E! Entertainment Television will produce a two-hour special for ABC that could yield future broadcast exposures for the entertainment-based cable network.
The special —Favorite Stars: Then & Now, an E! Entertainment Television Special
(May 7) —will focus on people who have achieved stardom over the past 30 years and what they're doing today. The show will feature personalities such as Quinn Cummings (The Goodbye Girl), Christopher Atkins (The Blue Lagoon) and the cast of the 1980's musical film Fame.
"We look at people who have had intense stardom and find out what they're doing today," said E! senior vice president of original programming John Rieber.
ABC approached E! with the idea of creating a nostalgia-themed special, E! executive vice president of original programming Mark Sonnenberg said. "Everybody is looking for places to do a lot of celebrity shows, and that's what we do very well," he said.
Along with the show's title, the E! brand will receive exposure via microphone flags shown during various interviews conducted throughout the show.
While the production arrangement is rare, it's not the first time E! has produced a special for ABC. In 1991, E! developed a special called Entertainment 1991
that recapped the events of that year.
Sonnenberg said E! has no plans to develop future shows for ABC, although he would not rule it out.
"We would like to do more specials for ABC, but our first priority is strengthening the E! and Style brands," he said.
