Nick Offerman Cast As The Lead In A Classic ‘90s Reboot
Nick Offerman is leading a reboot of a '90s comedy classic.
This article is more than 2 years old
Amazon Studios’ upcoming A League of Their Own TV series just got a serious dose of star power by way of former Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman.
Nick Offerman, the slow-speaking and large presence that brought Ron Swanson to life on the hit sitcom, will join the new series as its own version of Tom Hanks’ Jimmy Dugan character from the original 1992 film directed by Penny Marshall.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Nick Offerman’s character is named Casey “Dove” Porter, the coach of the all-women’s team at the center of the series. Dove is described as a former Cubs pitcher who was poised to have a promising career in Major League Baseball only to ultimately blow out his arm after just three years on the mound. In an effort to make his comeback, he agrees to coach in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. In addition to his pitching career, Dove is famous for an incident that saw his forkball accidentally strike a dove mid-air in the middle of a game, killing the bird and earning him his nickname.
Fortunately, playing a former Cubs baseball player is right in Nick Offerman’s wheelhouse given that he is a real-life die hard Cubs fan.
According to Deadline, Amazon Studios picked up A League of Their Own as a series in August. Created by Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham, the show will certainly be inspired by Penny Marshall’s film. However, the show will not be a direct follow-up to the original movie and will instead endeavor to carve out its own story inspired by the real-life all women’s AAGPBL Fort Wayne Daisies of the 1940s and 1950s. Still, the show will benefit from standing on the shoulders of Marshall’s giant. Entertainment Tonight notes that the 1992 classic, which starred Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell and Lori Petty, was a massive success, ultimately grossing $132 million at the box office at the box office that year. To this day, it’s still considered a classic and Hanks’ infamous line “there’s no crying in baseball” continues to be a beloved pop culture quote. Fans can only hope that Nick Offerman’s character gets an equally iconic line in the series or is merely allowed to make Hanks’ phrase his own.
In addition to Nick Offerman and Jacobson as the star, the series has also cast Chanté Adams, D’Arcy Carden, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Kelly McCormack, Roberta Colindrez, and Priscilla Delgado, with recurring guest stars Molly Ephraim, Kate Berlant and Melanie Field.
While the movie dealt with issues of race, sexuality and gender equality, Deadline notes that the show will have a lot more room to explore those issues in-depth and highlight exactly what these female athletes went through to be respected both on the field and off it in their personal lives.
Since Parks and Recreation ended in 2015 after putting Nick Offerman on the map, he’s kept very busy with recurring roles in other popular TV series such as Fargo, Bob’s Burgers, Good Omens, Devs and The Great North. In addition, he’s poised to have a big role in the upcoming TV mini series Pam & Tommy about the relationship between rocker Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson starring Sebastian Stan and Lily James.
