No Tears Here: D'Arcy Carden & Abbi Jacobson to Star in 'A League of Their Own' Amazon Series
There's no crying in baseball, but this news might bring on the happy tears. Deadline announced that A League of Their Own TV series will live on Amazon, with The Good Place's D'Arcy Carden and Broad City's Abbi Jacobson starring in the lead roles. Amazon tells the outlet that the series will be a re-imagining of the classic feminist film. “The show takes a deeper look at race and sexuality, following the journey of a whole new ensemble of characters as they carve their own paths towards the field, both in the League and outside of it,” the streamer said in a statement.
Below, everything we know about who's playing ball and when.
What is the A League of Their Own TV series about?
The series is based on the classic 1992 film directed by the late Penny Marshall. Starring Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Lori Petty, Rosie O'Donnell, and Madonna, the movie grossed more than $100 million at the box office. That made Marshall the first woman to ever direct two $100-million-plus-grossing films after 1988's Big.
The original film followed sisters Dottie (Davis) and Kit (Petty) as they joined the All-American Girls' Baseball League and played for the Rockford Peaches, hitting World Series-level heights. It's unclear what timeline the Amazon series will take place in. Per THR, it will not follow the sisters, instead taking "a modern look at the league." Deadline previously reported that the series will center around the league during World War II, which aligns with the original film's time period. An official description reads:
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.
Graham and Jacobson paid homage to Marshall's original vision in their statement regarding the series, per Deadline:
28 years ago, Penny Marshall told us a story about women playing professional baseball that up until then had been largely overlooked. We grew up obsessed with the film, like everyone else. Three years ago, we approached Sony with the idea of telling a new, still overlooked set of those stories. With the help of an enormously talented team of collaborators, an amazing cast, and the devoted support of Amazon to this project, we feel beyond lucky and excited to get to bring these characters to life. It took grit, fire, authenticity, wild imagination and a crackling sense of humor for these players to achieve their dreams. We’re hoping to bring audiences a story with all of those qualities.
Who is involved with the show?
Carden will star in the series, making it her first major follow-up to her Emmy-nominated role in The Good Place. She'll play Greta "a beautiful and worldly player who once was in the Army," per Deadline. She'll star opposite Jacobson, who also co-created the project with Will Graham (Mozart in the Jungle). Jacobson plays farm girl Carson, who tries out for the league while her husband is away at war. Deadline reports that Gbemisola Ikumelo (Famalam) will join the cast as a character named Clance. Other cast members include Chanté Adams, Kelly McCormack, Roberta Colindrez, and Priscilla Delgado, with recurring guest stars Molly Ephraim, Kate Berlant, and Melanie Field.
Graham and Jacobson executive produced the series alongside Hailey Wierengo and Elizabeth Koe as co-executive producer. Jamie Babbit, who directed the pilot episode, also serves as an executive producer.
When will it come out?
While there's no official release date for this iteration of the series, it won't be the first attempt to adapt the sports movie for the small screen. In 1993, CBS aired just three episodes of a sitcom based on the film. Sources also told THR that prior to Marshall's death in 2018, she and Davis each voiced support for the show.
Watch A League of Their Own now
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