TV Guide Network is adding to its development coffers.
The cable network announced Tuesday that it had put seven original projects into development. The slate features a collection of unscripted efforts, focused on entertainment subjects ranging from a New Kids on the Block cruise to a celebrity game show. If ultimately ordered to series, the new entries will join a schedule that currently airs Big Brother After Dark as well as repeats of such series as Designing Women, The Young and the Restless and Cheers.
“We have commissioned a slate of original projects that capture compelling and exciting stories of Hollywood, fandom and obsession,” Brad Schwartz, TVGN’s president of entertainment and media, said in a statement. =“TVGN is committed to doing what CBS and Lionsgate do best – create hit shows that audiences love.”
The news comes more than half a year after CBS announced it would be acquired a 50 percent stake in the cable news network from One Equity Partners. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though sources told THR at the time that CBS would pay about $100 million, a relative bargain compared with the $123 million that One Equity had paid Lionsgate to acquire its half interest years earlier. “This is a strategic way for CBS to use its content brands and gain access to a highly distributed basic cable network that has a lot of upside,” CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves said in March.
Here's a look at the new series in development:
*Rock the Boat: New Kids of the Block. The series will chronicle a group of obsessed fans’ week-long vacation aboard a cruise ship with New Kids on the Block. The show will be produced by Jarrett Creative Group in association with executive producer and NKOTB band member Donnie Wahlberg.
*TMI. The series will deliver the entertainment industry’s top through the lens of celebrity tweets and posts. TMI will be produced by Rogue Atlas Productions in association with Lionsgate Television with The Amazing Race’s Eli Frankel on board as an executive producer.
*Watch! Magazine TV Project. The effort is being billed as part travel show, part celebrity biography and part high fashion. It will go behind the scenes of CBS’s Watch! Magazine as it takes TV stars to exotic destinations for shoots. It will be produced by TV Guide Productions.
*Celebrity Celebrity. Based on the popular parlor game, the show will feature two teams of celebrity contestants as they compete to guess famous names based on their teammates' clues, and rack up money for their favorite charities. The entry will be produced by Avalon Television (Workaholics) with Scandal’s Joshua Malina, Hrishikesh Hirway (Our Nixon), David Martin, Dan Lubetkin, Jon Thoday and Richard Allen-Turner attached as executive producers.
*Have You Scene My Room.A home makeover series hosted by Joe Maddalena and Extreme Makeover Home Edition’s Tanya McQueen. In this iteration, the makeovers will be designed to transform a superfan’s room into a real-life Hollywood tribute to his or her favorite movie or TV show. Trium Entertainment (Something Borrowed, Something New) is set to produce.
*Tour Wars. The series will take a look at the competitive world of Hollywood Boulevard’s tour vendors, who will go to extremes to cash in on excitable tourists. The project will be produced by Rogue Atlas Productions and Four Henrys Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. Frankel, Aisha Corpas Wynn and Blaine Vess will serve as executive producers.
*The Story Behind.The tentatively titled effort will offer a look inside some of the most successful shows in TV history, including Friends and ER. The series will reveal stories from the set and will feature exclusive interviews with cast, producers and executives such as Steven Spielberg, Warren Littlefield, John Wells and Neal Baer. The Story Behind will be produced by TV Guide Productions.
