Lifetime, Trump in talks on "Housewives"-style soap
By Paul J. Gough
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Women's cable channel Lifetime is in talks with "Apprentice" star Donald Trump to executive produce and narrate a scripted series that would be set in one of the property mogul's swanky apartment buildings.
"Think 'Desperate Housewives' in Trump Tower with 'The Donald' narrating, and you get the idea of what we're after," Lifetime entertainment president Susanne Daniels said Monday at a press presentation in Manhattan.
"Trump Tower," which is in development, is billed as a nighttime soap opera set in fictional penthouses at the real Trump Towers in Manhattan.
Lifetime is riding high after snagging a multiyear deal this month for rival channel Bravo's reality series "Project Runway," a move that sparked a lawsuit against the show's producers, the Weinstein Co., by Bravo parent NBC Universal.
Harvey Weinstein, appearing with "Runway" mentor Tim Gunn and Lifetime president Andrea Wong at Monday's event, declined comment on the lawsuit.
He did say that Lifetime would televise two new Weinstein Co. reality series: "Project Pygmalion," which will remake the winner and give her entree into high society, and a series looking at "Project Runway" from the models' eyes called "Models of the Runway." "Pygmalion" is in development for 2009; the latter is slated to appear in November, around the same time as the premiere of "Runway" on Lifetime.
Other reality series in the works include "The Big Match," in which 100 single men compete for a woman; "Cook Yourself Thin," giving one woman help from a group of chefs and food stylists every week; "Salsa and the City," a so-called docusoap about Los Angeles salsa dancers; and the makeover show "Total Knockout," hosted by former supermodel Roshumba Williams.
Beyond "Trump Tower," Lifetime announced a slew of new series and movies in development.
Three comedy pilots are in development, including "Libertyville," starring Christine Ebersole as a divorced fortysomething on the dating scene again, and "Rita Rocks," starring Nicole Sullivan managing marriage and motherhood and a newly formed garage band. The "Libertyville" and "Rita Rocks" pilots are set to be tested next week, with Daniels saying that one of the pair could move forward soon. A third, "Burnt Toast," is an adaptation of "Desperate Housewives" actress Teri Hatcher's book; Hatcher is one of the executive producers.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
