A&E to Launch New Series, Campaign
By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 7/10/2003 6:22:00 AM
Hollywood, Calif. -- A&E Network will launch several new series and specials this summer in conjunction with a multimedia marketing campaign that coins the tag line, "The Art of Entertainment," network executives said Wednesday at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour here.
A&E Television Networks vice president of film, drama and performing arts Delia Fine did not provide specifics of the campaign, but she did say the network will refine its programming focus to reflect three distinct programming genres: the art of biography, the art of documentary and the art of drama.
As for new programming, the network will launch four new documentary series in late summer/early fall: The Letters, in which celebrities read passages from letters written by the famous and infamous; Meet the Royals, which chronicles the world's most prominent families; House of Dreams, a reality series in which 13 people team up to build a house but only one gets to live in it; and Take This Job, which shows how people transform regular jobs into a way of life.
The network will also produce eight new original movies based on Agatha Christie mysteries, as well as an adaptation of classic story The Mayor of Casterbridge. Other films in production include a profile of King Charles II in The Last King and a family of lions in Pride.
New specials include concert performances by legendary artists Sting and Paul McCartney, as well as a two-hour documentary special on the 50th anniversary of Playboy magazine.
A&E sister service The History Channel also announced several new shows, including an Aug. 24 premiere of Failure Is Not an Option, based on NASA mission-control fight director Gene Kranz's book on America's space program, and a Sept. 9 bow of Tactical to Practical, a series that explores innovations developed for combat that have been adopted in civilian life.
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