Tracee Ellis Ross Set To Star & Executive Produce ‘Daria’ Spinoff

Tracee Ellis Ross Set To Star & Executive Produce ‘Daria’ Spinoff From MTV

Golden Globe-winning actress Tracee Ellis Ross is taking her talents to the animated genre—and it’s courtesy of one of TV’s beloved classics. Reportedly, Ross is set to star and executive produce a spinoff of the popular 90’s MTV animated series Daria. Daria aired on MTV from 1997 until 2002.

The spinoff is titled Jodie, and it is an adult animated comedy where Ross will provide the voice of the title character. Created and written by Grace Nkenge Edwards (writer/co-producer of HBO’s Insecure,) Jodie will be centered around Daria’s good friend Jodie Landon, the popular African American character from the original series credited with helping to shape a generation of women.

The synopsis of Jodie is described as follows:

“‘Jodie’ will follow her as she comes into her own and enters the workplace in her first post-college job in tech. Other former students of Lawndale High will also appear. ‘Jodie’ will satirize workplace culture, Gen Z struggles, the artifice of social media and more. With themes of empowerment across gender and racial lines, explorations of privilege, and a wicked sense of humor, ‘Jodie’ marks the first adult animated sitcom to center around an African American female lead in nearly two decades.”

black-ish actress Tracee Ellis Ross

In a statement, Ross expressed her excitement about the new role:

“I am thrilled to bring this project to life with MTV, both as executive producer and by voicing Jodie’s character. Being able to give voice to fresh, feminist and unexplored stories of young women excites me. ‘Jodie,’ will spin-off from the cult classic ‘Daria,’ and with the brilliant, sweet and sarcastic black girl magic that is Jodie Landon, we will feature a diverse cast, comprised mainly of unapologetically smart and ambitious young female characters who are vulnerable and flawed and interesting and funny. As a very cool bonus, ‘Jodie’ will be the first adult animated show in almost 20 years that will star a black woman. It will be a smart, funny workplace comedy full of commentary about everything from gentrification to sex to tech to call-out culture.”

While we wait for Jodie to premiere, you can check out the Black-ish spinoff, Mixed-ish, which airs this fall on ABC and explores Ross’ character Rainbow in her teen years.

Are you looking for to Tracee Ellis Ross’ new project? Let us know in the comments!