I loved Freaky Friday -- the classic 2003 film starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan as a mother and daughter who magically switch bodies thanks to an enchanted fortune cookie. I thought it was the best one yet.
And then Lohan went and ruined it for me. I can't look at the film anymore without seeing an older, sleazier, post-Mean Girls Lohan in full meltdown mode.
It's similar to once loving The Cosby Show. However, many can't watch Dr. Huxtable wax paternal these days without feeling like they have to go wash their hands.
For true Freaky Friday fans, there's always the original. That was 1976 and starred Barbara Harris and a 14-year-old Jodie Foster. It has been 15 years since the last incarnation, so maybe the Disney folks thought this would be a good time to give us something to replace the Lohan aftertaste.
Abracadabra, presto change-o!Freaky Friday, the new TV movie inspired by Freaky Friday the off-off-off Broadway musical, debuts at 7 p.m. Friday on Disney Channel.
The remake stars Broadway veteran Heidi Blickenstaff as annoyingly organized mom Katherine Blake, and bubbly 19-year-old actress/singer/songwriter Cozi Zuehlsdorff as her rebellious 16-year-old daughter Ellie.
Aside: Cozi Noelle Zuehlsdorff is just about the coolest name for an actress I've come across in years.
In this version, Katherine is a catering company owner attempting to juggle family, career and the micro-managing of her forthcoming wedding. She is a classic over-achiever at odds with her laid-back daughter.
Ellie is still struggling with adjusting to life following the death of her father. Her room is a mess. Her wardrobe is sloppy and she constantly displays a negative attitude.
This time, mother and daughter switch bodies through a magic hourglass. Naturally, the thing gets shattered and they must search for a matching one before they can return to their own bodies. Angst and generational hilarity ensue.
In a Disney interview, Zuehlsdorff said, "This movie, more than any movie I've ever seen, really gets into the nitty-gritty of what it's like in the relationship between a mother and a daughter -- especially when something has happened, like the passing of the dad and husband.
"Also, this version of Freaky Friday is so different than all the other versions. It's a musical. That's enough right there to make it completely different, but for younger audiences, the music is especially catchy and fun and relatable."
Gather the entire family and enjoy.
• Netflix news. Friday is also a big debut day on Netflix. Everything downloads at 2:01 a.m., so wake up and check them out.
All About the Washingtons is a semi-autobiographical family sitcom starring hip-hop legend Joseph Simmons (aka Rev Run) and his wife, Justine, playing fictionalized versions of themselves raising a passel of kids. In the comedy, Justine pursues a career of her own after Joey retires.
Insatiable is being billed as "a dark, twisted revenge comedy." It features former Disney star Debby Ryan (The Suite Life on Deck), Dallas Roberts (The Walking Dead) and Alyssa Milano (Charmed). Ryan plays Patty, a formerly bullied fat girl who is suddenly thin and gorgeous and out for payback.
Roberts is a guy who coaches beauty pageant contestants and Milano is his wife. They're blissfully ignorant of Patty's hidden rage and willingness to exact revenge. Dark hilarity ensues.
Voltron: Legendary Defender rolls out Season 7 Friday. The Netflix original series follows five teens who are transported from Earth into the middle of an intergalactic war and become pilots of five robotic lions. Through teamwork, the lions unite to form the mighty warrior Voltron.
• Happy Hallmark time. Ease out of your busy Saturday by watching Hallmark's original Love at Sea at 8 p.m. The romantic comedy stars real-life married couple Alexa PenaVega (Spy Kids) and Carlos PenaVega (Big Time Rush) as Olivia and Tony. She plays a Caribbean cruise line event planner and he's the cruise director. They must learn to work together to pull off a major event on a luxury liner.
Sample sappy, but wonderful, dialogue: "You walked onto my ship and somehow changed everything."
Trivia: Alexa and Carlos combined their last names of Pena and Vega when they married in 2014. They named their first born Ocean King PenaVega in 2016. They call him Ocean and he has a cameo in the movie.
And ignore that the whole thing seems to be an infomercial for the Harmony of the Sea, the largest cruise ship in the world.
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Weekend on 08/09/2018