Running solely on nostalgia fumes, Peacock announces Reality Bites TV show
Peacock adds yet another TV show based on a movie to a slate that includes Field Of Dreams, Pitch Perfect, and Ted
Hello, you’ve reached the winter of Peacock’s discontent.
After burning through reboots to Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, Saved By The Bell, and Punky Brewster, Peacock plundered the NBC archives. Seeing as remaking and reviving old television shows couldn’t boost enough interest in the fledgling streamer that cost Comcast $1 billion last year, turning hit movies into TV shows seems like a valid idea—at least an idea more valid than promoting shows people actually like, such as Girls5eva. So now that the NBC archives didn’t turn a hit, Comcast is going after the Universal library. Joining a line-up of TV shows based on movies that include Field Of Dreams, Pitch Perfect, and Ted, Peacock says that a Reality Bites TV show is in the works.
Reality Bites, the TV series, will be a “reframing” of Ben Stiller-directed 1994 cult classic. Per The Hollywood Reporter, it’ll be more of a [sigh] “adulting” dramedy set in the 1990s with the same characters but, unfortunately, not the same actors playing the roles Wet Hot American Summer style.
The original, a time capsule of Gen-X malaise from the early 90s, starred Winona Rider, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo, Steve Zahn, and Ben Stiller, who made his directorial debut on the feature. Stiller, who has made great, original television with Severance and Escape From Dannemora, will not be participating. However, Reality Bites screenwriter Helen Childress is attached to write the script for the reimagining. Hard to imagine any of Childress’ misanthropic characters being too happy about any of this
Still, a modern take on the distinctly Gen-X flavored Reality Bites makes more sense than Joe Vs. Carole, which we swear premiered in March 2022, but why do any of it? Well, it’s something that they’ve been trying to get off the ground since the early-00s. In 2013, NBC worked with Stiller and Childress on getting a Reality Bites show together. The show went nowhere, probably due to lack of interest, making it the perfect vehicle for Peacock.