‘First Wives Club’ TV Series Shifts Networks Again, Moving To BET

This year, Viacom — the parent company of TV networks such as BET, Comedy Central, MTV, CMT, Logo, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land, and VH1 — has shuffled some of its original programs to different stations than the ones they previously aired on or were scheduled to debut on. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Heathers and American Woman were both intended for TV Land, but wound up on the Paramount Network; the first season of Nobodies aired on TV Land and the second on the Paramount Network; and Younger, which spent five seasons on TV Land and was one of the network’s biggest hits, will kick off Season 6 on the Paramount Network in the spring of 2019.

Now the new series First Wives Club— based on the 1996 movie of the same name, which was based on a 1992 novel by Olivia Goldsmith — has moved to its third network even before airing a single episode.

When Viacom first announced it was turning the Bette Midler, Diane Keaton, and Goldie Hawn-headlined film into a television series in 2016, it was going to air on TV Land. A pilot was shot with Alyson Hannigan, Megan Hilty, and Vanessa Lachey, but it was not picked up.

The company then redeveloped First Wives Club with Girls Trip co-writer Tracy Oliver penning the scripts. In September, Viacom announced that the show would air in 2019 on the Paramount Network as part of its new Thursday night dramedy lineup.

However, on Tuesday, November 27, Deadline reported that the series was moving to BET and would debut on the network in January.

The half-hour, single-camera comedy stars Ryan Michelle Bathe, Jill Scott, and Michelle Buteau as three successful New York City-based friends who band together after their marriages all fall apart. They find strength in their sisterhood, but also plot a little revenge against their exes, played by Mark Tallman, RonReaco Lee, and Malik Yoba. Season 1 will consist of 10 episodes.

“We are thrilled that Tracy Oliver and Paramount Television’s First Wives Club will be coming to BET Networks,” the company said in a statement.

“We have been big fans of Tracy, the project, and its incredible cast all along. The concept she has for the series fits perfectly with our programming strategy of character-driven content anchored in the Black experience, and it aligns seamlessly with our core audience.”

Filming for First Wives Club began in late September, and Newsday reported that the cast shot an outdoor wedding scene at a private waterfront home in Port Washington, New York, on Tuesday, November 27.