SOAPNet Orders BBC Format, Renews Being Erica

LOS ANGELES: Disney ABC Television Group’s SOAPNet cable channel has inked deals with BBC Worldwide for a version of the Bank of Mom and Dad format and for the second season of the Canadian scripted drama Being Erica.

From BBC Worldwide Productions, Bank of Mom and Dad is a reality series where women in their 20s and 30s have to face their parents moving in for one week to police their finances and take over their lives. With the help of financial expert Farnoosh Torabi, the parents take total control and approve all spending by their debt-laden daughters. SOAPNet has picked up for ten episodes for launch September 30.

BBC Worldwide Sales & Distribution’s Being Erica is due to return to SOAPNet in 2010 for a second season with a pickup for 12 additional episodes. The cable channel fared well with the first season, in which single 32-year-old Erica Strange, with the help of mysterious therapist, is able to relive a past regret each week. The one-hour series, created by Emmy-Award winning writer Jana Sinyor, is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with the CBC and BBC Worldwide. 

SOAPNet also announced the pickup of the 10-episode reality series Holidate, about women finding love in different cities. It will be produced by ABC Media Productions. Previously announced as a one-hour special, the series premieres July 29.