'Army Wives,' Lifetime
by K.C. Neel -- Multichannel News, 11/16/2008 7:00:00 PM
When Lifetime debuted Army Wives in 2006, the company knew it would be popular. But no one expected it to be the boffo success it has become.
Indeed, the show's second season premiere was the most-watched and highest rated original drama in Lifetime's 25-year history and is the No. 1 basic-cable drama among women 18 to 49 years old. The series averages 3.8 million viewers a week.
The one-hour ensemble drama is about the struggles, dreams and friendships of a diverse group of women — and one man — who live with their spouses and families on an active U.S. Army post. The characters' bond is based on one common theme: they all love a soldier who could die at any moment. But they are all isolated by secrets that buck the armed forces system.
The series is based on the book Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives by Tanya Biank and is the epitome of the criteria Women In Cable Telecommunications uses to bestow its Tribute Accolade each year, said WICT CEO Benita Fitzgerald Mosley.
“This is a high-quality show that is critically acclaimed,” Fitzgerald Mosley said. “It's not only good drama, it showcases all the women in ways that are positive and realistic. That doesn't mean that everyone is nice and tidy. But it does celebrate women and the trials, tribulations and triumphs they experience.”
Army Wives just finished its second season and Lifetime has already bought another slate of 18 new shows set to debut next July. In addition to being one of the most popular shows on Lifetime, Army Wives has spawned a new area of community activism for the network.
Lifetime created the “Army Wives Gives Back” program, making dreams come true for real army wives.
This year, Lifetime surprised real women with a home makeover, a dream honeymoon, Vespas, a new car and a chance to meet the show's stars. Actress Kim Delaney gave a car to one army wife who was suffering from breast cancer. Actress Sally Pressman presented a group of army wives with Vespas and cellphones.
Initially, the military was a little wary of the show, said Lifetime president Andrea Wong said. But this year, the military embraced it, and Lifetime premiered the second season at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
The network has also created online communities so military wives around the country can connect with each other. Posts deal with issues ranging from spouses and family members who are on or who have left for tours of duty in other parts of the world to issues that crop up when they come home.
“This show is about army wives, but it's really about women,” Wong said. “Many of the issues the show deals with revolve around the issues wives of army personnel experience.
“But they also address issues that all women around the country deal with, too. We have tried very hard to make sure we deal with real life issues in ways that real life people would deal with them.
“These five women in the series have very different backgrounds and seniority on the base, but they all support each other,” she said. “It's very powerful.”
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