From Series To Movie To Limbo: Jodie-Centric 'Daria' Spinoff Not Moving Forward
The surprise has hit a snag after several years of development
If things have felt sparse and stagnant at Comedy Central lately, well, it has been. Just South Park at six television episodes, The Daily Show, Digman, and maybe the Beavis and Butt-Head revival if it’s getting anything beyond its initial order. When that initial order happened, Comedy Central was rebuilding, and included the order of a spinoff of its spinoff Daria, centered on Daria’s friend Jodie Landon from creator and head writer Grace Edwards. It was called Jodie (after starting out as Daria & Jodie), which would not bring back Jessica Cydnee Jackson, instead casting Tracee Ellis Ross in the title role. Now MTV Entertainment Studios, nearly 4 years after pickup and six since development was announced, is not moving forward with the project.
“Jodie will not be moving forward at MTVE Studios,” said an MTV Entertainment Studios spokesperson. “We have loved working with Tracee, Grace and the whole team on creating a film that is full of joy and genre-bending fun with an inclusive, diverse, and incredible cast. We are fully supportive of them finding a home elsewhere and look forward to partnering with them in the future.” When Daria & Jodie was picked up, Comedy Central had not only picked up the Beavis and Butt-Head revival, but a The Ren and Stimpy Show revival, and John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch follow-ups. The Clone High revival that was announced here didn’t even get a home in the Paramount family, being picked up by Max in early 2021 and premiering last May. Since at least May 2022, Jodie had transformed into a movie, while very little news has come from the Ren and Stimpy revival and absolutely nothing from the Sack Lunch Bunch camp, and those kids are probably aging out.
The film would see Jodie graduating from college and heading to the big city for an elite internship at tech giant Firstfinity. MTVE went into more depth when Comedy Central picked the series up, saying “What Daria did for showing how inane high school was for Gen X, Jodie will do for exploring the trials and tribulations of a first job for a new generation. The series will satirize workplace culture, Gen Z struggles, the artifice of social media and more. With themes of empowerment along gender and racial lines, explorations of privilege, and a wicked sense of humor, Jodie will shine a light on the personal and professional issues young Black women face today.” Daria ran for five seasons on MTV from 1997 to 2002.
