E! Upfront Reveals Scripted & Unscripted Shows to Come

LOS ANGELES: There are a number of new series, along with a slew of topical specials, coming to the E! schedule, including a show featuring the pop group The Wanted, a docu-series about the WWE Divas and a drama from the executive producers of The O.C. and Gossip Girl.

New series coming to E! this summer include The Wanted Life, a Ryan Seacrest Productions project that chronicles the personal and professional lives of the British pop band The Wanted. Total Divas, from WWE and Bunim-Murray Productions, reveals the real woman behind the WWE Divas. Pop Innovators showcases the most influential names in pop culture, with stories told in their own words. Following on E!’s success with docu-series about professional athletes and their partners, the network has slated Love and Other Contact Sports: Eric and Jessie, about the pop singer Jessie James and her fiancé Eric Decker, who is a wide receiver in the NFL. Coming this fall to E! are Hello Ross (w.t.), an interactive talk show led by Ross Mathews, and The Trend, which features a team of experts and celebrity contributors talking about all things fashion.

The network is continuing its tradition of bringing audiences topical specials with new projects such as Blinging Up Baby, looking at the luxury lifestyles of Hollywood babies and parents. Nick Cannon’s Big Surprise features Nick Cannon giving his grandparents, who helped raise him, a home makeover. Former Playboy Playmate and Girls Next Door star Holly Madison gets her own hour-long special with Holly Has a Baby, looking at her life as she becomes a new mom. The Untold Story: Jason Derulo delivers never-before-seen footage and exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the music star. Ryan Seacrest with The Wanted: An E! Special watches as the mogul sits down with the boy band just ahead of the premiere of their new E! series. Bigger, Badder Celebrity Feuds shines a light on Hollywood’s most explosive feuding stars. E! Special: Brooke Burke sits down with the actress and TV personality to discuss her recent ups and downs. Other specials coming up for E! include Secret Societies of Hollywood, 50 Hours with 50 Cent and Inner Circle.

The development slate for E! includes a number of unscripted shows, with working titles, including Young Sonoma, about the lives of families in the Sonoma Valley wine region. Queens are Wild looks at the high-stakes world of top female poker players. Palazzo Riggi is about the outrageous family and staff of an elaborate estate in upstate New York. Flash is a competition show with self-contained episodes about up-and-coming photographers. Sex & Real Estate is a Miami-set docusoap about a group of real estate agents. The Soup Investigates is a spin-off of the network’s popular comedy franchise. Joel McHale, who hosts The Soup, will lead a team that explores all the questions that pop culture fans never thought to ask.

Comedy projects in development include James Davis Show, a sketch comedy show from Funny or Die Media that features parodies of a range of pop culture subjects. White People Can’t Dance, from executive producer Jack Osbourne and Vin Di Bona, is a tongue-in-cheek format with experts analyzing outrageous stereotypes perpetuated by pop culture. Secrets & Lies is a game show that tests pop culture fans’ knowledge of their favorite celebrities. It comes from Shine America’s format label Ardaban.

E! also has some scripted fare in development. This includes Laurel Canyon, which comes from executive producers Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Gossip Girl) and Stephanie Savage (The O.C., Gossip Girl), about a young woman who returns to her dysfunctional extended family in Laurel Canyon with her son after hearing that her rock-star legend father has passed away. The Stand-In is a dark psychological re-telling of The Prince & the Pauper. Songbyrd is about a prolific young songwriter who struggles to find love after her inspiration is revealed to be a lie. Expectations is inspired by the Dickens classic and is a soap about a morally corrupt family in New York City’s diamond business. The Shoreline is about a Hollywood prime-time soap that takes over a small coastal town in South Carolina, causing a class divide. Dirty/Pretty is a dark comedy about a blue-collar guy from south Boston who gets scouted to be a model in Miami. Fortunate Son features a society golden boy who becomes a criminal informant. The Royals is a contemporary family ensemble framed by Shakespeare’s Hamlet. 

“With its tremendous reach and influence, E! delivers original programming that achieves our network’s mission to inspire and entertain the pop culture fan in all of us,” said Suzanne Kolb, E!’s president. “We are continuing to build on the success of our signature programming with new projects featuring a diverse mix of genres, formats and points of view that are centered in pop culture and are sure to excite our fans.”

“E!’s loyal audience has an insatiable appetite for all things ‘pop culture’ which they consume across platforms on television, online and mobile screens,” added Laura Molen, the executive VP of cable advertising sales at NBCUniversal. “E! gives advertisers unique access to these viewers with its engaging programming and extensive digital presence.”