Since it was announced, the Marvel show She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has earned inevitable comparisons to another show about a single female lawyer: Ally McBeal, the late ‘90s/early aughts hit starring Calista Flockhart. There’s been vague reboot talk for ages, including earlier this year. But perhaps the debut of a superhero spin on the same general premise has caused such efforts to be fast-tracked.
Sources tell Deadline the ABC is in “early development” of a new take on the legal comedy-drama. Flockhart has reportedly been approached about reprising her role, but it sounds like it won’t be a straight revival. Instead, it will follow “a young Black woman who joins the law firm from the original series (or its current incarnation) straight out of law school. The young woman is believed to be the daughter of Ally McBeal’s (Flockhart) D.A. roommate Renée Raddick, who was played by Lisa Nicole Carson on the mothership series.”
So if it’s centered around a new character, with good ol’ Ally as a supporting player, will it still be called Ally McBeal? And will they bring back to Dancing Baby or Robert Downey Jr.? Whatever happens to it, it may fulfill a wish the original show’s creator, David E. Kelly, made clear when discussing a possible reboot back in 2018, who said it should be done not by him but by a woman. Lo and behold, the revival is said to be written and directed by Karin Gist, of Girlfriends, Revenge, Mixed-ish, and the new Mike Tyson series Mike.
(Via Deadline)