NBC is developing a police procedural inspired by The Great Gatsby, recasting F. Scott Fitzgerald’s elusive millionaire as a detective and giving narrator Nick Carraway a new identity as a female police officer.
According to Deadline, which reported the news Friday, Gatsby comes from writers and executive producers Jake Coburn and Jason Tracey, with Universal Television producing.
The proposed series follows Detective Jay Gatsby, a charming investigator whose ability to read people draws on a con artist’s instincts. His partner, New York State Police Detective Nicole “Nicky” Carraway, is an accomplished officer who also wants to become a writer.
Yes, Gatsby has a badge now.
That is a considerable departure from a novel in which money helps determine who gets to walk away from the damage they cause. Fitzgerald’s Gatsby builds an extravagant identity around his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, but wealth never fully buys him entry into her protected world.
Turning that character into someone investigating other people raises an immediate question: how much of Fitzgerald’s examination of class survives the transformation?
There is room for a contemporary adaptation to explore who gets believed, whose past attracts scrutiny and who has the resources to escape consequences. Those questions would give this premise something to work with beyond familiar names. Whether the series pursues them remains to be seen.
Making Carraway a woman also creates possibilities, but the more consequential change may be moving the character from observer to law enforcement. That shifts her relationship to power—and potentially the audience’s relationship to the story.
Coburn’s credits include The Endgame and The Hunting Party. Tracey created CSI: Vegas and worked on Elementary, bringing substantial procedural experience to the project.
Gatsby remains in development. For now, the premise offers plenty to discuss. The challenge will be giving Fitzgerald’s characters a reason to inhabit a police drama beyond the recognition their names bring.
