Classic 90s teen comedy Clueless is being prepped for a reboot – and fans are already comparing it to a full-on Monet.
As reported by Deadline, an hour-long series based on the 1995 hit is in the works at CBS TV Studios.
However, it’ll be less funny and more dramatic: the show is allegedly aiming to turn the show into a mystery à la Riverdale, placing Cher Horowitz (who was played by Alicia Silverstone in the original) at the centre of a mystery.
It’s not the first time the film has spawned something new: a follow-up sitcom, created by Amy Heckerling, with Rachel Blanchard (Peep Show) in the lead role, ran for three seasons on ABC and UPN between 1996-1999.
However, the new version from writers Jordan Reddout and Gus Hickey (Will & Grace, Man With a Plan) sounds quite a bit darker.
It’s apparently planning on centering on Cher’s best friend Dionne (played by Stacey Dash in both previous iterations). When Cher disappears, she’s forced to try and unravel the mystery of what happened while also taking on the pressures of being the new most popular girl in school.
As per Deadline, it’s a ‘baby pink and bisexual blue-tinted, tiny sunglasses-wearing, oat milk latté and Adderall-fueled look at what happens when the high school queen bee Cher disappears’.
The show, which has been described as Mean Girls meets Riverdale meets a Lizzo video, is already attracting interest from streamers, as well as the CW.
However, while the producers no doubt think their project sounds ‘woke’, fans aren’t as convinced.
Freelance film journalist Hanna Ines Flint wrote on Twitter: ‘Clueless is a comedy not a drama stop trying to make everything fucking Riverdale.’
TV Guide informed its followers of the reboot with the caption: ‘A potential Clueless reboot panders to millennials in the bleakest way possible.’
Corinne Brinkerhoff (No Tomorrow, Jane the Virgin) will executive produce the Clueless reboot with producing partner Tiffany Grant and one of the original film’s producers, Robert Lawrence.
CBS TV Studios is also developing a Walker, Texas Ranger remake at the CW. Currently, they produce Nancy Drew, Charmed and Dynasty, along with a sizeable portion of the series on CBS and streamer CBS All Access, as well as Netflix’s Dead to Me, Unbelievable and Insatiable.
At the time of writing, there’s no speculated release date for the Clueless reboot.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.