Mayim Bialik revealed that the long-gestating Disney reboot of ’90s sitcom Blossom is no longer moving forward.
In a blog posted to her Substack today, The Big Bang Theory alumna noted the decision was “not for lack of trying” and the result of industry-wide mergers and new executives who didn’t see the merit in pursuing the project.
The former Jeopardy! host recounted how the idea of a revival came about, following the conclusion of the Jim Parsons-led sitcom in 2019. After reconnecting with original show creator Don Reo, the two wondered: “What would Blossom be like 30 years later? Don wrote a draft in one sitting. He said it just flowed out of him. It wasn’t writing so much as it was receiving. He found our characters exactly where many of us find ourselves – funny, lost, wandering, meandering, and torn. The script is beautiful.”
Given Bialik’s busy schedule with hosting the game show and her role on Fox’s Call Me Kat, the project had to take a back seat. Afterward, the two re-pitched the show to new execs at Disney, the rights-holder on the OG show, who “seemed to love it, understood what we wanted to do, and Don and I felt comfortable to speak about it in the press. We felt certain this was moving forward.”
Though Bialik and Reo had essentially sold the reboot a year earlier, upon their second attempt, they were told the project was “no longer able to be produced,” per TVLine. While the two pivoted to asking for the series rights, Disney declined, in case the company wanted to pursue its own reboot down the line.
“The reboot we all wanted to do was now, with Don’s script. We will likely never know … why they would not let us bring these beautiful stories to people who love 90s nostalgia and who have a special place in their hearts for Blossom,” Bialik said.
While the actress said she remains hopeful, “this project is the role I want to play more than any other. Since this all fell apart, my desire to continue to pursue on-camera roles has waned. The constant changing of guards in our industry, the mergers, the insincerity and the increasingly extended periods of time it takes to get answers or contracts completed… It’s not the industry Don and I grew up in, and Blossom felt like my last attempt to try and assert myself as an actress.”
Concluding, she added, “While it is possible no one wants a Blossom reboot, I’m pretty certain Disney got this one wrong. The sun is gonna surely shine. Maybe not the way Don and I intended, but this door closed. While we didn’t want it to, we are powerless over every aspect of it except what we know to be true: we loved this possibility with all that we have and we are so so sorry we couldn’t get it to happen.
Per Deadline sources, Disney’s ABC Signature (now 20th Television) explored a Blossom reboot from Reo and Bialik last fall but the project never come to fruition. The latter last spoke about its potential in 2023, saying, “All of the cast and the original creator and producers are on board, and we believe a reboot can and should exist once the strike ends.” At the time, she said the limited offshoot would be designed as a deeper story outside its sitcom genre origins.
Airing for five seasons on NBC beginning in 1991 and ending in 1995, the series followed the title character living in a male-dominated household led by her single father and two older brothers. While the show was never a critical nor awards darling, it did break ground in centering on a young girl in a TV landscape dominated by shows about boys.
