November 13, 2020, 11:26am
It is a truth universally acknowledged . . . that the CW is developing an anthology series inspired by Jane Austen’s works! The series, titled Modern Austen, will tackle a different Jane Austen novel each season and reimagine it as six modern stories. Modern Austen’s first season will set Pride and Prejudice in contemporary San Francisco. (“Can I have the car?” said Jane. “No, my dear, you had better take an Uber.”)
Modern Austen follows in the footsteps of many previous loose Austen adaptations, such as Clueless (which sets Emma in 1990s Beverly Hills), Metropolitan (which sets Mansfield Park in 1990s Manhattan), and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (which sets Pride and Prejudice . . . in the same era . . . with one crucial difference . . . I forget what it is).
The series will be written and executive produced by playwright and TV writer Eleanor Burgess, who most recently wrote for Perry Mason on HBO. Burgess’s play The Niceties premiered at Manhattan Theater Club, was published by Samuel French, and was called “scintillating… gripping… complexly and entertainingly rendered” by the Washington Post.
[via Variety]