Amazon developing TV series based on A League of Their Own

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

There's no crying in baseball, whether it be in a feature film or a TV series. THR reports that Amazon Studios is developing a TV series based upon A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, the 1992 Penny Marshall movie which starred Tom Hanks and Geena Davis and told the fictionalized story of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the second World War. The series will be co-written and executive produced by Will Graham (Mozart in the Jungle) and Abbi Jacobson (Broad City) and is being described as more of a modern look at the story rather than a traditional reboot.

A League of Their Own is being envisioned as a half-hour comedy series and Amazon has set up a small writers' room to get cracking on the scripts, but THR notes that a decision hasn't been made yet as Abbi Jacobson's deal isn't finalized. Here's what the official logline has to say:

A League of Their Own is a half-hour comedy infusing the warmth, humor and DNA of the classic film, while taking a contemporary spin on the stories of the women surrounding the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The show will begin with the formation of the league in 1943 and follows the Rockford Peaches, season to season as they struggle to keep the team alive through close games, injuries, late night bar crawls, sexual awakenings, not crying and road trips across a rapidly changing United States. The series dives deeper into the issues facing the country while following a ragtag team of women figuring themselves out while fighting to realize their dreams of playing professional baseball.

The original movie followed two sisters, Dottie (Geena Davis) and Kit (Lori Petty), as they were recruited to join the AAGPBL when World War II threatened to shut down Major League Baseball. Tom Hanks played their manager, with Rosie O'Donnell, Madonna, Jon Lovitz, Bill Pullman, David Strathairn, and Garry Marshall filling out the rest of the cast. THR's sources say that Will Graham and Abbi Jacobson have reached out to both Penny Marshall and Geena Davis in order to get their blessing on the project, but this isn't the first time that A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN has attempted to make the leap to television. A short-lived sitcom spin-off was launched in 1993 which featured several of the movie's actors reprising their roles (Penny Marshall also directed the pilot), but the series was pulled after just three of its six episodes had aired.