Tracy Oliver’s “The First Wives Club” series is going to air on BET rather than Paramount Network as originally planned.
The series adaptation of the film and book of the same name was ordered to series at Paramount Network back in April. It will follow a group of New York women who band together after their marriages fall apart, and who find strength in their sisterhood and a little revenge. Paramount Network had ordered 10 half-hour episodes. It will star Ryan Michelle Bathe, Michelle Buteau, and Jill Scott in the lead roles.
“We are thrilled that Tracy Oliver and Paramount Television’s ‘First Wives Club’ will be coming to BET Networks,” said Scott Mills, president of BET Networks. “We have been big fans of Tracy, the project and its incredible cast all along. The concept she has for the series fits perfectly with our programming strategy of character-driven content anchored in the Black experience, and it aligns seamlessly with our core audience. We are currently working closely with Paramount Television on ‘Boomerang’ and are excited to continue working with them on this project.”
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Oliver, who co-wrote the screenplay for the hit comedy film “Girls Trip,” will write and executive produce. Karen Rosenfelt will also executive produce along with Scott Rudin. Tony Hernandez of JAX Media will also serve as executive producer. Brad Gardner will serve as the executive in charge of production and will oversee the project for the network. Paramount Television will produce.
This marks the latest instance of Viacom shuffling programming around its various cable brands. “The First Wives Club” series has originally been in development at fellow Viacom network TV Land before being redeveloped at Paramount Network with Oliver. When Paramount Network launched, it also acquired TV Land shows “American Woman” and “Nobodies,” both of which have since been cancelled. Paramount Network will also air the dramas “Younger” and the new Darren Starr series “Emily in Paris” starting in 2019, while the network has already renewed the drama series “Yellowstone.”
BET is also currently working on a series adaptation of “Boomerang” as well as “American Soul,” based on the life of “Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius, among several other scripted offerings.