Lee Daniels set to reboot ‘The Wonder Years’ with a Black family cast

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — ABC has committed to the pilot production for The Wonder Years, with award-winning filmmaker Lee Daniels as executive producer. 

The new half-hour comedy series will explore the perspective of a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama in the turbulent late 1960s, the same era as the original series, set between 1968 and 1973. 

The Last O.G. executive producer Saladin Patterson will also write for the pilot, and ABC will assemble a mini writer’s room triggered upon pilot script approval. The star of the original series, Fred Savage, will direct the pilot and executive produce the show. 

Wonder Years aired on ABC in the late 1980s-early 1990s for six seasons, ultimately winning a variety of awards including four Emmy Awards and a Gloden Globe for Best Television series — musical or comedy in 1989. 

Daniels is no stranger to accolades himself, having received two Oscar nominations for Precious, and awards for his hit TV dramas Empire and Star. His other credits include The Butler, Monster’s Ball, The Woodsman, Shadowboxer and Tennessee, starring Mariah Carey, to name a few.

Lee Daniels is currently working on his latest film, The United States V.S. Billie Holiday, inspired by the federal court case of legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday, played by Andra Day.  

By Rachel George
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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