The world is soon going to be plunged into complete Peter Pan mayhem, with both a feature film and NBC’s live musical coming. NBC is actually double dipping into J.M. Barrie’s beloved creation for a modernized single-camera workplace comedy called Wendy and Peter, which the network has granted a script commitment plus penalty. Pour yourself a fairy dust margarita and check out just how different this project sounds.
Wendy and Peter, which is executive produced by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, will be told from the point of view of Wendy, a woman interested in finding a real man to fall in love with. Her instincts work against her, however, as she becomes enamored by Peter, a man who can’t quite make the jump into adulthood. McCormack says (via Deadline) that the show “uses the world of Peter Pan as its backdrop” and “combines pathos, comedy and heart, creating the perfect love story.”
I have no idea, beyond the use of names and male arrested development, how this could possibly have Peter Pan’s mythos as a backdrop. Does Peter hallucinate a small fairy? Is their boss a man with a hook for a hand? (Speaking of Arrested Development...) Where will the alligator come into it?
The show was created and written by Marisa Coughlan, who was most recently seen in the truly hilarious sci-fi parody Space Station 76. She will hopefully be the show’s lead, as well. Coughlan had roles on series such as Boston Legal and Side Order of Life, and she’s got the perfect amount of charisma and energy to make this fantasy romance really work.
Still, I don’t think a relationship comedy about a woman who is dating a stubborn manchild is exactly breaking new ground. Especially for NBC, where Chris Pratt’s Andy Dwyer exists as a happily married husband. It seems like they’d have to make Peter even more childish to match the Peter Pan character, and that would just be super annoying. Easy way to fix that? Just add the vampire Lost Boys instead of the Neverland guys.
This is the second love-based series for Jones and McCormack’s production company Le Train Train, which also has NBC’s quirky A to Z, which premiered this week. In the “modernized adaptation” camp, ABC has Selfie, which is a trendy update of My Fair Lady. What's next, Tom Sawyer?
Do you guys think that audiences will be hooked in by a new version of Peter Pan?
