Tyler Perry's Madea Origin TV Series ‘Mabel’ In Works At Showtime

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Mabel "Madea" Earlene Simmons a character created and played by Tyler Perry is getting her own origin story on Showtime. 

The series idea for a Madea origin story was created by Tyler Perry and Tim Palen. The series, titled Mabel is being developed by Showtime. Mabel has received a multiple-script order and will be written by JaNeika James and JaSheika James. The pair have been staff writers and supervising producers on Empire.

Mabel will follow Madea as a 20-something black woman 1972’s Atlanta, Georgia. The series title Mabel comes for Madea's real name Mabel Simmons.  

Admittedly, I am a bit weary of how this series could turn out. However, there is a bigger part of me that wants to see how Madea's life is handled. We know quite a bit about Madea. According to the internet Madea was born in Greensburg, Louisiana on June 26, 1935. Madea is known for her many outrageous claims throughout her various stage, film, and television appearances. One such claim being that she has charges of insurance fraud related to her nine deceased husbands. The writing team can either play it straight with the events actually happening or they can show that Madea was just exaggerating the facts or lying all together. 

Then of course, there is also the question of who will play Mabel Simmons. I look forward to this story with interest. 

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