Romance on TV has seen the highs of Moonlighting and the lows of Dating Naked, and it’s impossible to tell where NBC’s newest project will land on the spectrum. The network is developing a small screen sequel for Cameron Crowe’s directorial debut Say Anything…, the latest in a growing line of WTF throwback projects happening all over the TV landscape. This is pretty sacred ground, and it doesn’t appear that Crowe is currently involved at all, but let’s hold off a little while before playing “Stop! In the Name of Love” on our boomboxes.
NBC has given a script commitment plus penalty to the Say Anything... project, which will be set in the present day. Yet it will somehow pick up only ten years after the original film, according to Deadline, even though the movie came out in 1989. Lloyd, originally played by John Cusack, “has long since been dumped by Diane and life hasn’t exactly turned out like he thought.” But this isn’t just a character study involving only half of a great cinematic couple. Diane, played by Ione Skye in the film, is coming back to town for some reason, and Lloyd sees the conquest of getting her back as a chance to turn his life around. Not exactly breaking new ground on a story level, but it's not as shabby as a straight remake either.
The pilot will be written by Justin Adler, who was a co-executive producer for the wildly inventive and underappreciated Better Off Ted, while also working with the production teams of Samantha Who? and The Larry Sanders Show. He’s part of the silver lining here, as I think he’ll be able to pull off an amusing take on the material, but that doesn’t necessarily warrant its existence. 20th Century Fox and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment are behind it, with the latter formerly invested in shows like Terra Nova and the terrible Americanized version of The Inbetweeners, and they're currently backing series like The Mysteries of Laura and The Neighbors.
A few years ago, Crowe himself was talking about making a sequel to Say Anything…, and that it was his only project that he would consider going that route with. It’s a damned shame that his vision will be usurped by others, though it’s entirely possible that he may get on board with it in some form in the future. The pilot doesn’t have a director yet…
NBC already has a small screen reboot of Problem Child in the works for some reason, along with one based on Real Genius. What do you guys think about a Say Anything… sequel joining them?
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