If a 15-year-old crime thriller like Training Day can see a resurgence in interest (as well as a Bill Paxton casting), and a 12-year-old dud like Van Helsing can get a dystopian update, then it was really just a matter of time before The First Wives Club was reworked for modern times and the small screen. TV Land is undertaking that last item, having just issued a pilot order for the series based on the 1996 movie of the same title, which was itself adapted from Olivia Goldsmith’s bestselling novel.
The series will be a remake of the film, which means that Netflix movie about a former girl group starring Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton, and Bette Midler remains the closest thing to a sequel we’re likely to get. The contemporary tale will move the action from New York City to modern-day San Francisco, despite the fact that San Francisco has a much lower divorce rate (though New York’s is on the decline). And it seems that featuring a friend’s suicide that prompts them to unite in grief then revenge (and later, philanthropy), the women will “band together after their friend dies in a freak accident (as opposed to the film, which found Stockard Channing’s Cynthia taking her own life).” They will then “join forces to tackle divorce, relationships and life’s other annoying challenges,” but in 2016, not 1996, which presumably means they’ll both be aided and impeded by technology.