Women's Media Nation | Social, political, and cultural issues relating to women

Mother daughter team create new TV show

posted by Women & Hollywood
Monday, June 21, 2010 at 12:00pm CDT

Being a formerly fat person myself who struggles with food issues each and every day I was really surprised, happy and cautious to see the new ABC Family TV show Huge.

But I did breathe a sigh of relief when I saw that it was co-created by Winnie Holzman who is as close to a TV goddess in my eyes. She was on the staff of Thirtysomething, but more importantly created My So Called Life and for that I will be eternally grateful. She is also the book writer for the wildly successful musical, Wicked.

I was even happier when I realized that not only was Ms. Holzman part of the creation of the show, her 24-year-old daughter, Savannah Dooley is her partner. The mom is training the daughter. How cool is that? The show is a full family affair with dad, actor Paul Dooley playing the cook. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Dooley who played Molly Ringwald’s dad in Sixteen Candles.

We’ve read so many times about male offspring moving easily into the business that I am happy to report when we see this happening with women.

And the show is a really interesting topic. It’s about a fat camp. Now when’s the last time you saw anything on TV about overweight people when they weren’t being exercised to death on a reality TV show? This show takes a look behind the fat at the kids who are struggling with their weight and their lives. It stars Hairspray‘s Nikki Blonsky.

Now don’t think that Savannah Dooley just got the gig because she was her mom’s daughter. The NY Times story on the show reports that Ms. Dooley was hired to write a movie at the ripe old age of 21 and even though that movie didn’t happen, the script convinced ABC to try for a series. But she is young and lots of times they will team young creators with more seasoned pros. She is very lucky that she was able to bring in help in the form of her mom to help get this show off the ground.

But what is even more groundbreaking about this show is that the cast is full of non-skinny kids. Fat people in bathing suits. Fat kids talking about their bodies. Fat kids not allowing society to make them hate themselves and their bodies.

Here’s what the creators have to say about how noteworthy this is:

Most of the young actors and actresses in “Huge” are significantly larger than the average-sized Ms. Dooley, but weight loss and body image are subjects she takes very seriously.

DOOLEY I would say that if my childhood and teenage years were characterized by one thing, it would have to be my personal struggle just relating to my own looks.

HOLZMAN I would say the same.

DOOLEY For yourself, or for me?

HOLZMAN No, for me!

Ms. Holzman said that both she and her daughter had a sense that “this exact show” had not been seen on television before.

“I’ve never seen a show where it’s more than one overweight person in the cast,” Ms. Dooley said. “They’re the sidekick, or maybe they end up with their own little chubby counterpart at the end. They’re always very ghettoized.”

I’m going to check out the show. It premieres next Monday, June 28 at 9pm on ABC Family.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wsfgZdZu5Q

A Close-Knit Team on a Plus-Size Show (NY Times)