Lifetime Announces New Titles

PASADENA, January 12:
Emmy-award winning actress Kirstie Alley will star in and executive produce the
upcoming Lifetime original movie And She Was, one of several new titles announced by the cable
network.

The satirical comedy,
produced by Jaffe/Braunstein Films, will premiere this summer on Lifetime
Television. In And She Was, Alley
plays Birdie Landgon, a middle-aged woman who is struggling to find work as a
screenwriter and enlists the help of her 20-something nephew, played by Eric
Christian Olsen, to pass on her scripts by posing as the screenwriter. The ruse
initially fools everyone but things begin to go awry when her nephew falls in
love with a studio development executive. In the end, Alley’s character
realizes that being a woman of a certain age does not mean that life is over.

Alley has previously
starred in acclaimed television programs such as Cheers, the Showtime series Fat Actress, and films such as Look Who’s Talking and
Deconstructing Harry.

"This
movie's audacious humor deftly skewers the entertainment industry's unfortunate
age bias that sidelines so much creative talent,” said Susanne Daniels, the
president of entertainment at Lifetime Entertainment Services. "The
caliber of Kirstie's comedic talents and unique perspective into our industry,
offers a great lens for this wonderfully funny material."

In
other new programming, Lifetime Television has ordered production of State
of Mind, a new one-hour comedic
drama series starring Six Feet Under star Lili Taylor, joining Army Wives as the second new drama to be ordered for this year.

Filmed
in Los Angeles, the series is executive produced by Greer Shephard and Michael
Robin, executive producers of Nip/Tuck and The Closer, in
association with Warner Horizon Television. The pilot for the series was
written by best-selling author and practicing psychotherapist Amy Bloom. In State
of Mind, Taylor’s character, Dr.
Ann Bellows, reevaluates her life after she catches her husband, Phil, a fellow
psychiatrist, cheating on her with their own couple’s counselor.

“We're
thrilled to have brought the talents of Lili Taylor to Lifetime in a new drama
series produced by cable hit makers Greer Shephard and Mike Robin,” said
Daniels. “Lili's character is imminently relatable and we know our viewers will
instantly connect with her.”

Lifetime
Television will also present an original special titled Spotlight 25, an in-depth look at the important issues
surrounding today’s twenty-something woman. Spotlight 25 will premiere on March 26 at 8 p.m. to coincide
with the network’s commemoration of National Women’s History Month.

Spotlight
25 culminated from a year of
extensive research in which Lifetime Television polled young women 18-29 years
old across the country in order to understand young women’s perspectives and
outlooks. The documentary highlights
conversations that Lifetime Television and award-winning journalist Willow Bay
had with women in their 20s in diverse settings across the country that include
Edwards Air Force Base and employees at Yahoo! and on Capitol Hill. Spotlight
25 also features an intimate
interview with Golden Globe nominee Jennifer Hudson about the consequences of
success at the age of 25.