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Perfect Strangers Reboot on HBO Max - In Development

360 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  hooked01
‘Perfect Strangers’: Robin Thede & London Hughes To Lead Reboot Of ‘80s Comedy In The Works At HBO Max
By Peter White

Perfect Strangers, the 1980s sitcom starring Mark Linn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot, is the latest classic comedy to get a reboot – with Robin Thede and London Hughes set as leads.

The project, which is in development as a series at HBO Max, will be written by A Black Lady Sketch Show creator and star Thede.

The streamer has given the half-hour, multi-camera comedy a script development deal.

It will follow perfect strangers, Dejay, played by Thede, and Poppy, played by Hughes, who unexpectedly discover they are half-sisters when they both inherit a one-bedroom apartment above a trap yoga studio in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Polar opposites, they must learn how to live and work together.

Inspired by the original series, produced by Miller/Boyett Productions that ran for eight seasons and 15 episodes between 1986–1993 on ABC. The original starred Linn-Baker as Midwestern American Larry Appleton and Pinchot as his distant cousin from Europe.

The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television with Thede exec producing via her For Better or Words, and Robert L. Boyett, who produced the original, which was created by Dale McRaven.

It comes as part of Thede’s overall deal with the studio, which she signed last year. Her A Black Lady Sketch Show recently aired its second season and has been renewed for a third for HBO. She is also currently writing the feature Fashionably Black for HBO Max with Christa Gatewood, produced by Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society, and writing the Amazon action zombie-comedy, Killing It, which will be produced by Thede’s For Better or Words, Inc. and Jax Media.

Hughes, who had a small role in Fleabag, recently hosted The Netflix Afterparty and is developing a comedy feature, Hot Mess, with Will Packer Productions and Universal. In 2019, she developed an NBC single-camera comedy with Larry Wilmore, who Thede worked with as head writer of Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.

Thede is repped by WME and Ziffren Brittenham and Hughes is repped by UTA, Curtis Brown, Haven Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham.

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why do they even bother naming it after a previously popular show when the new series is only loosely based on the original...
why do they even bother naming it after a previously popular show when the new series is only loosely based on the original...
It’s about name recognition. If you’re familiar with the old series then it might catch your eye and generate some interest versus calling it “Just found out we’re related” or something. Plus if you set up the same exact situation as the original you’re going to get constant comparisons. It doesn’t seem like they’re going to do the “fish out of water” thing where the cousin was from another country and had unusual customs and silly behavior. And an exaggerated accent mocking another culture probably won’t cut it these days.
It’s about name recognition. If you’re familiar with the old series then it might catch your eye and generate some interest versus calling it “Just found out we’re related” or something. Plus if you set up the same exact situation as the original you’re going to get constant comparisons. It doesn’t seem like they’re going to do the “fish out of water” thing where the cousin was from another country and had unusual customs and silly behavior. And an exaggerated accent mocking another culture probably won’t cut it these days.
you're going to get the comparisons just by naming it after a former popular show...the fish out of water aspect was the main highlight of the original so doing a reboot where half sisters rent an apartment above a yoga studio doesn't sound at all like the original premise so I don't see the point in naming it Perfect Strangers...that's like creating a show about 4 twenty something males living in a house in Jersey and calling it The Golden Girls
you're going to get the comparisons just by naming it after a former popular show...the fish out of water aspect was the main highlight of the original so doing a reboot where half sisters rent an apartment above a yoga studio doesn't sound at all like the original premise so I don't see the point in naming it Perfect Strangers...that's like creating a show about 4 twenty something males living in a house in Jersey and calling it The Golden Girls
True, but those comparisons will drop off after a while of this series survives the first month 😂. If they did recreate the original premise then they’d be getting the comparisons the whole time.

I agree with you about recycling a name and changing it drastically but that’s the way it is nowadays. Look at the series Kung Fu. The only thing that carried over was a Shaolin temple.
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