Melissa Joan Hart explained it all when asked what became of the Clarissa Explains Everything revival that was in development on Nickelodeon about four years ago.
In March 2018, Hart was poised to reprise her role as Clarissa Darling in a revival of the 1990s Nickelodeon sitcom; Original series creator Mitchell Kriegman was also set to return as an EP.
But on Saturday at the 90s Con panel in Hartford, Connecticut (where she appeared with the cast of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch), Hart told an inquisitive fan that Clarissa was deemed to have nothing more to explain.
“Nickelodeon got a new president and they kind of squashed the whole thing,” according to People.com, as Hart says. (In October 2017, Bryan Robbins replaced 30-year veteran Saima Zargami as head of the cable company.)
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“So it was actually in development, and yeah, it just sort of disappeared,” Hart reportedly explained. “The signing of the contracts took about a year, which was the most difficult part, and then everything somehow fizzled out. So I don’t think [it will happen]”.
TVLine has reached out to Nickelodeon for comment on MJH’s situation.
Like the sequel series Boy Meets World, Girl Meets World, Clarissa 2.0 would have been a direct continuation of the original series, only now Hart’s character would be the mother of the family. Presumably, the new show will be told from the point of view of Clarissa’s son and/or daughter. (The same formula worked in the It’s So Raven sequel, House of the Raven.)
The original Clarissa ran for a total of five seasons from 1991 to 1994. In each episode, the main character broke the fourth wall and monologues the audience about typical teenage issues, ranging from high school hobbies to her annoyance with her annoying brother Ferguson.
An unsuccessful spin-off titled Clarissa Now was developed for CBS in 1995 but was not featured in the series; this pilot later aired on Nickelodeon.