It seems Amazon has hit a home run with the casting of the upcoming series A League of Their Own, an adaptation of the 1992 sports comedy of the same name.
The show will feature an ensemble cast of comediennes, according to Deadline, including Broad City‘s Abbi Jacobson, The Good Place‘s D’Arcy Carden, Letterkenny‘s Kelly McCormack, I Love Dick‘s Roberta Colindrez, and will feature relative newcomers Gbemisola Ikumelo, Priscilla Delgado, and Chanté Adams. Jamie Babbit, whose past work includes directing episodes of Russian Doll, Silicon Valley, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, as well as the 1999 cult film But I’m a Cheerleader, will direct the pilot.
The 1992 film, directed by the late Penny Marshall, details a fictionalized account of the founding of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) in the 1940s and 50s, and the bruises, sexual awakenings, and mayhem along the way. The film, whose big name stars included Tom Hanks and Madonna, grossed over $130 million dollars and has since been lauded, even being selected for preservation in the United States film registry by the American Film Institute and the Library of Congress for its cultural significance. After a failed attempt at a TV adaptation from CBS in 1993, Amazon announced it would helm the new series in 2018.
Jacobson, in addition to serving as a writer and executive producer on the show, will play Carson Shaw, a catcher with small town roots who moves to chase her dream of playing women’s baseball. Carden will portray Greta, a first basewoman who “seek[s] new adventures and liaisons” throughout the series, and McCormack will play Jess, a Canadian shortstop who “wishes the game would never end.” In addition, Colindrez will portray Mita, a secretive pitcher, Delgado is the youngest player, Izzy, Adams will play Max, a pitcher will a killer arm, and Ikumelo will play Clance, a budding young artist and Max’s best friend.
Will Graham (Mozart in the Jungle) and Hailey Wierengo will join Jacobson and Babbit in executive producing the series. The adaptation will begin in 1943, and will follow the budding team as they “fight to keep the League alive.”