No one at all….Popular feature film Waiting to Exhale will have a sequel — in the form of a television series. Terry McMillan, the New York Times bestseller responsible for the 1992 book that the film is based on, made the announcement on social media.
“So, Waiting to Exhale is going to be a TV series,” McMillan posted on Twitter. “Produced by Lee Daniels. Attica Locke and Tembi Locke are writing. Anthony Hemingway will direct. I lucked out.”
Directed by Forest Whitaker, the feature film came out in 1995, starring Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Lela Rochon, and Loretta Devine. The film followed the four women and their complex relationships with men.
Details have yet to be released surrounding whether the TV series will be solely a continuation of the film or be redressed to appeal to the Gen-Zer and millennial demographics. With that said, the focus could possibly be on Terry McMillan’s novel Getting To Happy, the sequel to Waiting To Exhale.
In the book, McMillan revisits the lives of the four friends Savannah (Houston), Bernadine (Bassett), Robin (Rochon), and Gloria (Devine) fifteen years later. The sequel expands on the women being older and more experienced. Savannah finds herself single at the age of 51. Bernadine becomes a pill popping, two-time divorcee. Robin is still seeking marriage, while Gloria is taking a good situation for granted.
For the longest, fans have begged for the continuation of the popular film via a sequel. But, who would’ve thought that a TV series would be the chosen format. There’s definitely potential depending on the writing, casting, and uniqueness of the series, but it would be amiss to say we haven’t witnessed this storyline on TV before.
The powers that be seem to be stuck on the security of the formulaic four — and sometimes three — women going through relationship woes in the TV genre. If that’s hard to believe, just take a brief look at history. There’s Living Single, Sex and the City, Girlfriends, Single Ladies, Insecure, Tyler Perry’s Sistas, and BET’s The First Wives Club. Can anyone say redundant?
The same friendship and relationship dynamics have been repackaged and sold to viewers under the guise of a slight differentiation or angle, but innovation and originality appear to be rare traits these days.
Granted that these series have brought great joy and entertainment to viewers, gearing up for 2021, the story of womanhood should be more than ready to advance past running behind men (and women in some instances) to an evolved existence that includes bigger decisions, bigger paychecks, and bigger problems. It doesn’t have to be super feminist, but can we at least have variety?
How about a show covering an all-female led law firm or the grassroots political warfare of female activists to even the playing field? Don’t women deserve it considering the climate of the world today, where we finally have a female general manager in a male-dominated sports industry and a female vice president of the U.S.? The story of the female should be about evolution in all facets.
