Today’s news has got fans of Amy Heckerling’s coming-of-age masterpiece “Clueless” waffling between totally freaking and totally bugging, because according to Variety, the Peacock streaming service is currently developing a sequel series with star Alicia Silverstone set to reprise her role as Cher Horowitz.
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If this sounds like old news, it’s because you’re probably thinking of a different Peacock “Clueless” series that was announced back in 2020 and slated to star Stacey Dash, reviving her role as Cher’s ride-or-die bestie Dionne. Well, that series is no longer happening, and this series currently has Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (“Gossip Girl,” “The O.C.”) attached to write, along with Jordan Weiss (“Dollface,” “Sweethearts,” “Freakier Friday”). The trio will executive produce alongside Silverstone, and they’ll be joined by the original film’s producer, Robert Lawrence, and writer/director Heckerling as executive producers as well.
The original “Clueless” was initially envisioned as a television show before becoming one of the most successful films in teen girl comedy history, often mistakenly referred to as a “cult hit” because anything popular with teenage girls is inherently viewed as “niche,” regardless of box office performance or cultural imprint. A year after the film’s initial release, “Clueless” spawned a television spin-off that lasted for three seasons, with Rachel Blanchard taking over the role of Cher while Dash, Donald Faison, Elisa Donovan, Twink Caplan, and Wallace Shawn all returned in their original roles. Many of the film’s original cast members — like Brittany Murphy (RIP to an icon), Breckin Meyer, and Paul Rudd — also popped up in guest roles.
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Peacock is currently keeping plot details close to the chest, but fans are already trying to figure out what “Clueless” and Cher Horowitz’s life could look like after all these years.
Hollywood is nostalgia mining for women too
Considering what a massive star Paul Rudd has become since 1995, it seems impossible that Cher and Josh would canonically be able to stay together, shattering the hearts of everyone who fell in love with them at the top of the stairs 30 years ago. Of course, most people don’t end up marrying the first person they dated in high school, so statistically speaking, Cher and Josh probably did break up after the events of “Clueless.” But thinking about a “Clueless” story without the incredible banter between two of the most magnetic actors the world has ever known is depressing, to say the least.
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There’s a part of me that is absolutely thrilled for this series to come to fruition (it’s the part of me that co-hosts a successful teen girl movie podcast that launched with an episode on “Clueless”), but there’s another part of me that struggles to get excited over yet another dip back into the cauldron of nostalgia that’s already given us the “Sex and the City” sequel series “And Just Like That…” and is set to give us a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot with Sarah Michelle Gellar, a “Legally Blonde” prequel series produced by Reese Witherspoon, and “Freakier Friday” later this year. I’m filled with a lot of contradictory feelings, because on one hand, I’m thrilled that companies are seemingly finally recognizing the value of projects about and marketed towards women, but on the other, I wish there was a conscious effort to greenlight original stories about and marketed towards women. We’re never going to find the next Cher Horowitz, Buffy Summers, or Elle Woods unless we let people bring new characters to life.
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And yet, I know I’m part of the problem, because I’ll be watching every damn episode of the “Clueless” series the second they arrive.
