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It's been 17 years, and Garry Marshall's Princess Diariesmovie starring Anne Hathaway still slaps.

Hot off its Netflix debut, the story of awkward all-American teen Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway) finding out that she's European royalty is non-stop entertainment, from the high school shenanigans to the sweet love story to messages about friendship, family, and responsibility.

And that's why, with the majority of Meg Cabot's original book series untapped, The Princess Diariesshould be revived – as a TV series.

SEE ALSO: Hell yeah, 'Crazy Rich Asians' is rocking 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

The movie versions departed significantly from Cabot's text (which debuted in 2000), but any fan of both will tell you that the film's success is no accident. As much as it was an alchemical combination of casting, filmmaking, and originality, it was very much a product of Cabot's legwork in creating this world and these characters.

Cabot wrote no less than 11 novels ("diaries") from Mia's perspective, though only the first 10 focus on teen Mia and would make sense for a series (Volume XIcatches up with a Mia in her mid-20s, so there's a built-in plan for a revival movie). The biggest change the movies made was to kill off her father, Prince Phillipe, who in the books is alive and well but no longer able to have children.

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And not to be nitpicky, but also, let's: A lot of the changes in Marshall's film were unnecessary, and resetting for a TV show would let us change them. We can start by moving Mia back to New York; picturesque though San Francisco is, Cabot's characters are decidedly East Coast, and it's a much shorter flight to Genovia for her and for Dowager Princess Clarisse.

Speaking of Clarisse, Julie Andrews is a legend, so we cannotembody Mia's grandmother in the same way. Anyway, Grandmére in the books is more Lucille Bluth than Mary Poppins, downing sidecars at the Plaza while her pet poodle sheds from stress. We deserve that version, which coincidentally speaks a lot more to 2018 in general than dear sweet Dame Andrews.

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With 10 novels (and a few novellas) to choose from, plotting Mia's adolescent journey in televised form makes a world of sense. We can meet friends beyond Lilly, like Tina Hakim Baba, the daughter of a rich oil tycoon and Mia's buddy in bring-your-bodyguard-to-school days; or Shameeka, or Ling Su, or any other non-white friends who got cut for the movie version!

There's also a wealth of ridiculous subplots that belongin television comedy, including Mia's secret admirer, a visit from her Midwestern family, the relationship between her mother and algebra teacher, and the epic slow burn of the Guy Who Hates It When They Put Corn In Chili.

The original cast are all too old to reprise their roles, but like Ghostbustersthere's plenty of room for guest roles and cameos. Chris Pine has grown into quite the silver fox, making for an apt playboy Prince Phillipe or even the algebra teacher who steals Mia's mother's heart. Anne Hathaway clearly relished a little rule-breaking and pettiness in Ocean's 8, so why not enlist her as a feuding royal in a special episode from the novellas?

We also happen to be in a golden age not only of television, but of Hollywood studios throwing every YA property at a wall and seeing what sticks. We cannot possibly justify a world in which 13 Reasons Whyis going on three seasons and a return to Genovia isn't even being entertained. If YA is in demand, Cabot's stories are a known commodity, on- and off-screen, not to mention a fun exercise in updating a distinctly early-2000s story for Generation Z.

So, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, WHOEVER: I'm done playing coy. Cards on the table, The Princess Diariescan and should be made into a TV series. Let's give Princess Mia the royal treatment she deserves and bask in the peak of streaming, television, and wonderful YA stories.


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