Melissa Joan Hart Says Clarissa Explains It All Revival "Squashed" at Nickelodeon

By Cameron Bonomolo

A Clarissa Explains It All reboot "fizzled out" at Nickelodeon — and star Melissa Joan Hart explains it all. In 2018, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news Hart and series creator Mitchell Kriegman were in talks to revive Clarissa Explains It All at Nickelodeon, this time with Clarissa Darling as a mother. Revealing an update during an appearance at '90s Con on Saturday, Hart confirmed the sequel series was "squashed" at the network where the fourth-wall-breaking Clarissa explained it all across 65 episodes and five seasons between 1991 and 1994. 

"We tried that, actually. Nickelodeon got a new president and they kind of squashed the whole thing," Hart said when asked about the Clarissa Explains It All reboot at '90s Con (via People). "So it was actually in the works and yeah, it just sort of disappeared. It took like a year to do the contracts, which was the hardest part, and then it just kind of fizzled out."

She added: "I don't think [it will happen]."

Before THR reported a revival was in the works at Nickelodeon, Hart explained why Clarissa Explains It All left itself open to a 25-years-later reboot: 

"I like the way we left Sabrina [The Teenage Witch]. I think Sabrina ended on a really great note, and I don't think you want to go back and explore that," Hart told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. "At the same time, I think Clarissa ended on a note that could be explored again, because it didn't really have an ending — it sort of ended." 

In 2020, Hart updated the series when she told Access a Clarissa revival "has been in discussion" at Nickelodeon. 

"We have not yet been able to kind of figure out what that is, what that show would be," Hart, who was attached as star and producer, said at the time. "We have some ideas, but it's still — I mean, never say never, but I think that ship might have sailed."

Paramount-owned Nickelodeon in recent years has revived Blue's Clues, Rugrats, The Fairly OddParents, and beloved '90s sketch comedy series All That. Last year, Paramount+ revived a more mature iCarly, aimed at the demographic that grew up with the 2007 sitcom originally aired on Nickelodeon. 

Clarissa Explains It All starred Hart as Clarissa Darling, a smart and sarcastic 14-year-old who explained it all by speaking directly to the audience. Jason Zimbler, Elizabeth Hess, Joe O'Connor, and Sean O'Neal also starred.

Produced for Nickelodeon, Clarissa does explain it all in this series. Why do people do the things they do? Along with unfolding stories, sarcastic and funny teenage host Clarissa Darling sits on her bed and gives it to the audience straight. Along with her friends, Clarissa tackles coming-of-age issues with wit and irreverence.

All five seasons of Clarissa Explains It All are now streaming on Paramount+. Sign up for Paramount+ here. 

Trending Now: