A pilot for Saturdays, a series produced by 16-year-old Black-ish talent Marsai Martin, has been ordered at Disney Channel.
Saturdays comes from the mind of Norman Vance Jr., who wrote the popular 2005 film Roll Bounce and has worked on many classic television series, a list ranging from Moesha and Girlfriends to Queen Sugar. The new series, reportedly about “a young girl and her competitive roller skating crew,” is produced by Marsai and her production company, Genius Entertainment. Charles Stone III, who has worked on Black-ish, is set to direct the pilot.
According to Deadline, “Saturdays follows Paris, who, since the age of four, has been honing her skills on the cool parquet floor of Saturdays, a local skating rink owned and operated by a former ’90s hip-hop back-up dancer. With its neon lights, galaxy-painted rink and killer D.J. spinning the latest music, Saturdays is the place to show and prove. Paris is the leader of a skate crew and is determined to take them all the way to the top. However, she has sickle cell disease, and when it flares up, it’ll take every ounce of determination to prove the doubters wrong, including her concerned family.”
Actress Danielle Jalade is set to star in the lead role of Paris Johnson, alongside a talented cast that includes Omar Gooding and Golden Brooks playing Johnson’s parents and Jermaine Harris as her older brother, an aspiring D.J.
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Rapper-actress Yolanda “Yo-Yo” Whitaker also appears in Saturdays, portraying Duchess, the owner of the roller rink.
“When we met with Marsai about this project, we couldn’t have been more impressed with her passion for diverse storytelling and commitment to female empowerment,” Rafael Garcia, vice president of original series development at Disney Branded Television, said in a statement. “We’re extremely excited to team up with Norman and the Genius Entertainment team to tap into roller-skating culture in a way that’s truly both authentic and aspirational for our audience.”
Martin took to her official Instagram to celebrate the pilot order. The young actress shared the announcement on Deadline and wrote in the caption: “Y’all see me seeing you, right? ? can’t wait for this! @disneychannel.”
Many of Martin’s celebrity friends flooded her comments with congratulations, from Chloe x Halle and Yara Shahidi to SZA and Gabrielle Union.
Another successful Black multi-hyphenate in the industry took to Twitter to congratulate Martin on her success: Issa Rae of Insecure happily tweeted her pride and excitement for the child star, writing: “I really love this girl. Give her everything and protect her,” along with a crying emoji.
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