Is 'Zenon' Coming To TV?

Zetus. Lepetus. It's happening, guys. My life is flashing before my eyes in a blaze of glory because I have just learned that Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century may be a television series. Are you hyperventilating yet? I totally am, so I'm not really sure how you're still able to read this but props to you, reader. I have so many questions. Where's this all coming from? And why did it take so long to infiltrate into the mainstream?

Disney exec Gary Walsh recently revealed to EW that a Zenon TV show has been a "perennial" discussion over at the Disney Channel offices since the TV movie first premiered in 1999.

“I want to say it’s one of our great frustrations, but it’s unusual that none of them have ever turned into series. I have no good reason why. Some things just have a life of their own and live in a certain space. The ones that had staying power, from a storytelling perspective, we created sequels and threequels. [...] [Zenon] is always under discussion."

Well, Walsh, I sincerely hope for your sake that this discussion gets underway soon and seriously. Now that the cat is out of the bag — and with the renewed nostalgia for the Disney Channel Original Movies of yesteryear — the timing has never been better to resurrect a beloved Disney Channel property for a TV series.

Luckily, Disney's set a precedent here too. While Disney Channel has historically turned their Disney Channel shows into feature-length films (Hannah Montana: The Movie, for instance), taking a major Disney Channel Original Movie with an albeit super-expandable universe and storyline back down to the TV level would be a refreshing creative choice. Couple that with the fact that Disney Channel has resurrected a beloved '90s TV show in a new way already (Girl Meets World) and I think it's safe to say Zenon would be a great addition to the current Disney Channel line-up.

This is a show that has inspired tons of millennials since it first aired, earned itself two sequels, contributed a major catch-phrase to the cultural mainstream and added an iconic feminist protagonist to the Disney canon. The timing has never been better for Zenon to come to our television sets. In a world full to the brim with mindless programming, this is one show that would stand out from the crowd.

images: Disney; Giphy