TV Land orders a 10 episode first season for Heathers anthology series

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

TV Land has given a greenlight for the production of their first hourlong original series, and said series just happens to be based on the 1988 cult classic film HEATHERS. Written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, that movie centers on a girl named

Veronica as she navigates a clique of mean girls — all named Heather — and rebels after meeting J.D., the new guy at school. Soon, the Heathers start "accidentally" dying at the hands of Veronica and J.D., who cover up the deaths by faking them as suicides.

With a pilot written by Jason A. Micallef and directed by Leslye Headland, the series version has the following description:

Reimagined as an anthology, Heathers will be set in the present day, as our heroine deals with a very different but equally vicious group of Heathers.

When production began on the pilot, the idea was that Heathers would have a first season consisting of 13 half hour episodes if it were ordered to series. When the pilot turned out to be longer and darker than expected, Micallef requested that plans to be changed to 10 hourlong episodes. Impressed by what they saw, TV Land has granted the request.

Taking on the roles of J.D. and Veronica, who were originally played by Christian Slater and Winona Ryder, are James Scully and Grace Victoria Cox. The original Heathers (Heather McNamara, Heather Duke, and Heather Chandler) were played by Lisanne Falk, Shannen Doherty, and Kim Walker. In the television version, they are portrayed by Jasmine Mathews, Brendan Scannell (the character identifies as gender queer and has the birth name Heath), and Melanie Field (her Heather is described as having "a body like Martha Dumptruck", another character from the original film).

Doherty makes a guest appearance in the pilot.

The first season of Heathers is expected to start airing on TV Land in the fall. If the series continues, the idea is that each season will deal with a different set of Heathers in a different location.

The original HEATHERS