by Dawn McElligott
Critiques of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA are showing up all over YouTube. Viewers are enjoying the dissection of selected scenes with explanations of what makes them work. One video, “Andy Gets a Makeover,” attracted well over a million views since JoBlo Movie Clips posted it in June.
Impressive for a 15-year-old movie.
At the same time, Throw Back TV is posting scenes and full episodes of JUST SHOOT ME, a sitcom on NBC that poked fun at women’s magazines from 1997 to 2003.
Impressive for a fair to middling series that ended almost 20 years ago.
What could these things mean?
Will the Spring TV season be sporting a serialized version of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA?
Could there be a reboot of JUST SHOOT ME?
Or maybe a hybrid of both?
JUST SHOOT ME starred Laura San Giacomo as Maya Gallo, a journalist working for her father, Jack Gallo. Jack, played by the late George Segal, was the oft-divorced, workaholic editor of Blush magazine, a periodical in the vein of Cosmopolitan. At Blush, Maya’s a feisty feminist surrounded by shallow fashionistas.
In THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, Andy Sachs is a budding journalist who lands a job as an assistant to the demanding and demoralizing Miranda Priestly, editor of the fashion magazine, Runway. For this one, think Vogue.
Starting to sound familiar?
If JUST SHOOT ME were rebooted, who would be the new owner of Blush? Laura San Giacomo could return as Maya Gallo, carrying on her father’s legacy. Should the new show borrow from THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, Wendy Malick could return as Nina Van Horn.
Nina’s character in the original show projected bitterness and insecurity by being comically disdainful. In a nod to Miranda Priestly, Nina could be the new owner, running “Blush” with soul crushing contempt for her minions. It would afford the audience a chance to laugh vicariously at their real-life monster bosses.
Sound familiar but unlikely?
Maybe not.
At Paramount +, entertainment executives are reaching even further back to satirize the power dynamics of the beauty industry. An August 26th edition of townandcountry.com reports that Ava Pickett is penning a TV adaptation of Robert Altman’s 1994 film, PRETE A PORTER.
The new iteration seeks to be “diverse and multicultural.” The evolving show aspires to depict “ambition thwarted, youth culture and identity in crisis and fighting for what you want.”
Hmm. Kafka in Valentino. Should I say “Why not?” Or “Of course.”
One way or another, a show that skewers the beauty industry will soon be strutting into people’s homes with hot models, designer clothes and, with any luck, much-needed laughs.
Anybody out there want to take my bet?
Dawn McElligott is a an award-winning writer and filmmaker who lives on the East Coast. You can learn more about her HERE