If you were disappointed by CBS’ decision not to proceed with a “Nancy Drew” series, you’re in luck. NBC is now working on a reboot based on the beloved novel series, Variety reports.
Hailing from writers and exec producers Joan Rater (“Doubt,” “Grey’s Anatomy”) and Tony Phelan (“Madam Secretary”), the new project is still being produced by CBS Television Studios, and Dan Jinks, who developed the CBS version, remains on board.
Whereas CBS’ take on the story would have centered on 30-something Nancy as she solved crimes as a NYPD detective, NBC’s version “follows the author of the most famous female teen detective book series who is thrust into a real-life murder mystery,” the source writes. “In need of help, she turns to her two best friends from childhood, who were the inspiration for all those books, and the women who have a real axe to grind about the way their supposed best friend chose to portray them all those years ago.”
Sarah Shahi (“Person of Interest, “Fairly Legal”) played Nancy in CBS’ pilot, but is not signed on to NBC’s reboot.
Nancy Drew made her debut in print in 1930, and while the character was created by Edward Stratemeyer, the first “Nancy Drew” book was written by newspaper woman Mildred Wirt Benson, who penned a number of other novels in the series. Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, Stratemeyer’s daughter, later took the reins as the main author of the series.
The most famous incarnation of the girl sleuth is “The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries,” which aired for three seasons on ABC in the late ’70s. “Scream Queens” alumna Emma Roberts played the tenacious teen detective in the 2007 film “Nancy Drew.”