Lifetime has found success where ABC did not.
The female-skewing cable network has renewed Devious Maids for a second season, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives) drama -- originally developed for ABC -- will return with 13 additional episodes in 2014. The series, which premiered June 23, ranks as Lifetime's fastest-growing drama ever and has propelled the cabler to become the No. 1 network on Sundays at 10 p.m. among women. Worth noting: The show's audience is 18 percent Hispanic, which nearly doubles Lifetime's primetime average.
Devious Maids got off to a relatively soft start for Lifetime with its June 23 premiere, opening to just 2 million viewers (826,000 of them adults 18-49), but it has proven to be one of the steadiest-growing freshmen of the summer. Just two weeks ago it hit a series high of 2.9 million viewers (a 45 percent increase), rivaling targeted demo competition from Bravo's Real Housewives with 1.4 million adults 18-49. The series has made especially strong gains among females, recently seeing a 74 percent boost over the premiere to 1.1 million women 18-49.
"One of the most daring series on television, Devious Maids has quickly become a hit," Lifetime exec vp and GM Rob Sharenow said of the drama, from ABC Studios, Televisa USA and exec producers Eva Longoria and Sabrina Wind.
Devious Maids revolves around a group of maids (Ana Ortiz, Dania Ramirez, Roselyn Sanchez, Edy Ganem and Judy Reyes) who are bonded by their jobs, struggles and employers' "upstairs-downstairs" universe. Susan Lucci, Rebecca Wisocky, Tom Irwin, Mariana Klaveno, Grant Show, Matt Cedeno, Melinda Page Hamilton, Drew Van Acker, Brianna Brown and Brett Cullen co-star.
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The series was inspired by the telenovela Ellas son la Alegría del Hogar and landed at Lifetime with a series order in June 2012 after ABC developed and passed on the pilot.
"ABC Studios has had a great partnership with Lifetime and Televisa, and we're looking forward to another terrific season with Marc Cherry and his talented cast and crew," said Stephanie Leifer, senior vp current programming at ABC Studios.
E-mail: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
