SoapNet Bolsters Original Lineup With Reality Pair
Adds Bank Of Mom And Dad, Holidate; Orders Second Season Of Being Erica
Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 6/30/2009 3:40:27 PM
SoapNet Bolsters Original Lineup With Reality PairAdds Bank Of Mom And Dad, Holidate; Orders Second Season Of Being Erica
SoapNet continues to broaden its commitment to original programming, ordering a new reality series, pushing special Holidate into series form and picking up scripted drama Being Erica for a second campaign.
Brian Frons, president, Daytime, Disney ABC Television Group said Bank of Mom and Dad, adapted from a BBC format, is an original reality series where women in their 20s and 30s have to face their mom and dad moving in for one week and
also receive advice from financial Farnoosh Torabi during a fiscal intervention, as the parents must approve every dollar their progeny spend. Torabi, best known for her work on CNBC, MSNBC and Real Simple, will help plan a road map for change and the tools to make it happen. Produced by BBC Worldwide Productions, Bank of Mom and Dad has been picked up for 10 episodes and is scheduled to premiere Sept. 30 at 10 p.m.
Previously announced as a one-hour special, Holidate has been greenlit for 10-episode series and will premiere Wednesday July 29 at 10 p.m. The reality series, from ABC Media Productions, takes two women, per episode, who are looking for love but having no luck with the suitors in their individual cities and transports them into each other's lives. Women from cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, Dallas and Chicago will be featured.
For its part, Being Erica, which brought over a half-a-million new viewers to SoapNet in its first season has been picked up for 12 additional episodes, with the first new installment scheduled for early 2010. In the first season, the series followed the life of single 32-year-old Erica Strange (Erin Karpluk) who with the help of mysterious therapist Dr. Tom (Michael Riley), was able to relive a past regret each week, in order to come back and make a positive change in her present. If season one introduced Erica to time travel, season two has her questioning and exploring its dynamics. We also learn more about the mysterious Dr. Tom and his colleague Dr. Naadiah (Joanne Vannicola).
The three series join SoapNet's most recent reality series entry Southern Belles: Louisville which premiered May 21. The series, produced by Endemol USA in association with ABC Media Productions, premiered as the network's top reality series to date among total viewers, women 18 to 34 and women 18 to 49 and was the second-most-watched premiere in the net's history, behind only the debut of its General Hospital spinoff, General Hospital: Night Shift.
SoapNet has been adding original pieces to its lineup that consists of day-and-date soap operas, as well as acquired primetime serials such as Melrose Place, the original Beverly Hills 90210, The O.C. and One Tree Hill.
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