Nick Offerman is joining Amazon’s “A League of Their Own,” where he’ll play a version of the role Tom Hanks had in the 1992 movie.
He won’t be playing the same character, however. Offerman is taking on the role of Casey “Dove” Porter, the coach of the team at the center of the series. Hanks, meanwhile, played the cynical but hilarious Jimmy Dugan, known for his memorable line, “There’s no crying in baseball!”
Described as a “reinterpretation” of the Penny Marshall film about the World War II-era Women’s Professional Baseball League, the Amazon version will widen 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 a whole new ensemble of characters as they carve out their own paths toward the field, both in the League and outside of it.
The character of Casey “Dove” Porter is described as an ex-Cubs pitcher who is brought in to coach the Rockford Peaches and is most famous because his forkball killed a dove in mid-air in the middle of a game. Inspiring and charismatic, Dove was thought to be the next big MLB star, but blew his arm out after three years. Now he’s looking to make his comeback by making the Peaches into champions.
Abbi Jacobson will co-create the series with Will Graham. Along with the “Broad City” alum, the series will star Chanté Adams, D’Arcy Carden, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Kelly McCormack, Roberta Colindrez, and Priscilla Delgado, with recurring guest stars Molly Ephraim, Kate Berlant and Melanie Field.
“A League of Their Own” is from Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television in association with Field Trip Productions. Executive producers are Will Graham, Abbi Jacobson, Field Trip’s Hailey Wierengo and co-executive producer Elizabeth Koe. Jamie Babbit directed the pilot and served as executive producer.
The original 1992 film from Sony’s Columbia Pictures starred Geena Davis, Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell and Tom Hanks. It was a fictionalized account of the real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was formed during World War II.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported on Offerman’s involvement.
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