Freeform Orders The Watchful Eye to Series

Freeform has given a series order for The Watchful Eye, formerly known as The Nanny, from Ryan Seacrest Productions.

Created by Julie Durk (Grace and Frankie) and showrun by Emily Fox (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist), The Watchful Eye centers on a savvy young woman hired as the live-in nanny to an affluent Manhattan family. When she moves into their building, she quickly learns that every wealthy inhabitant has deadly secrets and ulterior motives.

Mariel Molino (Promised Land) stars as Elena Santos, the nanny, while Warren Christie (The Village) plays the wealthy widower. The cast also includes Kelly Bishop (Gilmore Girls), Amy Acker (The Gifted), Jon Ecker (Firefly Lane), Lex Lumpkin (All That), Henry Joseph Samiri (The Bold and the Beautiful) and Aliyah Royale (The Walking Dead: The World Beyond).

Fox serves as executive producer alongside Ryan Seacrest Productions’ Ryan Seacrest, Nina Wass, Andrea Shay and Jeffrey Reiner. Reiner (Dirty John) also directed the pilot. ABC Signature is producing.

“I’m incredibly excited about this series because it presents a contemporary twist on the classic mystery and thriller genre,” said Jamila Hunter, executive VP of programming and development for Freeform. “Julie, Emily and everyone on the team have created a surprising world of haves and have-nots that’s perfect for Freeform’s audience.”

“We are so excited to be working with our partners at Freeform and ABC Signature on The Watchful Eye, an updated twist on a classic Hitchcockian thriller featuring an empowered female lead who’s got an ax to grind,” said Fox, Wass and Shay. “An elegant New York City apartment building called The Greybourne provides a backdrop where nothing is as it seems and where the palace intrigue has an undercurrent of terror. Elena Santos is very much a force to be reckoned with, and the Manhattan power players who underestimate her may soon realize they’ve met their match. In this day and age, who doesn’t secretly long to eat the rich?”