Ben Stiller and Helen Childress, respectively the director and writer of the 1994 dramedy “Reality Bites,” are reteaming to develop a TV version for NBC.
The original followed the genesis of a very “Real World”-y reality series about disaffected recent college grads back when MTV’s “Real World” (and the reality genre generally) was still a new and shiny thing.
If I understand correctly, the series will be a period piece set in the pre-Internet era of the Winona Ryder/Janeane Garofalo movie. (Both the TV and movie versions are set in Houston, though nobody in the movie version sported a Texas accent.)
NBC has mounted a number of long-running series based on movies, notably the great Jason Katims’ loose adaptations of “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood.” Bryan Fuller’s “Hannibal” will return to NBC’s slate at midseason, and Katims also has an NBC sitcom version of “About A Boy” arriving this coming season.
Childress will pen the pilot for Stiller’s Red Hour production company.
Find all of The Hollywood Reporter’s story on the matter here.
