Justina Machado and One Day at a Time showrunner Gloria Calderón Kellett are working on a new project together – but given that their previous collaboration was a family friendly update of an old sitcom, nobody would have predicted that their next team-up would come on a show that’s described as “a macabre urban legend of love, betrayal, weed, gentrification, cannibalism, and survival of the fittest.” The show is The Horror of Dolores Roach, “a contemporary Sweeney Todd-inspired tale of eat or be eaten.”
Based on the Gimlet podcast of the same name, The Horror of Dolores Roach has received a series order from Amazon Studios and the half-hour episodes will be released through Prime Video. The series is coming to us from Blumhouse Television, Gimlet, and GloNation Studios.
The show will tell the following story:
After serving a 16-year prison sentence, the title character (Machado) returns to a gentrified Washington Heights with $200 and the clothes on her back. Her boyfriend missing, her family long gone, Dolores reunites with an old stoner buddy, Luis, who gives her room and board and lets her give massages for cash in the basement under his dilapidated storefront, Empanada Loca, the only remnant of her former life. When the promise of her newfound stability is quickly threatened, “Magic Hands Dolores” is driven to shocking extremes to survive.
Machado is joined in the cast by Alejandro Hernandez (Gotham), Kita Updike (The Misandrists), and K. Todd Freeman (Grosse Pointe Blank).
The Horror of Dolores Roach was created by Aaron Mark, who first brought the story into the world as a one-woman play starring Daphne Rubin-Vega. Rubin-Vega returned to the title role for the podcast, which Mark wrote and directed. Now Mark is serving as showrunner on the Amazon series, alongside Dara Resnik.
Mark, Resnik, and Rubin-Vega are executive producers on the series, as are Calderón Kellett, Blumhouse TV’s Jason Blum, Chris McCumber, and Jeremy Gold, Spotify’s Dawn Ostroff, Mimi O’Donnell, and Justin McGoldrick, and pilot director Roxann Dawson.
Mark had this to say about the series:
After eight years living with the indomitable Dolores Roach in multiple forms, I could not be more thrilled to be bringing her to life on television with this powerhouse team.”
Amazon’s Marc Resteghini added:
We at Amazon Studios fell in love with this story along with everyone else as the podcast captured listeners. We couldn’t be more excited and fortunate to be working with such world-class creatives to bring Dolores Roach to screen in what is sure to be a captivating series.”
I’ve heard about The Horror of Dolores Roach before this The Hollywood Reporter announcement, but have never actually dug into the story. I’m going to have to check it out sometime.
Have you listened to the podcast? Are you interested in watching this Amazon series? Let us know by leaving a comment below.