TVLine Items: Drop Dead Diva Reboot, Harry Potter Competition and More
Drop Dead Diva is being resurrected by CBS: The Eye network is developing a gender-swapped reboot of the Lifetime dramedy, according to our sister site Deadline.
The hour-long reboot, titled Drop Dead Dave, centers on a self-involved Gen Z lawyer named Dave who dies in a freak accident “and his soul is transferred into the body of Rita, a successful but complicated Gen X attorney, forcing Dave to live as a woman and navigate an entirely new perspective on life, love and identity,” per the official synopsis.
It hails from Drop Dead Diva creator Josh Berman, who will write the pilot and serve as an executive producer. The original Drop Dead Diva, which ran from 2009 to 2014 on Lifetime, followed vapid model Deb, who is killed in a car crash and is reincarnated as plus-size lawyer Jane, played by Brooke Elliott.
Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets? Well…
* Helen Mirren is set to host Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses, the four-part Cartoon Network and TBS competition series that will “showcase ultimate fan glory on a never-before-seen scale.” The series will tape this month and premiere later this year.
* Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga have partnered with ViacomCBS for three specials in support of the second and final collaborative album, Love for Sale, our sister site Variety reports. The first, One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, will air Sunday, Nov. 28 on CBS, with MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga and the Paramount+ documentary The Lady and the Legend yet to be scheduled.
* Snowfall has cast Devyn Tyler (Clarice) as a series regular for Season 5, per Deadline. The actress will play Veronique, who is described as having “a law degree and a killer instinct, while remaining a genuinely good, honest human being.”
* The Disney+ revival The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder will feature the following guest voices: Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Chance the Rapper, Normani, Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G.), Lena Waithe (Master of None), Anthony Anderson (black-ish), Gabrielle Union (L.A.’s Finest), Debbie Allen (Grey’s Anatomy), James Pickens Jr. (Grey’s Anatomy), Courtney B. Vance (Lovecraft Country), Jane Lynch (Glee), Marsai Martin (black-ish), Jaden Smith (The Get Down), Glynn Turman (House of Lies), Lamorne Morris (New Girl), Brenda Song (Dollface), Tina Knowles (Black Is King), Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives), Holly Robinson Peete (Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper), Al Roker (Today), beauty influencer Bretman Rock and Olympic gold medal gymnasts Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez and Dominique Dawes.
* Shudder on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 8/7c will air Elvira’s 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special Special, in which the queen of camp offers commentary during a marathon of Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, House on Haunted Hill, The City of the Dead, Messiah of Evil and other films.
Which of today’s TVLine Items pique your interest?
I absolutely LOVED Drop Dead Diva! I hope Brooke Elliott guest stars, she has to!!!
I loved the original Drop Dead Diva but the premise of a mans soul being transferred into a woman’s body just seems like it could be problematic.
The whole concept sounded familiar to me and donned on me that it was the concept of a comedy from the ‘90s, “Switched” in which a womanizing guy gets killed and reincarnated into a woman. It was a terrible movie and it was ridiculous then. I’m not sure it will work any better now.
The concept has been around for decades. The 80s was a big era for this concept.
There was a movie with Ellen Barkin & Jimmy Smits called “Switch” from 1991 that was great at the time! ;-)
Quantum Leap would regularly have Sam leap into a women.
This is not a new concept.
I read “gender-swapped Drop Dead Diva” and I was like “what?! So a dude’s going to die and get resurrected into another dude?!” But then I saw the plotline and now I’m intrigued. I’m probably one of the very few men on this planet who actually watched “Drop Dead Diva” by choice. That was one of my favorite shows. They have to have some of the original cast (at least Margaret Cho) come back to make a guest appearance. I’m surprised that Brooke Elliott hasn’t really done anything after Diva ended.
Brooke has a show on Netflix.
Ima dude.. And I watched it to… Enjoyed it quite a bit
I watched it too!
I mean the original DDD was about a dudette who died was resurrected into another dudette’s body so…🤷
I love your use of dudette
She’s one of the leads in Sweet Magnolias, a very successful Netflix show.
It’s sad to me that I love Brooke Elliot, and i LOVED DDD…and I had no idea that she had a show on Netflix. ;-(
This dude watched it as well
Loved Drop Dead Diva, but if they want to do a gender swap reboot the they should have him go back in the body of another guy fromba different background IMO
I agree. Going into a woman’s body seems weird to me. But I totally agree that it should be a guy with a different background.
It’s basically a white, mysoginistic, homophobic straight young dude becoming a middle aged lesbian, since being in someone else’s body doesn’t mean you change your sexual preferences.
I think it will be refreshing to see that kind of guy forced to live a reality he ignored (and possibly made fun of) for so long.
This. Gen X woman implies late 40s or older. So you’re going to have a 30 year old dude navigate menopause?
Gen-Zers are 24 at most as of yet…
Tony Bennett is still getting it done at age 95. He reminds me so much of my dear departed grandfather.
Womaniser becomes a woman and learns a lesson sounds like a 90s film. Tired premise. Also, Twitter will cancel this regardless if it’s good or bad and deem it transphobic.
Drop Dead Dave sounds like LaLola. FOX already tried to adapt LaLola with Eva Adams. It didn’t make it past the pilot stage.
Plus it can very easily be construed as transphobic.
I think the the original creator involved this could be great.
That guest list is 🔥