‘The Big Bang Theory’ Stars Jim Parsons, Mayim Bialik To Reunite For New Fox Sitcom ‘Carla’ In 2020
The Big Bang Theory stars Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik are reuniting for a new sitcom, Carla, which will air on Fox for the Fall 2o20 TV schedule if everything goes to plan. Carla would be an American remake of the British sitcom, Miranda.
Parsons and Bialik were fan favorites on Big Bang, via their characters, Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah-Fowler, respectively. Amy was intended to be a one-off character, but the overwhelmingly-positive fan reaction kept her on the show for multiple seasons following her original appearance. The character hit home for Bialik: in real life, she’s a neuroscientist, and her character was written into the show as a neuroscientist.
Now, the two popular actors may be returning, although as of this writing, it looks like only one of them will appear on-screen, while the other will merely have his name on the project.
As Deadline reports, multiple production companies and TV networks were in a competition to win the American rights to remake Miranda on this side of The Pond. When all was said and done, Warner Brothers (the same studio that produced The Big Bang Theory) won the rights to the show, with Parsons executive-producing via his production company, That’s Wonderful Productions, and with Fox being given the rights to air the show.
Carla will be a multi-camera sitcom centering on Bialik’s character, Carla, who is constantly at odds with her overbearing mother. She takes the money her parents had set aside for her wedding and spends it on opening up a cat café in Louisville, Kentucky.
As for Parsons, he’ll also continue to narrate the older version of himself on CBS’ Big Bang spinoff, Young Sheldon, as well as continue to work on other projects on Netflix, Broadway, and elsewhere.
Miranda ran in the U.K. for three seasons between 2009 and 2013 and spawned a handful of one-off specials. It was one of the top-rated British comedies in that time period and received multiple British television-industry awards. In it, Miranda Hart plays an exaggerated version of herself, “a quirky and agoraphobic woman who often lands in awkward situations. [She is] posher than most of her friends and a constant disappointment to her mother, who is desperate for her to find a husband,” as Deadline writer Nellie Andreeva describes her.
For decades, American TV production companies have been remaking British TV shows, with mixed success. Some, such as The Office, turn out to be critically-acclaimed runaway hits with lasting cultural impact. Others, such as 2003’s Coupling, failed to get off the ground.
A partial list of other British TV shows that have been successfully remade in America includes Antiques Roadshow, Sanford and Son (based on the U.K.’s Steptoe and Son), All In The Family (based on the U.K.’s Till Death Do Us Part), and Shameless.
