Lifetime Renews 'Army Wives' and 'Drop Dead Diva'

Lifetime Television has renewed its hit scripted series Army Wives and Drop Dead Diva for their fifth and third seasons, respectively, to premiere in 2011, during which 13 all-new episodes of each program will air on the network. The announcement was made today by Nancy Dubuc, President and General Manager of Lifetime Networks and HISTORY.

Regarding the announcement, Dubuc said, "Army Wives and Drop Dead Diva have lead Lifetime's charge in scripted programming and are key components to our success. We are so happy with these two special programs and are excited to pick them up for new seasons, which allows us to launch our next generation of scripted series."

Army Wives follows the struggles, dreams and friendships of a diverse group of women - and one man - living with their spouses and families on an active army post. The series stars Kim Delaney, Sally Pressman, Brigid Brannagh, Brian McNamara, Sterling K. Brown, Wendy Davis, Drew Fuller, Terry Serpico, Katelyn Pippy and Catherine Bell.

The most successful series in Lifetime's 26-year history, Army Wives' fourth season averaged 3.2 million total viewers this year. Its season four finale on August 22 was the program's most watched episode of the year across all demographics, including Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, Women 18-49, Women 25-54, Women 18+ and Adults 18-49.

Army Wives is produced by ABC Studios for Lifetime Television. Mark Gordon and The Mark Gordon Company's President of Production, Deborah Spera, serve as executive producers. Jeff Melvoin, Marshall Persinger and Harry Bring also served as executive producers of season four. The series is based on the book Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage by Tanya Biank, who serves as a consultant.

ABC Studios develops and produces compelling programming for broadcast on ABC, as well as across television and digital platforms. The successful partnership between ABC Studios and ABC Entertainment has delivered some of the most successful, talked-about and evolutionary series on television today, including Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and Brothers & Sisters.

Drop Dead Diva tells the story of a shallow, aspiring model who dies in a sudden accident, only to find her soul resurfacing in the body of a brilliant, thoughtful and plus-size attorney (Elliott). Drop Dead Diva also stars Margaret Cho, Jackson Hurst, Kate Levering, April Bowlby, Josh Stamberg and Ben Feldman. Guest stars throughout the second season of Drop Dead Diva included Paula Abdul, Cybill Shepherd, Rosie O'Donnell, Jake Pavelka, Chad Lowe, Vivica A. Fox, ShaRon Lawrence, Ricki Lake, Nancy Grace, Leelee Sobieski and Natasha Henstridge, among others. The second season of the series was seen by over 49.9 million Total Viewers.

Josh Berman is creator and executive producer of Drop Dead Diva, which is produced by Sony Pictures Television for Lifetime. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron of Storyline Entertainment and Alex Taub are executive producers.

Sony Pictures Television is one of the television industry's leading content providers. It produces and distributes programming in every genre, including series, telefilms, theatrical releases and family entertainment around the world and for every platform: broadcast and cable television, first-run and off-network syndication and digital distribution. In addition to one of the industry's largest libraries of feature films and television shows, SPT boasts a current program slate that includes the top-rated daytime dramas and game shows, landmark off-network series, original animated series and critically acclaimed primetime dramas, comedies and telefilms. Internationally, SPT is a leader in local language productions around the world, some of which are co-produced with local partners and sells SPE-owned formats in approximately 70 countries. To better serve its clients and partners worldwide, SPT maintains offices throughout the world, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, the People's Republic of China, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Venezuela and the United Kingdom. SPT's worldwide television networks portfolio is a key strategy in SPE's long-range commitment to the global marketplace, with 114 channel feeds, which are available in more than 130 countries reaching almost 400 million households worldwide. SPT also creates original content for and manages SPE's premium video website, Crackle. Additionally, SPT is a part owner of cable channel GSN, FEARnet, the premier horror/thriller website and VOD service, and national media sales company ITN Networks, Inc. SPT advertiser sales is one of the premiere national advertising sales companies, handling the commercial inventory in SPT's syndicated series as well as in all of SPE's digital businesses in the United States, for Sony Music Entertainment and for the Tennis Channel. SPT (www.sonypicturestelevision.com) is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company.

 

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