#Roommates, Tyler Perry has conquered the stage with his plays and the big screen with his movies…and now he has his sights set on bringing arguably his most famous character to TV audiences. In a recent announcement, it was confirmed that Tyler Perry is currently developing “Mabel,” which is described as a prequel to his popular “Madea” character tracing her roots in 1970s Atlanta.
@Deadline exclusively reports, Tyler Perry is taking Mabel “Madea” Earlene Simmons to Showtime courtesy of her own television series. Titled “Mabel,” the show will be an origin story and prequel to her life back in Atlanta in the early 70s. The series has already received a multiple-script order from Showtime, proving that the network has pretty high hopes for the project. You’ll recall that Tyler based “Madea” on a combination of both his mother and his aunt, which launched his career with dozens of successful stage plays featuring the character.
“Mabel” is described as follows:
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“Every great story has to start somewhere and every legend has a beginning. Long before she was the force of nature known as “Madea” she was a smart, fierce, irresistible, dangerous, crazy 20-something black woman named…Mabel Simmons. When she moved to Atlanta in 1972 she set the city – and the world – on fire!”
“Mabel” will be written by twin sisters JaNeika and JaSheika James, whose notable TV credits include producing on the former FOX hit series “Empire” and writing for the upcoming HBO Max reboot of “Gossip Girl.”
As the series is still in its development stages, no additional information is available, including casting, episode order and release date.
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