Minor spoilers ahead for the first two episodes of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.
Movie musicals are a tried and true genre in the film world, and some projects have managed to pierce the pop culture landscape for decades. 1978’s Grease movie is definitely in that category, thanks to its iconic cast, beloved songs, and quotable dialogue. Case in point: John Travolta’s recent Super Bowl commercial. Audiences can once again return to Rydell High with the new series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, which is available for those with a Paramount+ subscription. And the show’s stellar new cast recently spoke to CinemaBlend about which legacy characters from the movie should join in on the fun for Season 2.
While Grease began as a Broadway musical, the movie adaptation is arguably more beloved. Paramount+ is pulling out all the nostalgic stops for The Rise of the Pink Ladies (opens in new tab), which is set four years after the events of the film. The premiere episode featured brief roles for both Frenchy and Rizzo, so what other OGs might pop up as the show continues? As you can see in the video above, I had the privilege of speaking with the cast ahead of the show’s premiere, where I asked who they’d like to see pop up in the future. Cynthia actor Ari Notartomaso offered their perspective on this possibility, sharing:
I mean, all of them. I can say this because I really don’t know anything about how the rest of our seasons would go. But I really look forward to, hopefully if we get to make more seasons, that eventually we’ll sort of see more of the ties between the characters. How we literally got to the Rydell that we know and love. We’re on our way. There are definitely a few; this season we see a few characters that we’ll know. But not all of them yet.
Well, I’m definitely hoping that Paramount+ orders a second season of Grease: The Rise of The Pink Ladies. The new musical series is jam-packed with easter eggs and references to the movie, and it sounds like we might still just be at the tip of the iceberg. Because as the timeline slowly catches up with Randal Kleiser’s iconic film, we could presumably see more of the T-Birds and Pink Ladies that we know and love. Fingers crossed, stud.
While the T-Birds exist in Rise of the Pink Ladies, they’re far from the coolest gang in school, like they were when John Travolta rocked the leather jacket in the 1978 flick. The show introduces us to a ton of new characters, who will presumably serve an example for folks like Zuko, Kenickie, and the rest. Actor Jason Schmidt played Buddy Aldrige in the streaming musical series, and is hoping to see some of the T-Birds we know and love. As he told me:
I would love to see the background T-Birds of the original movie. See where they came from, see the young version of them. Little squirts, little rugrats running around.
Points were made. And smart money says that finding these characters on the small screen will trigger those nostalgic feels for the generations of Grease fans out there. Frenchy actress Madison Elizabeth Lagares is doing a spot on impression of Didi Conn’s unique vocal cadence, while Rizzo actress Emma Shannon has some of the swagger of Stockard Channing’s signature character.
Since Rise of the Pink Ladies is set just a few years before the events of Grease, all of the characters we know and love are presumably running around. We hear a reference early on to St. Bernadettes, which is the school Cha Cha DiGregorio famously attends. Jane actress Marisa Davila spoke to me about this concept, saying:
They exist. They’re walking around somewhere in 1954, so maybe they’ll walk right into the Frosty Palace, who knows?
We’ll just have to wait and see which characters either appear or are references. Smart money says we won’t see Sandy, made famous by late actress Olivia Newton-John. After all, she lived in Australia prior to the events of the movie. But who knows?
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies airs new episodes Fridays on Paramount+. In the meantime, check out the TV premiere list to plan your next movie experience.