Here is a wrap-up of all the news you need to know from Thursday, January 2021.
The forthcoming female-led reboot of Doogie Howser has found its lead in Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Andi Mack).
The series is titled Doogie Kameāloha, M.D., and is a female-led reimagining of the classic ABC medical dramedy, the streamer announced Thursday.
The streamer also dropped the logline:
Set in modern-day Hawaii, the 10-episode comedy follows Lahela “Doogie” Kamealoha, a mixed race 16-year-old girl, juggling a budding medical career and life as a teenager.
Guiding Lahela (and also complicating things) is her family, including her spit-fire Irish mother who’s also her supervisor at the hospital, and her ‘Local Boy’ father struggling to accept that his daughter is no longer his little girl.
The original Doogie Howser starred Neil Patrick Harris, and aired on ABC from 1989 to 1993.
The rest of the cast will be announced at a later date.
Over at Netflix, the streamer has dropped the full-length trailer for its Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke drama series, Firefly Lane.
The two TV veterans star as best friends, who deal with whatever life throws at them.
“The greatest love story of all can be between friends. When unlikely duo Tully (Katherine Heigl) and Kate (Sarah Chalke) meet at age fourteen, they couldn’t be more different,” reads the official logline of the series, which is based on the book series from Kristin Hannah.
“Tully is the brash and bold girl you can’t ignore, while Kate is the mousy shy girl you never notice. But when a tragedy brings them together, they are bonded for life — forever inseparable best friends.”
“Together they experience thirty years of ups and downs — triumphs and disappointments, heartbreak and joy, and a love triangle that strains their friendship.”
“One goes on to fabulous wealth and fame, the other chooses marriage and motherhood — but through the decades, their bond remains — until it faces the ultimate test.”
Creator Maggie Friedman serves as showrunner and executive producer along with executive producers, Peter O’Fallon, Katherine Heigl, Shawn Williamson, and Lee Rose.
The cast also includes Ali Skovbye (When Calls the Heart) and Roan Curtis (The Magicians) as young versions of Tully and Kate, plus Ben Lawson (Doubt), Yael Yurman (The Man in the High Castle), and Beau Garrett (Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce).
The trailer certainly gives us a glimpse at the BFFs through the years as they move on to new chapters, but their friendship becomes strained at some points.
Elsewhere, The Sopranos prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark has been pushed back from a March 12 big-screen release to Sept. 24, per Variety.
The movie is also slated to debut on HBO Max the same day it hits theaters, following in the footsteps of Wonder Woman: 1984.
The superhero movie launched on HBO Max December 25 simultaneously with theaters to give fans more options on how to navigate watching movies in these pandemic-filled times.
The flick stars Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Berntha,l Corey Stoll, Michael Gandolfini, Billy Magnussen, John Magaro, Michela De Rossi, Ray Liotta, and Vera Farmiga.
Finally, Lifetime is headed back to the world of V.C. Andrews.
The four-movie event series V.C. Andrews’ The Landry Family is set to air on Lifetime over two weekends, Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21, and then on Saturday, March 27 and Sunday, March 28 (beginning at 8/7c each night).
Starring in the movies are Kristian Alfonso (Days of our Lives), Marilu Henner (Taxi), Richard Harmon (The 100), Jennifer Laporte (V.C. Andrews’ Web of Dreams), and Evan Roderick (Spinning Out).
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.