TV Land has greenlit a 10 episode first season of ‘Heathers’ based on the 1988 cult favourite movie starring Winona Ryder.
The network announced during the Television Critics Association winter press tour that the show would be a dark comedy anthology set in the present day. The channel have also uploaded an exclusive promo photo to their Instagram page showing the new Heathers clique. The show stars ‘Under the Dome’s Grace Victoria Fox as Veronica Sawyer and James Scully will play JD (originally played by Christian Slater). Comedian Brendan Scannell will play Heather (nee Heath) Duke, who was portrayed by Shannen Doherty in the original movie, and will identify as gender queer in this adaption.
Broadway actress Melanie Field will play clique leader Heather Chandler and newcomer Jasmine Matthews will play Heather McNamara. Original cast member Shannen Doherty (‘Charmed’, ‘90210’) will guess star in the reboot as a pivotal role, although the specific character is yet to be announced. There has been no announcement if Winona Ryder or Christian Slater will appear over the course of the show.
TV Land's first original drama
‘Heathers’ centred on high schoolers who plot to kill off the Heathers, who have formed an abusive clique in a fictional Ohio high school. The original film dealt with homophobia, eating disorders and suicide. The film was a critical success but not a box office hit, it later became a box office hit and a popular rental movie.
In 2009 Winona Ryder mentioned the idea of a sequel however the original director says this is no more than abstract conversations between old friends. The film brought director Michael Lehmann and producer Denise Di Novi the 1990 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.
The aim of the producers was to give a nod to the iconic movie while creating a twisted and satirical comedy that creates something entirely its own.
The show is penned by Jason Micallef, who wrote ‘Butter’ and he will serve as a showrunner and executive producer. After experimenting with several half hour sitcoms and single camera comedies, ‘Heathers’ will be the channel’s first original hour long drama.
