Yahoo Finance Fried Green Tomatoes Series Starring Reba McEntire in the Works at NBC
Ethan Miller/Getty Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire is heading to the Whistle Stop Cafe!
A Fried Green Tomatoes series starring the country music singer and actress, 65, is in the works at NBC, Variety reported Wednesday.
Written by Jennifer Cecil, the hour-long episodic drama is described as a modernization of the novel and movie that will explore the lives of the descendants from the original work, the outlet reported.
McEntire will play a present-day Idgie Threadgoode, who must wrestle with a changed town, estranged daughter, faltering cafe and a life-changing secret when she returns to the Whistle Stop after a decade away.
In addition to starring in the series, McEntire will serve as executive producer alongside Norman Lear, who was an executive producer on the film, and his producing partner Brent Miller, Variety reports.
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Cecil and Fannie Flagg, the author of 1987's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe and co-writer of its movie adaptation, will also executive produce the series.
Flagg's novel centered around aging housewife Evelyn Couch and Ninny Threadgoode, an elderly woman living in a nursing home. While visiting the nursing home, Evelyn becomes enthralled by stories from Ninny's youth about running a cafe in the town of Whistle Stop, Alabama.
The book was made into a movie in 1991 starring Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker and Cicely Tyson. The film was a smash hit at the box office and received two Oscar nominations: a best supporting actress nod for Tandy and a best adapted screenplay nomination for Flagg and co-writer Carol Sobieski.
courtesy Everett Collection Fried Green Tomatoes
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While best known for her music career and her eponymous sitcom Reba, which ran for six season on The WB and The CW, McEntire's latest TV credits include Young Sheldon, Last Man Standing, Baby Daddy and The Neighbors. She also starred on ABC's Malibu Country from 2012 to 2013.
Last year, McEntire released her 33rd studio album, Stronger Than the Truth.
"I’m thankful for where I am," McEntire told PEOPLE in 2019. "And I realize that anything can happen in the blink of an eye to change your circumstances. … Live for the moment, live for today: Can’t do anything about what happened in the past, and don’t put your worries into tomorrow. Just think positive and it will manifest."
