Issa Rae and Laura Dern have signed on to star in The Dolls, a limited series for HBO that will center on the country-wide craze of Cabbage Patch Dolls at Christmas time 1983 which lead to riots across the country.
The Hollywood Reporter is stating that the show will focus specifically on –
[T]he aftermath of the Christmas Eve riots within two small Arkansas towns in 1983… The limited series, which will be written by [HBO series] Insecure trio Rae, Laura Kittrell and Amy Aniobi, will explore class, race, privilege and what it takes to be a “good mother.”
Dern and Rae will also produce.
The riots that broke out in Arkansas were not an isolated incident during the holiday season in 1983. Touted as the hot toy of the season, manufacturer Coleco could not manufacture enough of the soft sculpture dolls. As demand far out-stripped supply, fights and riots erupted in stores across the country. Many of these fights – including one right here in FilmBuffOnline’s home city of Wilkes-Barre, PA where the manager of a Zayres Department store got onto a counter and brandished a baseball bat as seen in the vintage news clip below – made the national news.
