It feels safe to say that a lot of people still remember Harriet the Spy since a lot of folks grew up with this character in one way or another. What will be coming to Apple TV this time around though will an animated show that will feature Beanie Feldstein, who starred in LadyBird, voicing the main character, while Jane Lynch will be playing the voice of Harriet’s nanny. It’s not known yet whether this series will pick up where the books left off and move forward or if it’s going to be a complete remake of the books, but it should be entertaining all the same. A lot of the folks that loved reading the books and watching the movie might want to tune in and see if it’s just as good as before. At this point though a lot of shows are facing the idea that animation is about the only thing that can be filmed without having to follow strict safety protocols that can derail a movie in a heartbeat if they’re not followed. With this particular story though it might be best to go to animation at this point since it might actually give the series the kick it really needs to make it popular once again.
Harriet the Spy was actually pretty well-known at one point since the movie featured promos rather frequently in its time and people came to know who Michelle Trachtenberg was thanks to this. Eventually, she would go on to star in other movies and upon growing up was even in the comedy Eurotrip. A lot of kids are bound to remember the movie though and it’s fair to say that expectations might raise a bit just because folks do remember and they’ll want to see something that’s just as entertaining. After this long one would think that there’s been enough time in between that someone could think up a way to move the story forward or how to update the books and make a story that people will flock to. If not then it’s bound to be more of the same and it’s likely that Harriet’s resurgence will be cut short since people want to see something that’s familiar but just new enough that they won’t have seen it a dozen times already. That’s definitely possible with a character like Harriet since as people might recall she was more than a bit mischievous in her day and was the type of individual that didn’t always do as she was told and was in a way kind of like a Goonie of her time. It’s a weird comparison to be certain but it’s also fairly accurate since she didn’t always have a convenient way of doing things and often found herself in trouble for doing things the way that they worked for her.
At this time bringing back parts of the past is definitely a big trend in Hollywood either because things have been shut down, which is likely, or because ideas are in short supply, which is hopefully not the case but could be. Nostalgia is great and all that but having lived through a lot of the stuff that we’re seeing already in the process of being brought back, it’s a wonder as to why new ideas appear to be in such short supply when there are teams of writers in Hollywood that should be able to take elements of old shows and movies, not the actual shows and movies and come up with something different and new that could be just as entertaining if not more so. It’s been said more than once that there are only so many stories in the world that can be told, but there are a large number of ways to tell them and enough opportunities to add new twists into the mix if people would just think of them. Thankfully with Harriet, there’s not a lot of need to get too fancy since she’s a still technically a kid in a kids’ show and while kids need something challenging as well it’s not too hard to come up with something that will wow a younger audience and get them thinking at the same time, which is what Harriet was good for back in her day and still can be today. Any show that gets a kid to think outside of the box and inspires them to explore the world around them in a fun and imaginative, and hopefully safe, manner is a show that’s worth bringing back, so long as it can be challenging and engaging enough to be worth it. As an animated feature, it does feel that Harriet might be a little more effective, but the live-action movie was fairly impressive. Hopefully, kids will find this just as entertaining as it used to be.
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