MTV Studios has clarified its plans for the reboot of ’90s cult cartoon “Daria,” as The Hollywood Reporter notes. “Jodie” will focus on Daria’s BFF Jodie Landon, who will be voiced by Tracee Ellis Ross. The series takes place in the years after Lawndale High and will follow Jodie as she enters the tech industry in her first job after college.
Of the forthcoming show, Ross said in a press release:
Being able to give voice to fresh, feminist and unexplored stories of young women excites me. “Jodie” will spin off from the cult classic “Daria,” and with the brilliant, sweet and sarcastic black-girl magic that is Jodie Landon, we will feature a diverse cast, comprised mainly of unapologetically smart and ambitious young female characters who are vulnerable and flawed and interesting and funny. As a very cool bonus, Jodie will be the first adult animated show in almost 20 years that will star a black woman. It will be a smart, funny workplace comedy full of commentary about everything from gentrification to sex to tech to call-out culture.
“Jodie” will reportedly be the first in a series of spinoff shows from MTV Studios, constituting a “‘Daria’ universe.” A network for the cartoon has not yet been announced. Characters from the original “Daria” series will make an appearance in the new spinoff.
Last year, MTV Studios announced the new series “Daria & Jodie,” which was set to “reinvent” the original series “through the eyes of heroine Daria Morgendorffer and one of her closest friends Jodie Landon.” The show, which will still be written by Grace Nkenge Edwards, will now focus more closely on Jodie.
“Daria” was originally a spinoff of Mike Judge’s raunchy cartoon “Beavis and Butt-Head.” It ran for five seasons on MTV from 1997-2002.
Tracee Ellis Ross recently starred in Tyler, the Creator’s IGOR visual “EARFQUAKE.” Last year, she appeared in Drake’s star-studded “Nice for What” music video.
https://pitchfork.com/news/tracee-ellis-ross-to-star-in-daria-spinoff-jodie
