‘Field of Dreams’ Boomer Nostalgia Is Never Going Away

“If you build it, they will come” has turned out to be true for Major League Baseball’s real-life Field of Dreams, as another baseball game will be played next season at the field constructed in Dyersville, Iowa, where the 1989 film is set.

According to the Des Moines Register, the Chicago Cubs will face off against the Cincinnati Reds on August 11, 2022. The Reds were the winners of the infamous 1919 World Series that resulted in eight members of the White Sox being banned from the MLB for throwing the series, which plays a major role in Field of Dreams.

It may come as a bit of a surprise to some that another Field of Dreams game is planned, as critics dismissed the concept as a nostalgia-fueled gimmick for Baby Boomers. But it paid off, as last week’s game between the Yankees and the White Sox was a major success for the MLB. A total of 5,903,000 people watched it live, making it the league’s most-watched regular-season baseball game in 16 years.

But that’s not the only bit of good news for Field of Dreams fans, as Peacock announced that it ordered a TV adaptation of the film. Adaptations like this don’t always work out (Bewitched and Wild Wild West are just a few of the many terrible examples) and it may be tempting to roll your eyes at this as more shameless pandering. But there’s at least one major reason for optimism.

Michael Schur, who was a writer and producer on The Office before creating Parks & Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Good Place, is set to be the show’s executive producer, so at the very least we know it’s in good hands. Plus, it certainly doesn’t hurt that the movie still totally holds up more than three decades after its initial release.

Still, “holds up,” is not the same as saying something demands endless new iterations or media tie-ins. Field of Dreams isn’t like the Batman or James Bond franchises, so building it out into. some kind of bigger deal feels odd. For example, even though everyone loves Back to the Future, it’s thankfully not produced a new TV series or some kind of re-release of the Delorean. (Imagine it: A new Delorean! This time from FORD!)

Field of Dreams is a movie. But now, whether we like it or not, it’s a phenomenon. As long as we’re cool with that’s fine. But the motto appears to be, if boomers and GenXers like something, they will keep coming back for more. Building new things isn’t even required.