of Sacred Heart with laughter, heart and some surprises along the way.”
Sacred Heart hospital was torn down, both in the show’s canon and in real life. So it will be interesting to see how they solve that problem. I'm just glad they've abandoned the med school premise from the disastrous 9th season. Are you excited for more Scrubs?
Disney and Pixar stripped Elio of all its queerness
Because they’re terrified of one word. In case you missed it last week, The Hollywood Reporter put out this bombshell expose on Pixar’s latest flop Elio.
Quote, “Inside ‘Elio’s’ “Catastrophic” Path: America Ferrera’s Exit, Director Change and Erasure of Queer Themes” Basically, openly gay Latino director Adrian Molina, who co-directed Coco had developed Elio for years as a representation of his childhood. THR says “Elio was initially portrayed as a queer-coded character.” He was into fashion and had posters in his bedroom that suggested a male crush
But after a poor test screening, Molina clashed with Pixar leaders over their notes and changes and he ultimately quit the movie. Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi were then brought in as replacement directors and Elio, the character, became less queer coded and more masculine. America Ferrera, who played Elio’s mom, also quit the film following Molina’s exit and a source told THR that was because the movie now lacked Latino leadership.
This isn’t exactly shocking though, is it? Because this has become a pattern for Pixar. As the studio reportedly removed intended queer representation from Lightyear, Luca, and Inside Out 2 in recent years. And it stripped a character of their trans identity in the Disney+ series Win or Lose as well.
It seems pretty clear to me that Disney and Pixar are terrified of being called “woke,” opting for “safe” storytelling that won’t piss anyone off. To date, Elio has made $101 million at the global box office, making it one of the lowest performing theatrical releases for Pixar in its history.
Nick star’s tell-all is becoming a TV show at Apple with Jennifer Aniston
Nickelodeon offered this child actor $300K not to tell her story. Now it’s becoming a TV show at Apple and Jennifer Aniston is playing the villain. OK I haven’t been this excited about an adaptation in a while, because one, the source material is aggressively truthful and heartbreaking and two, the casting is wildly against type.
Here’s the headline: Jennette McCurdy’s memoir “I’m Glad My Mom Died” is becoming a 10-episode series at Apple TV+. In case you’re not aware, McCurdy is a former child actress, best known for iCarly on Nickelodeon. Her memoir recalls her teenage years in the industry and the difficult relationship she had with her abusive mother, who died in 2013.
The book received rave reviews back in 2022 and spent more than a year on the NY Times best seller list. To date it’s sold more than 3 million copies. Publishers Weekly called it "Insightful and incisive, heartbreaking and raw.”
And playing McCurdy’s abusive mother is Jennifer Aniston. Aniston typically plays amiable characters, so it’s going to be really interesting seeing her take this turn. If she nails it, there could be another Emmy in her future. McCurdy herself will co-showrun the series with writer Ari Katcher.
Netflix just canceled 3 new shows, HBO Max cancels one
Death, taxes, and Netflix cancellations, the 3 most unavoidable things in life. Ask any Kaos or Dead Boy Detective fan, and they’ll tell you not to get too attached to your favorite new Netflix show because the streamer has a long list of one season wonders.
And it just added The Residence and Pulse to the pile. They’ve both been canceled after just one season each. The Residence was a murder mystery comedy from Shonda Rhimes, while Pulse was Netflix’s attempt at a medical drama. As for the 3rd show, Netflix has put Liz Feldman’s “No Good Deed” on “indefinite hiatus.”
Meanwhile, HBO Max has canceled Duster from JJ Abrams, the 70s set crime drama starring Lost vet Josh Holloway.
I was so disappointed that Duster got cancelled! I just have to watch the finale now.