Disney Channel Gives Series Order to Marsai Martin's Coming-of-Age Comedy 'Saturdays'

Marsai Martin has another accomplishment to add to her impressive list of successes. On Tuesday, Disney gave the Black-ish star's coming-of-age comedy series, Saturdays, a series order. Martin serves as executive producer of the series under her Genius Entertainment production company.  

"We're thrilled to be in business with Marsai, Norman, Nicole, Joshua and Carol in bringing this adventure to our viewers," said Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television. "We know that audiences will fall in love with Paris, her friends and her family as they share in the love, laughter and music in this fun-filled world of roller skating."

The single-camera series, created and written by Norman Vance Jr., will be executive produced by Martin, Vance, Nicole Dow and Joshua and Carol Martin. 

According to a press release, Saturdays follows Paris Johnson (Danielle Jalade), a teenager who considers roller skating to be part of her soul. She lives for the weekends when she gets to go to her sanctuary, the neon-lit Saturdays, a seemingly magical wood floor roller-rink where the impossible often manifests. There, Paris can hang with her best friends (the We-B-Girlz skate crew), navigate life with her DJ brother London and work on becoming a Golden -- a member of Saturday's skating elite, chosen by the mystical owner of the rink, The Duchess.

Omar Gooding, Golden Brooks, Jermaine Harris and Daria Johns also star.

Gooding celebrated the news on Instagram, posting several behind-the-scenes shots of the cast and crew filming the pilot episode. "Now you see the reason for the cheesin 😁😁. The writing and producing on this on this one @marsaimartin @nvanjr the CAST.. @daniellejalade @therealgolden47 ….the brand @disney …God is GOODT," he wrote. "Our fans are in for a treat!! Something for all age groups!! And you KNOW we bringing the funny. Keep smiling people !!"

ET spoke with Martin about the series in March, where the actress called the roller skating show "dope" and shared that she's "worked on it for so long and I'm blessed and glad that it's finally out there, and it's a green lit and we're shooting it actually next week."

"I've always wanted to have a roller skating type of thing. Roller skating is just it! It's so big in the Black community. It's a fun activity in general, but just the aesthetic, the vibe of it, I'm like, 'This needs to be shown more,'" she expressed. "And there's real talent out there that loves to roller skate and I'm like, 'We can do this for sure.' So I'm excited about that."

The show will include a main character that also battles sickle cell anemia, to which Martin added, "That's also big in the Black community and it's never been shown in the industry on TV or film."

However, most importantly, she doesn't want to be "all about Black pain" either. "Because when you hear about sickle cell or just something like that you'd be like, 'Oh, poor, whatever,'" she explained. "But our main character shines a bright light and loves to live her life and doesn't care what anybody else thinks. We don't highlight it in a way where it's depressing, because that's not really who I am and that's not really what our team stands for. We stand for love and positivity. That's what the show brings and I'm excited for everyone to see it."

Expect to see more of Martin very soon, as she has big goals for the future. "Hopefully I'm still doing what I love. Maybe I'll get into directing or writing," she shared. "I want to have like at least 10 to 15 projects on the roster already. Just in general that I don't really have to star in, but just producing and maybe just doing stuff that I love."

Production on Saturdays is scheduled to begin in May 2022.

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