One of the shows that I was eagerly anticipating for the fall 2007-2008 television season ... has officially died ...
Earlier this year it was announced that Ugly Betty co-executive producer Marco Pennette was set to helm an Americanized version of the hit BBC serial Footballer's Wives ... I was instantly excited ...
I absolutely love Footballer's Wives ... Tanya Turner has to be one of the most fantastic characters ever created for television ...
So as the month's passed some more information leaked about the series ... the title was announced as Football Wives ... and instead of focusing on soccer (since that sport is popular in Europe and not in the US) it will focus on American football ... and the fictional NFL team the Orlando Stingrays ...
Then ... cast information started to pour out ...
* Gabrielle Union as Chardonnay Lane
* Brian J. White as Kyle Jameson
* Kiele Sanchez as Donna Reynolds
* Eddie Cibrian as Jason Austin
* Ving Rhames as Frank Wallingford
* James Van Der Beek as Brian Reynolds
* Holly Robinson-Peete as Jackie Jameson
* Kelly Monaco as Ruby Munroe
... and probably the most interesting ... and exciting scoop was the casting of Xena star Lucy Lawless as Tanya Austin ... America's version of Tanya Turner!
Superman Returns director Brian Singer directed the pilot ... and Pennette wrote the script ... The series was destined to be picked up by ABC for it's fall lineup ... Yet it wasn't ...
Initially it was reported that it wasn't picked up due to the budget of the series being too high ... then it was rumored that ABC did not want a conflict with the NFL (since ABC's sister network ESPN airs Monday Night Football) reminiscent of the conflict the NFL had with ESPN's Playmakers ...
So ... it was reported that ABC was shopping the series to other networks ... with FOX and NBC being potential bidders ...
Well ... it has been confirmed by Lucy Lawless and Brian J. White ... that Football Wives has officially died ...
I must say I am disappointed ... The cast sounded fantastic ... and if it was done right ... the network could have had another Ugly Betty/Desperate Housewives-sized hit!
~Papi Chulo~
