Love him or hate him, Spike Lee is one prolific artist. He’s produced some excellent films in recent years (Chi-Raq), as well as some fascinating documentaries (Bad 25). He’s also been the center of some critical drubbing, though he’s certainly never an uninteresting filmmaker. And he’s about to get even more so, as he readies himself to direct the entire first season of She’s Gotta Have It, a TV series being produced for Netflix and based Lee’s own debut film.
Netflix has ordered ten episodes of the show, all of them directed by Lee, which will follow sexually liberated young woman Mona Darling as she engages in steamy affairs with three different boyfriends. The original 1986 film starred Lee himself as one of Mona’s boyfriends, but we presume that the show will change that around a bit. Though I do hope that Lee finds a part for himself somewhere in the mix, as it would be nice to see him on the screen again.
She’s Gotta Have It was originally set up with Showtime, but the network since dropped the show for unclear reasons. It’s bounced around for two years now, but Showtime’s loss is Netflix’s gain – at least, we hope it is. I find it hard to believe that Lee will drop the ball on this one, as his recent track record has been stellar, if a little heavy-handed. While She’s Gotta Have It‘s subject is certainly as pertinent now as it was in 1986, we can only hope that Lee will treat it with the same combination of humor and insight that makes his original film such an exceptional work. There’s certainly no one else who could possibly do justice to the original film in a television remake.
As yet we’ve heard nothing about potential casting for She’s Gotta Have it, but now that Netflix has ordered the show, we can presume that we’ll get a lot more information in the coming months.
