'The Wizard of Oz' as ... a TV medical drama?
CBS is reportedly developing L. Frank Baum's 'The Wizard of Oz' as a medical drama set in New York.
The 1939 film adaptation of 'The Wizard of Oz,' probably the most famous version of L. Frank Baum's work, starred Judy Garland (second from r.), Ray Bolger (second from l.), Jack Haley (r.), and Bert Lahr (l.).
Warner Bros./AP
L. Frank Baum鈥檚 鈥�The Wizard of Oz鈥� is set to be the inspiration for a new CBS show titled 鈥淒orothy,鈥� which is described as 鈥渁 medical soap based in New York City inspired by the characters and themes from The Wizard of Oz,鈥� according to .
Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly, who have both executive-produced the literary adaptations 鈥淓lementary鈥� and 鈥淛ustified,鈥� are set to executive-produce the show. Writer Emily Fox, who worked on 鈥淕host Whisperer鈥� and co-wrote the screenplay for the Olsen twins film 鈥淣ew York Minute,鈥� is writing the pilot and also serving as an executive producer.
Although the show is still in the early stages of development, some commentators are already expressing a blend of surprise and disgust at the idea. A story by reporter Rob Bricken ran with the headline 鈥淎pocalypse nears as CBS orders a Wizard of Oz-themed medical drama,鈥� while writer Matt Webb Mitovich asked, 鈥�How will such a thing work? And is there an animal hospital spin-off for Toto and the Flying Monkeys?鈥� writer Adam Chitwood called it a 鈥渉ead-scratcher.鈥�
鈥�I鈥檓 morbidly curious to see just how Beverly and Timberman plan to make this work,鈥� Chitwood wrote. 鈥淗ow clear will the parallels to the source material be? Does the lion character have big, wavy hair? Will our protagonist always wear red shoes? Do Dorothy and Scarecrow have an on-again off-again relationship? It sounds so terrible in theory that I just have聽[to] see what this looks like.鈥澛�
Bricken was even more taken aback.
鈥淚 regret to inform you all that the entire medium of television irrevocably passed into complete irrelevancy earlier today after CBS announced they were developing a TV series named Dorothy, about a medical drama based on The Wizard of Oz,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淚 am serious鈥�. Obviously, it is now imperative that we stop making TV forever鈥�. If we don't stop this insanity now we're going to get an Alice in Wonderland-themed lawyer series next, followed by a show where the girls from Little Women are no-nonsense FBI agents who don't play by the rules 鈥� OH MY GOD FOX IS ALREADY MAKING A SLEEPY HOLLOW-THEMED COP DRAMA AAAAA WE'RE TOO LATE WE'RE TOOOOOOO LAAAATTTTTTTEEEEE鈥�