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Drama Series Thriving on Cable After Being Passed Over by Broadcast Net

Aug 13, 2013  •  Post A Comment

A drama series that was originally developed for a broadcast network — but never made it onto the schedule — has just been picked up for a second season by the cable network where the show eventually landed.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed reports that Lifetime renewed the show, Marc Cherry’s "Devious Maids," for season two. The series, which was developed for ABC but was turned down by that network, will be back on Lifetime in 2014 with a new 13-episode season.

"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 prime-time average," THR reports.

The show was inspired by the telenovela "Ellas son la Alegría del Hogar," the piece notes. It received a series order from Lifetime in June of last year after ABC developed and then turned down the pilot.

"’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," the report notes. "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."

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