SOAPnet Adds Three New Series

BURBANK, November 11: Greg Behrendt's Wake-Up
Call, Being Erica and Southern
Bells (working title) are all set to join SOAPnet's lineup in 2009.

Produced by Avalon
Television, Greg Behrendt's Wake-Up Call is a reality series featuring the eponymous host, who was a consultant
for Sex and the City and co-author of
the book He's Just Not That into You,
addressing different couple's issues each week. The series will air on
Thursdays at 11 p.m., starting January 8. Greg
Behrendt's Wake-Up Call kicks off SOAPnet's Sugar-Free
Valentines,
a six-week programming event beginning on January 8 that is dedicated to
Valentine's Day, but without all the mushy sweet stuff. Behrendt
will host a series of interstitials throughout the event, providing his
no-nonsense approach to relationships.

Being Erica follows the life of
32-year-old Erica Strange, a highly educated, underachieving single
woman who has a list of regrets and struggles to understand why her life is
heading nowhere. In each episode, the mysterious Dr. Tom enables Erica to go back in
time and re-live an event from her past that caused regret. The one-hour
series, created by Emmy Award-winning writer Jana Sinyor,
is executive-produced by Sinyor, Aaron Martin, Ivan Schneeberg and David
Fortier, and is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The series has been picked up for 13
episodes and will premiere in spring 2009.

Southern Bells follows the lives of five single, modern Southern
women in their 20s and 30s, providing an intimate look
at the professional and romantic happenings of this circle of friends. The
series, which has been picked up for ten one-hour episodes, is produced by
Endemol USA in association with ABC Media
Productions. David Goldberg is the
president and CEO of Endemol USA. Joe Livecchi serves as executive producer.

"SOAPnet
remains committed to growing the soap genre and is increasing its original
program offerings next year with new series that contain 'soapy' elements and
complement the serialized drama found in our daytime and prime-time offerings,"
said Brian Frons, the president of daytime for Disney ABC-Television Group.
"In speaking to our viewers, we have learned that they are on a path of
self discovery and each of our new series taps into that journey."

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski