‘Field of Dreams’: What We Want To See In the Peacock Streaming Series
Field of Dreams is one of the most beloved sports movies of all times. It’s even still in the news when MLB stages an actual game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox on a replica of the farmland field. Now it’s coming back as a Peacock series. If you stream it, they will come.
Peacock announced on Aug. 16 that The Good Place creator Michael Schur is writing and producing a streaming series based on the hit movie. Field of Dreams is in good hands with a master of touching, uplifting fantasy. Here are some things we hope to see in Schur’s new series.
‘Field of Dreams’ can bring back 30 more years of baseball players
In the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) builds a baseball diamond in his farm. The magical field attracts not just any baseball players. Famous historic baseball players like Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) arrive at Ray’s field of dreams to play ball.
In 1989, Shoeless Joe was 70 years past the 1919 Black Sox scandal that got him banned from Major League Baseball. It has been 32 years since Field of Dreams, so Schur could call up more recent players like Cal Ripken or Ken Griffey, Jr. And if they’re looking for a redemption arc, how about Barry Bonds?
Expand this ‘Field of Dreams’ beyond MLB
Another angle Schur’s Field of Dreams could take would be to include more than just major league players. Imagine if the baseball field brought back players from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League!
Of course, the AAGPBL got their own movie, A League of Their Own, which Amazon is now developing as a series. The actual league lasted from 1943 – 1954, but there are certainly some players who weren’t ready to hang up the mit. It can still be Shoeless Joe, but let them all play in Kinsella’s field.
Ease a real author’s pain
Field of Dreams was based on W.S. Kinsella’s book, Shoeless Joe. The name wasn’t the only thing the movie changed. When Ray hears a second voice saying, “Ease his pain,” Ray believes it means author Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones). In author Kinsella’s book, the character was literally J.D. Sallinger.
If Schur can actually convince the Sallinger estate to making the reclusive author a character on Field of Dreams, more power to Schur. If that’s still a no go, they could try Stephen King or Dan Brown. Just kidding, this one should probably remain Terrence Mann since he meant so much to the movie.
More whispers
Field of Dreams was a two hour movie and the voices sort of followed three act structure. “If you build it…” was the Act 1 prompt. “Ease his pain” set Act 2 into motion. Finally, “Go the distance” brought Ray in touch with his family.
Well, Schur is going to have eight to 10 hours. Voices can send Ray in many more directions in each episode. It could conceivably take multiple seasons for Ray to finally have his catch. Or, that could be the end of season one. Then, what else can the Field of Dreams heal? Schur’s show could conceivably go beyond the original story, too.
