A&E Expands Original Programming Slate

NEW YORK: Eight scripted drama projects are currently in development for A&E Network, with nine hit unscripted series returning to its schedule and seven more set to join.

On the nonfiction slate, A&E is bringing back nine series and launching seven new shows and three specials. New to the grid are the Untitled Tony Danza Project, which follows the Who’s the Boss? star as he spends a year as a certified school teacher; Steven Seagal: Lawman, featuring the action hero in his real-life role as a fully commissioned deputy; Obsessed, exploring extreme anxiety disorders; Hammertime, looking at the like of Stanley Burrell, best known as MC Hammer; and Fugitive Chronicles, recounting fugitive captures from recent history. Also new in the way of nonscripted, The Squad: Prison Police is about a specially trained team that responds to, and investigates, every major crime in a prison, and Runaway Squad is about those who track down runaways.

Pilots in the nonfiction vein for A&E include The Love Shaq, featuring NBA basketball star Shaquille O’Neal and his family; Bob Saget on America, following the comedian as he travels across the U.S.; and American Mogul: Russell Simmons, looking into the life of the rap mogul/entrepreneur. Unscripted specials heading to A&E include The Jackson Family (working title), an hour-long look into the musical dynasty; Iced: Alaska Fugitive Task Force, about criminals on the run in one of the harshest climates on Earth; and Extreme Paranormal, following a team that dares to challenge legends, curses and hauntings by provoking paranormal activity.

Returning to A&E’s unscripted lineup are Intervention, back for a seventh season; The First 48, currently in its eighth season; and Gene Simmons Family Jewels, heading into season four. Dog the Bounty Hunter launches with all-new episodes, as does Crime 360, in its sophomore season. Criss Angel is back for a fifth season with Criss Angel Mindfreak, while Paranormal State returns for a third season, Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force for its second and Parking Wars for its third.

Scripted mini-series in development include an untitled Kevin Costner western, which will explore how the West was settled and fought for by all sides in what became the biggest conflict following the Civil War. Scripted series in development The Lead Sheet (working title), following the police work of the LAPD tracking the infamous Hillside Strangler in 1977-78; Central Division (working title), developed by CBS Television Studios for A&E, centered on two female LAPD captains as they run a dangerous downtown division; The Quickening (working title), about a bi-polar LAPD detective; an untitled project from Matthew Carnahan, and executive produced by Emmy Award-winner Anthony LaPaglia, that puts a unique twist on the procedural crime drama; and Night Falls (working title), about an NYC beat cop who is somewhat of a modern-day Jekyll and Hyde. Also in development is NY’s Finest (working title), tracking the new commissioner of a large U.S. city who his own unique leadership style. ABC Studios and Original Productions are developing NY’s Finest for A&E. The Cleaner, inspired by the true story of real-life "extreme interventionist" Warren Boyd, returns to the network as well. Cooler Kings (working title) is a scripted pilot that has been given the go-ahead. The series is from Jerry Bruckheimer Television in association with Warner Horizon Television. 

"2009 begins our sixth year of consecutive growth in all key demos," said Bob DeBitetto, the president and general manager of A&E and BIO. "We’ve begun 2009 with our best quarter ever and I expect that we will continue to excel as a result of our significant investment in original programming. A&E truly gives advertisers the greatest depth of original programming, a portfolio that’s unparalleled in the cable landscape."