NBC ‘Wizard of Oz’ Event Series ‘Emerald City’ Casts ‘True Detective’ Star as Dorothy

NBC’s stab at Wizard of Oz nostalgia first hit a snag, as the network unexpectedly dropped a house on its proposed Emerald City plans, only to click its heels and resurrect the event series. Now, NBC has even chosen a Dorothy for its gritty reboot, tasking True Detective Season 2 star Adria Arjona to head over the rainbow.

For those unfamiliar, NBC initially announced its Emerald City take on L. Frank Baum’s work to coincide with the classic film’s 75th anniversary, even displaying some early promotional art at Comic-Con 2014, before surprisingly pulling the plug only weeks later. Following the initial “creative differences” with showrunner Josh Friedkin, Emerald City returned with a 10-episode order under The Event producer David Schulner.

So reads the full Emerald City synopsis:

In the blink of a tornado’s eye, 20-year-old Dorothy Gale and her K9 police dog are transported to another world, one far removed from our own — a mystical land of competing kingdoms, lethal warriors, dark magic and a bloody battle for supremacy. This is the fabled Land of Oz in a way you’ve never seen before, where wicked witches don’t stay dead for long and a young girl becomes a headstrong warrior who holds the fate of kingdoms in her hands.

As well as its character description of Arjona’s Dorothy (Via Deadline):

A natural, and not waify, beauty scarred by past experiences, Dorothy has patched a life together for herself despite the fact that she sells herself short. Outward insecurity and lack of self-awareness hide the savior survivor that she will discover she truly is.

We’ll all be awash in The Wizard of Oz nostalgia over the next year, including a live musical production of The Wiz, but does Adria Arjona fill the ruby slippers? Does Emerald City sound worthwhile, to have been brought back from the NBC graveyard?