Keke Palmer Joins The Proud Family Revival; Amazon to Remake Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own

Friday, August 07, 2020

Keke Palmer Joins The Proud Family Revival; Amazon to Remake Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own

The cast and executive producers of the groundbreaking animated series The Proud Family participated in a virtual reunion during the NAACP's Arts, Culture & Entertainment Festival. Moderated by Keke Palmer, who announced that she will be joining the cast of Disney+'s upcoming series The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, the panel featured Kyla Pratt (Penny Proud), Tommy Davidson (Oscar Proud), Paula Jai Parker (Trudy Proud), Jo Marie Payton (Suga Mama) and Cedric the Entertainer (Uncle Bobby), creator/executive producer Bruce W. Smith and executive producer Ralph Farquhar. Their conversation included reminiscing about the cultural impact of the Disney Channel series which premiered 18 years ago, and a glimpse of the exciting new series coming exclusively to Disney+. Palmer will play the role of Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins, a 14-year-old activist who relentlessly marches to the beat of her own drum. She is extremely mature for her age and will not hesitate to shut anyone down with her blunt honesty and wisdom. The adopted daughter of mixed race parents, Maya is new to town, and initially disassociates herself from Penny and her crew because she is skeptical about what she perceives to be the superficiality of social cliques. However, Penny eventually gains her hard-earned respect and the two become good friends.

Picking up the story of its central character Penny Proud, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder will also include her madcap family: parents Oscar and Trudy, twin siblings BeBe and CeCe, and her grandmother Suga Mama (and Puff!). Of course, it would not be The Proud Family without Penny's loyal crew Dijonay Jones, LaCienega Boulevardez and Zoey Howzer, among others. All seasons of The Proud Family are currently available on Disney+. The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder is currently in production.

A League of Their Own

Amazon Studios announced that it has ordered a pickup of the new hour-long series A League of Their Own, from Sony Pictures Television, with executive producers and co-creators Abbi Jacobson (Broad City), who also stars, and Will Graham (Mozart in the Jungle). This reinterpretation of A League of Their Own evokes the joyful spirit of Penny Marshall's beloved classic, while widening the lens to tell the story of an entire generation of women who dreamed of playing professional baseball. The show takes a deeper look at race and sexuality, following the journey of a whole new ensemble of characters as they carve their own paths towards the field, both in the League and outside of it.

The series stars Jacobson and Chanté Adams (Roxanne Roxanne), alongside Emmy nominee D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place), BAFTA winner Gbemisola Ikumelo (Sex Education), Kelly McCormack, Roberta Colindrez, and Priscilla Delgado, with recurring guest stars Molly Ephraim (Last Man Standing), Kate Berlant and Melanie Field.