Ben Stiller Pitching His Really Old Movie As Comedy Series At NBC
Ben Stiller is pitching one of his really old movies to NBC as a new comedy series.
His Red Hour Films company will be producing a television series pilot of the 1994 film Reality Bites, according to a report over at TheWrap.
Universal will produce the pilot based on the Ben Stiller-directed cult film.
The original film’s writer, Helen Childress, is back on board to pen the pilot, which will focus on college graduate Lelaina Pierce (played in the film by Winona Ryder) who attempts to kick-start her professional life by documenting the adventures of her social circle of Gen-X slackers.
Yes, it’s the exact same plot of the film, stretched into a potential series. It also seems that they’ll be keeping the ’90s grunge-era setting instead of updating to modern times. Therefore, a proper title for the show (if it’s picked up) could be That ’90s Show.
But what’s interesting is that the show could actually work in the modern day, and be completely relevant. Ryder’s Lelaina struggled to make a dent as a young professional and was constantly frustrated by the lack of ambition shared by her peers. Sound like anyone’s twentysomething recent college grad taking a nap on a couch in your basement right now?
But hey, maybe I’m being cynical. The ’90s-era theme could work, and there really isn’t a lot out there set in that time period, so it’ll be a nice breath of fresh air NBC’s lineup.
Still, I can’t help but wonder if Reality Bites: The Series‘ success could have a devastating ripple effect inspiring the resurrection of other ’90s cult films. I’d get ready for Dazed and Confused: The Series, Empire Records: The Series, and SLC Punk: The Series if I were you.
