Clarissa Explains It All Revival Was Reportedly 'Squashed' at Nickelodeon

Matt Webb Mitovich
·2 min read

Melissa Joan Hart explained it all when asked what became of the Clarissa Explains It All revival that was in development at Nickelodeon some four years ago.

In March 2018, Hart was poised to reprise her role as Clarissa Darling in a revival of the 1990s Nickelodeon sitcom; original series creator Mitchell Kriegman was also due to return, as EP.

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But on Saturday at a ’90s Con panel in Hartford, Conn. (where she was appearing with the cast of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch), Hart told an inquiring fan it was deemed that Clarissa had nothing left to explain.

“Nickelodeon got a new president, and they kind of squashed the whole thing,” People.com reports Hart as saying. (In October 2017, Brian Robbins was tapped to succeed 30-year vet Cyma Zarghami as head of the cabler.)

“So it was actually in the works and yeah, it just sort of disappeared,” Hart reportedly explained. “It took like a year to do the contracts, which was the hardest part, and then it just kind of fizzled out. So I don’t think [it will happen].”

TVLine has reached out to Nickelodeon for comment on MJH’s account of the situation.

Similar to Boy Meets World sequel series Girl Meets World, Clarissa 2.0 would have been a direct continuation of the original series, only now Hart’s character would serve as mother of the family. Presumably, the new show would be told from the perspective of Clarissa’s son and/or daughter. (The same formula worked for That’s So Raven follow-up Raven’s Home.)

The original Clarissa ran for a total of five seasons between 1991 and 1994. In each episode, the titular character broke the fourth wall and monologued to the audience about typical teenage woes, ranging from school crushes to her annoyance with pesky brother Ferguson.

A failed spinoff titled Clarissa Now was developed for CBS in 1995, but was not picked up to series; that pilot later aired on Nickelodeon.

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