Summary
- Mayim Bialik confirms that a Blossom reboot is happening, but it won’t be a sitcom.
- The new direction of the Blossom reboot has sparked comparisons to more serious reboots like Bel-Air and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
- Blossom was praised for its female representation and willingness to tackle serious topics.
New details have surfaced regarding the rumored Blossom reboot, and there are now reasons to be very interested in what they claim. Mayim Bialik, who played the titular role of Blossom, was asked about the rumors in an interview with Vanity Fair. It was here where she not only confirmed that the reboot is happening, but that it will be quite different than before.
“I’m happy to tell you that, yes, it’s true. All of the cast and the original creator and producers are on board, and we believe a reboot can and should exist once the strike ends. We’re hoping to reboot it not as a sitcom, though. We want to bring back these interesting, deep characters—a child of divorce, a recovering drug addict, an alcoholic—to see them in a whole new way.”
A Blossom reboot that isn’t a sitcom? New ways to see the characters? The hints have everyone guessing for the answers. These comments have drawn comparisons to Bel-Air, which was a more dramatic reboot of Will Smith’s iconic sitcom.
Another example of a more-serious reboot was Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which was a darker adaptation of the long-running Sabrina the Teenage Witch Archie Comics, previously adapted into a successful 90’s sitcom.
Who Was Blossom?
Blossom debuted in 1990 on NBC, the series starred Bialik as the teenage Blossom as she lived with her single father, Nick (Ted Wass), and her older brothers, Tony and Joey (Joey Lawrence and Michael Stoyanov). Blossom also has her best friend, Six (Jenna von Oÿ), to help her navigate the world. Blossom premiered in 1991 officially and ran for five seasons before its cancelation in 1995. The show was overall praised for its female representation, a sitcom starring a young teen protagonist was new ground for the time. The show would go on to earn an Emmy nomination as well as a nomination for a Humanitas Prize.
While it’s easy to look back on Blossom for its fun opening, the show wasn’t afraid to tackle serious topics. Way back in 1992, The Baltimore Sun commented that the show wasn’t afraid of handling more serious topics, such as Blossom getting her first period, how to use condoms, and Blossom contemplating running away. But a major factor was Tony, who was not only the eldest child but also a recovering drug and alcohol addict. Series creator Don Reo spoke with Yahoo Entertainment about tackling the darker side of the characters and not wanting to shy away from certain topics. Why? Because a lot of young audience members experienced them.
“We wanted to make it real or as real as we could. That was a big part of our conversations. We would talk about what real things were going on in her life and all the stuff that were the stories, that became the stories, were reflective either of things that were happening in my kids’ lives or in Mayim’s life or Jenna’s life. It’s easier to write those because you’re not making up some silly story about how a monkey stole a lottery ticket. You’re writing about the fear of going to school on the first day, or what did we start out with, her first period.”
Bialik spoke up as well about Reo’s direction as well as the writing:
“Don felt it was really important to paint an accurate picture of what these teenagers’ lives were like, and in particular Blossom since we were trying to show it from her perspective. When Don and I first met he said he wanted to do Catcher in the Rye for a girl and that really appealed to me, because I was the kind of girl interested in telling that kind of story.”
You can check out the aforementioned Blossom opening below:
