Carmen Sandiego is on her way back to the small screen. The legendary thief who has tricked children into learning in their efforts to solve the mysteries of her heists will return to television in a brand new way. The time has come to dust off those ACME badges and get ready for some geography, as a show based on the character is in the works at Netflix.
Gina Rodriguez of Jane the Virgin has signed on to play Carmen Sandiego in the upcoming Netflix project. The series will be animated, so she'll only be called upon to lend her voice. Although Netflix has not yet released an official statement, Tracking Board reports that the streaming service has placed an initial order of 20 episodes.
Like earlier versions of Carmen Sandiego projects - both on computer and television - the Netflix series has the goal to educate viewers even as it entertains them. It should be fun to see the direction the new show takes. We can bet that Carmen will be a globetrotting villainess yet again, which should provide for some clear lessons on geography and even culture, but we can't say at this point if Carmen will also lead her pursuers through time to different eras.
The Netflix version will be the fourth Carmen Sandiego series. The first was called Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and ran for five seasons as a game show on PBS from 1991-1996. It also spawned one of the catchiest theme songs in TV history, which if you've ever heard it, may now be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
The second show was called Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? and also ran on PBS, although it lasted for only two seasons from 1996-1998. It was quite similar to Where In The World, simply with the addition of a time twist. The third was an animated series called Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? and aired on Fox for four seasons from 1994-1999. The new version of Carmen Sandiego sounds like it has the most in common with Where on Earth, which starred Rita Moreno as Carmen. It should be interesting to see how Gina Rodriguez' Carmen compared to Rita Moreno's.
No details have yet been released about when we can expect the new Carmen Sandiego on Netflix. You can catch Gina Rodriguez in live action on the small screen on Jane the Virgin on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and don't forget to check out our midseason TV premiere guide and our summer TV premiere schedule to discover all your viewing options while we wait for the newest version of Carmen Sandiego to debut. Be sure to drop by our 2017 rundown of TV renewals and cancellations as well.
