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A three-hour Dirty Dancing remake is coming to ABC

A three-hour Dirty Dancing remake is coming to ABC

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Who's bringing the watermelon?

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The 1987 classic Dirty Dancing, ode to feminism, sex-positivity, dancing, and anti-classism, is being remade into a three-hour musical special by ABC. The special will star Abigail Breslin, best known for her Oscar-nominated performance in Little Miss Sunshine in 2007 and more recently for her role on Fox's Scream Queens.

Dirty Dancing screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein will executive produce, Scream Queens' Jessica Sharzer will write, and The Sapphires' Wayne Blair will direct. The musical numbers will be provided by Adam Anders and Peer Åström, who did much of the work adapting popular music for use on Glee.

Three hours of singing and dancing... dirty

In 1987, the original film touted criticism of the neoliberal politics that were en vogue and reveled fairly scandalously in sexual politics that wouldn't see mainstream attention for another decade, but are considered status quo now. How these messages will transfer to 2015 is anybody's guess, but illicit and dangerous backroom abortions still seem timely enough.

There are no reports yet on who will fill Patrick Swayze's shoes and improbably lustrous blouses in the other lead role.