It took home one of the 10 Emmys for which it was nominated, but The Starter Wife — the hit USA Network miniseries of earlier this year — will have some more chances to take home the gold when it becomes a series. USA announced today that it has given a series order to Starter, which was originally based on a novel by Gigi Levangie Grazer, who returns as executive producer along with writers Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott. Of course a key ingredient to its success is Debra Messing, and she is indeed coming back to reprise her role as Molly Kagan, who begins a new chapter in her life following a nasty Hollywood divorce. Messing is also serving as an executive producer. It probably was a no-brainer that USA would continue to ride this property, since — as Jeff Watchel, executive vice president of original programming, puts it, without really understating things — the series was “a major cultural event, and an out-of-the-park home run for us.” So why not swing for the fences again? No premiere date for the series has been announced.
* The upcoming film American Gangster has the star power of Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, but BET’s series American Gangster can boast a unique name of its own. The October 31 episode of the series features an interview with the real Frank Lucas — the subject of the Washington/Crowe movie. Lucas, now 75, takes viewers on a journey of his childhood and the events that led to his life of crime, a life that had him earning up to $1 million a day selling heroin. “I wanted to be rich,” Lucas says, “and so help me God, I made it.” This episode of American Gangster is a particularly notable one because of the related feature film, but the other episodes are also outstanding in their brutally honest depictions of notorious black crime figures from throughout history. The series plays on our fascination with bad guys, but it certainly does not glamorize these men, or imply that it is at all fun to aspire to be one of them. American Gangster airs Wednesdays at 10pm ET/PT.
* Ashlee Holland has been announced as the winner of SOAPnet’s reality series I Wanna Be a Soap Star. Her prize? A 13-week contract role on Days of Our Lives (although, if she happens to get killed off, you know an identical twin of hers could show up for another 13!). Ashlee’s first appearance on the NBC soap is scheduled to air December 26.
* Animal Planet released some of the findings from its survey tied in to a November 25 special called Wild 100: Top 10, which will be hosted by Howie Mandel and counts down America’s favorite, and least favorite, animals. The recent release didn’t give the final details, but did list a few intriguing findings:
- Snakes are the creatures that Americans love to hate (geez, you get mankind kicked out of eternal paradise and you can just never live it down)
- Dolphins are the animals that adults think would be the most fun to hang out with (dinner plans could get a little stale, though, since they’d only want to hit all the seafood places)
- When it comes to celebrity lookalikes, Ellen DeGeneres reminds voters of a meerkat, while Conan O’Brien reminds them of a baboon! (no word on what they think host Mandel looks like? Perhaps the other side of a baboon?)
- A majority think that owls are the biggest “geeks” (I don’t know; seems like they have a very active nightlife to me)
- The killer whale is the most misunderstood creature (I think even puppies would have the same problem if they were constantly labeled as “killer” puppies)