Latest from Next TV in Scripted-drama

Paramount Network Sets ‘Yellowstone’ Scripted Series

thomas.umstead@futurenet.com (R. Thomas Umstead) — Wed, 03 May 2017 18:10:00 +0000

Paramount Network, the rebranded name for Spike TV beginning in January 2018, has greenlit its first scripted series, Yellowstone, network officials said Wednesday.

The series, which follows a family-owned ranch business that is under constant attack from entities surrounding it, will debut its 10-episode freshman season in summer 2018 on Paramount Network, said network officials.

The series is produced by the Weinstein Company and executively produced by John and Art Linson (Sons of Anarchy, Fight Club, Heat). The series is written by screenwriter Taylor Sheridan.

“Yellowstone exemplifies what a Paramount Network original dramatic series will be with premium storytelling, high production values, compelling characters, and the best talent behind the camera and in front of it,” said Keith Cox, President, Development and Production for Paramount Network in a statement.

Stepping UP Into Scripted Series

thomas.umstead@futurenet.com (R. Thomas Umstead) — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 12:00:00 +0000

UP will step into the very crowded and competitive scripted-series arena with the August launch of its new drama series Ties That Bind.

Known more for family-friendly, inspirational original movies and reality shows, Ties That Bind, which starts Aug. 12, stars Kelli Williams (The Practice) as a woman who looks to balance her life as a hard-nosed detective and a single mom.

The show will be a key part of UP’s presentation during this week’s annual Television Critics Association summer tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. UP will be one of about 20 cable networks to introduce new original scripted series, reality shows, miniseries and documentaries as part of the three-day cable portion of the tour, presented by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing and beginning July 28.

UP’s first scripted series is a natural extension of its original movies strategy, senior vice president of original programming Barbara Fisher said.

“We recognize that it’s series that are defining networks these days,” she said. “While movies are the backbone of your network, it’s really series that bring attention to the network.”

Fisher said the drama series deals with some gritty issues, such as domestic abuse, divorce and crime — always within the network’s theme of uplifiting, family-friendly programming. The episodes always end with the family settling down to share a meal, she said, stressing the family values that typify the network’s brand.

Networks such as Hallmark Channel have shown that family-friendly series can draw an audience, Fisher said, adding that she hopes the dramatic themes in Ties That Bind will draw viewers looking for safe and entertaining programming.

“A lot of the shows that get a lot of the buzz that feature anti-heroes and dark themes don’t necessarily have as wide a viewing audience as you might think,” she said. “I think there’s a huge opportunity for networks such as ours to offer something that’s uplifting — we can be family-friendly and still be relevant.”

Fisher says that the network will look to roll out at least one more scripted series in 2016 and is looking at several candidates.

ID Ventures Into Original Dramas

Leslie Jaye Goff — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 15:30:00 +0000

Investigation Discovery will produce its first scripted drama this year, a three-part mini-series about a noted American serial killer told from multiple, intertwined points of view, the network said at Discovery Communications's upfront in New York Tuesday morning (March 31).

Serial Thriller is a "ripped-from-the-headlines" drama, ID said, based on an actual serial murderer, but the killer's identity is being withheld so it can unfold as part of the series's narrative. It will make its world premiere on the network this summer and will be released theatrically in international markets.

With a network slate completely driven by fact-based programming, Discovery group president Henry Schleiff wasted no time in calling Serial Thriller "a tent-pole series for ID."

Schleiff said the mini-series's "scripted serial format ... enhances our already suspenseful programming,” adding, “For the first time ever, ID provides viewers with the experience of watching an engaging and chilling scripted drama as seen through our authentic, true-crime filter – one that keeps our fans coming back over and over again.”

In one sense the mini-series represents a move from dramatization into full-blown drama. As ID's programming roster has grown from repackaged magazine-format. true-crime themed shows like Dateline and 20/20 -- still staples -- to include an impressive slate of originals, many of its docu-series have taken a turn toward using more and more reenactments with varying degrees of creative license. Examples include Web of Lies, Who the Bleep Did I Marry? and Surviving Evil.

Even its more hard-hitting series like Vanity Fair Confidential, which features true-crime stories from the Conde Nast magazine and which ID renewed earlier this week just as it's about to wrap up its first season, and the vintage-themed Crime to Remember, which recounts notorious crimes of the past with an emphasis on setting the record straight in the context of time, use a certain amount of dramatic license and cinematic style.

Serial Thriller is produced for ID by October Films with Matt Robins, Steve Murphy and Lindsay Shapero as executive producers; Jamie Crawford is writer/director. Eugenie Vink is executive producer for ID.