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The 10-episode Heathers, based on the 1988 cult classic, becomes TV Land's first hourlong original series. Sources tell THR that Heathers was picked up to pilot and filmed as a single-camera comedy but the final cut came in at more than 40 minutes with a considerably darker tone. TV Land loved it and opted to turn it into its first hourlong. Creatively, the 10-episode order was the request of writer Jason Micallef, who asked for 10 rather than the 13 half-hours as originally planned.
Set to debut in the fall, it is described as a "pitch-black" comedic anthology. Insiders say the anthology component will be similar to FX's Fargo and feature a new group of "Heathers" — no matter the setting. The decision to shift Heathers to an hourlong format comes as TV Land was mulling a move into drama last year, having bid for Marti Noxon's Dietland (which ultimately went to AMC). "We haven't gone out into the community and said we need to be in the drama business because everyone is in it. It goes back to that we're chasers, so we're not going to sit here and hear a drama pitch. We're going to be strategic: What is our voice in drama? Then we'll go out and get it," Cox told THR during an October Executive Suite interview.
"Our take on Heathers is a cinematic, surprising and twisted comedy that gives a wonderful nod to the film while also creating something entirely its own," Cox said of the project that was developed as a single-camera comedy. "We’re really passionate about this show and the satirical story-telling its provocative characters allow."
Set to debut in the fall, it is described as a "pitch-black" comedic anthology. Insiders say the anthology component will be similar to FX's Fargo and feature a new group of "Heathers" — no matter the setting. The decision to shift Heathers to an hourlong format comes as TV Land was mulling a move into drama last year, having bid for Marti Noxon's Dietland (which ultimately went to AMC). "We haven't gone out into the community and said we need to be in the drama business because everyone is in it. It goes back to that we're chasers, so we're not going to sit here and hear a drama pitch. We're going to be strategic: What is our voice in drama? Then we'll go out and get it," Cox told THR during an October Executive Suite interview.
"Our take on Heathers is a cinematic, surprising and twisted comedy that gives a wonderful nod to the film while also creating something entirely its own," Cox said of the project that was developed as a single-camera comedy. "We’re really passionate about this show and the satirical story-telling its provocative characters allow."
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