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The 1993 classic “A League of Their Own” starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Madonna, gets a modern update in a new series that hits Amazon Prime Video this Friday.
The series remake features all new characters in a similar storyline that centers around the formation of an all-girls baseball league during World War II. Like in the Penny Marshall-directed film, the series is set in 1943. New character Carson (played by “Broad City’s” Abbi Jacobson) finds herself enthralled by the sport of baseball after her husband is deployed overseas. While Carson’s character seems to be lightly inspired by Davis’s portrayal of Dottie in the original film, her teammate Greta played by D’Arcy Carden has hints of Madonna’s glamorous Mae.
The biggest departure from the original film is a larger emphasis on race relations. Chanté Adams stars as a Black woman athlete named Max who is excluded from tryouts because of her race and takes a factory job in the hopes of playing for the men’s team.
“Max’s storyline brings a blast of outright painful drama into the world of ‘League,’ and it’s welcome,” writes Variety‘s chief TV critic Daniel D’Addario in his review of the series. “The refusal to allow this series to play with nostalgia without engaging who was left out in a past era brings a not-unpleasant astringency to a series that makes other critiques in quieter, lighter manners.”
All eight episodes of “A League of Their Own” arrive on Prime Video on Friday, Aug. 12. In order to stream the series, you’ll have to subscribe to Amazon Prime for $14.99/month or sign up for a 30-day tree trial here.