Field of Dreams TV Series: Mike Schur Reveals All-Star Cast of Ill-Fated Peacock Adaptation

If Peacock had built it, look who would have come!

A year and a half after the streaming outlet pulled the plug on his Field of Dreams adaptation, executive producer Mike Schur has revealed the ill-fated limited series’ all-star lineup — an A-list roster that would’ve brought together veterans of Schur comedies Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place and Parks and Recreation, all under one clubhouse.

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“Andre Braugher was going to play James Earl Jones’ role,” the EP reveals on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast. “Kristen Bell was going to be in it. Nick Offerman was going to be in it. [William Jackson] Harper, who played Chidi in The Good Place, was going to be in it [too].”

While he doesn’t divulge any details about Bell or Offerman’s roles, Schur does disclose that Harper would’ve served as a stand-in for legendary Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson, the first Black baseball player to play in the American major leagues.

“There’s a true story, that in 1945, under extreme pressure from the Boston city council… forced [Red Sox owner] Tom Yawkey’s hand into giving tryouts to Negro league players,” Schur explains. “His hand was forced, and he decided to give a tryout to three players — one of whom was Jackie Robinson. He came and he had a tryout on the field at Fenway, and the whole thing was for show.

“I told that story through the fictional lens of a player named Moonlight Williams, who was given this tryout and then basically told, ‘You’ll never be on this team. You’ll never make the majors.’ That was the fulcrum to the whole series, because it culminates in a big scene between Moonlight, which was going to be Will Harper’s character, and Tom Yawkey.” But alas, the series never came to be.

Ordered straight to series in August 2021, Schur’s take on Field of Dreams aimed to “reimagine the mixture of family, baseball, Iowa and magic that makes the movie so enduring and beloved,” per the official description — but 10 months later, Peacock backtracked. Other EPs included David Miner, who worked with Schur on B99 and Master of None, and Lawrence Gordon, who served as a producer on the original 1989 film.

The movie Field of Dreams, which was adapted from W.P. Kinsella’s novel Shoeless Joe, starred Yellowstone‘s Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella, a farmer who builds a baseball field on his land after hearing a mysterious voice that urges him to do so.

“Through the years, Field of Dreams has remained a fan favorite, maintaining its rightful position in the zeitgeist,” NBCUniversal Television and Streaming chief Lisa Katz said at the time that Peacock greenlit Schur’s series. “It’s whimsical and grounded, a space where Mike Schur excels, and we’re looking forward to bringing a new version of this classic to Peacock.” Sigh.

Watch excerpts from Schur’s Pablo Torre Find Out interview below, then hit the comments with your reactions.

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