ABC FAMILY CONTINUES ITS ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING MOMENTUM WITH ALL NEW PILOT PRODUCTION
Pilots Greenlit Include "10 Things I Hate About You" To Be Executive Produced by Carter Covington, Directed by Gil Junger and "Ruby and The Rockits," Starring Alexa Vega as "Ruby," With Shaun, David and Patrick Cassidy
Burbank, CA (October 8, 2008) � ABC Family has greenlit two pilots, "Ruby and The Rockits" and "10 Things I Hate About You," it was announced today by Kate Juergens, executive vice president, original series programming & development, ABC Family. ABC Family is coming off a record-breaking summer with the freshman series "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," and new seasons of the network's original series "Greek" and "Lincoln Heights." "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Ruby and The Rockits" will both go into production this fall and will film in Los Angeles.
"We're excited about these pilots and feel they're perfect additions to our existing slate of programs," said Juergens. "These shows are headed by talented teams who clearly possess authentic voices which we believe will resonate with our millennial viewers."
"10 Things I Hate About You," a half-hour, single-cam series is directed by Gil Junger ("10 Things I Hate About You") and executive produced by Carter Covington ("Greek"), who also penned the pilot script. Based on the hit movie "10 Things I Hate About You," the Stratford sisters are two very different people and that is evident as they start at their new high school with very contradictory goals. Kat is a strong-willed, in-your-face feminist who is looking to save the world and get out of high school as fast as she can. Bianca is a social butterfly whose only concern is that she is popular, by any cost. As they both start the year out bumpy at Padua High, can each girl get what she wants in the end as they navigate the popular crowd, boys and their over-protective Dad? The series is produced by Prodco, Inc.
"Ruby and The Rockits," is an ABC Studios' half-hour multi-cam comedy series executive produced by Shaun Cassidy ("Invasion") and Marsh McCall ("Carpoolers"), and directed by Ted Wass ("Less Than Perfect"). The series follows Patrick Callahan, a former teen idol who has chosen to lead a quiet life with his wife and two sons. But when his former Rockits band mate and brother, David, shows up unexpectedly with his new-found teenage daughter in tow, the Callahan family's life becomes anything but normal. David, who refuses to give up his past glory days, comes to Patrick for help raising Ruby while he continues to tour. Patrick must now put the past with David behind them in order to help raise Ruby and keep order within the rest of the Callahan clan. "Ruby and The Rockits" was written by former teen idol Shaun Cassidy and Ed Yeager, with teleplay by Ed Yeager. Alexa Vega ("Spy Kids"), Austin Butler ("Zoey 101"), Patrick Cassidy ("Smallville") and former teen idol David Cassidy ("The Partridge Family") star.
New ABC Family original series previously announced are the comedy half-hour series "Roommates" and "Sophie," both scheduled to debut in early 2009.
The pilot pick-up comes on the heels of the network's record-breaking summer success with "The Secret Life of the American Teenager." During its July 1-September 9 freshman season run, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" ranked as the #1 scripted TV series in Viewers 12-34 (2.6 million) and Females 12-34 (2.1 million), and cable's #1 scripted series in Adults 18-34 (1.4 million) and Women 18-34 (953,000).
The 2007/08 season will wrap as ABC Family's most-watched season on record, registering double-digit percent year-to-year increases: +18% in Total Viewers (1.3 million vs. 1.1 million), +21% in Adults 18-34 (312,000 vs. 258,000), +19% in Women 18-34 (204,000 vs. 171,000), +14% in Adults18-49 (583,000 vs. 510,000), +13% in Women 18-49 (371,000 vs. 327,000), +18% in Viewers 12-34 (511,000 vs. 434,000) and +20% in Females 12-34 (347,000 vs. 289,000.)
Part of the Disney-ABC Television Group, ABC Family, distributed in over 95 million homes, features original movies, series and specials reflecting today's families and entertaining and connecting with adults through relevant stories about today's relationships, all told with diversity, dysfunction, passion, humor and heart. ABC Family's programming is a mix of quality acquired series and theatricals as well as original movies and scripted dramas. ABC Family is also the destination for Holiday events with "13 Nights of Halloween" and "25 Days of Christmas" branded programming events. ABC Family. A New Kind of Family.
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