Netflix’s Long-Delayed ‘The Pink Marine’ Series Adaptation ‘Boots’, Produced By Norman Lear, Gets Premiere Date

Netflix has slated one of the last series impacted by the 2023 Hollywood strikes that had been in limbo, Boots (formerly known as The Corps), the last show from legendary producer Norman Lear, who died in December 2023 at the age of 101. The comedic coming-of-age drama starring Miles Heizer will premiere October 9. You can see first-look images above and below.

Greenlighted in May 2023, Boots, inspired by Greg Cope White’s memoir The Pink Marine, started production that summer but had to shut down one week into filming due to the strikes. Production picked up in March 2024.

It is unclear why it took more than a year for Boots to get on the air, but a lot has changed in America with respect to government administration’s views on the series’ subject matter; production on the series wrapped in August 2024, three months before the Presidential election.

Boots follows directionless, closeted Cameron Cope (Heizer) and his straight best friend Ray McAffey (Liam Oh) as they join a diverse group of recruits. Set in the tough, unpredictable world of the U.S. Marine Corps in 1990, when being gay in the military was illegal, the ensemble navigates the literal and metaphorical landmines of boot camp, forging unlikely bonds and discovering their true selves in an environment designed to push them to their limits.

The series also stars Max Parker, Vera Farmiga, Cedrick Cooper, Ana Ayora, Angus O’Brien, Dominic Goodman, Kieron Moore, Nicholas Logan, Rico Paris and Blake Burt.

Jennifer Cecil serves as showrunner/executive producer. Andy Parker is creator/co-showrunner/executive producer. Also executive producing are Lear and Brent Miller through Act III Productions, Rachel Davidson, and Scott Hornbacher & Peter Hoar (episode 101). Sony Pictures Television, where Lear was based, is the studio.