A little over a year after taking over the programming reins at Lifetime, Susanne Daniels is still looking for her first original scripted hit series.
The women's-targeted network last week cancelled Daniels' first two scripted shows out of the box — Lovespring International and Angela's Eyes — after both shows failed to meet ratings expectations. Daniels and Lifetime will take another stab at the scripted genre in March with the launch of Army Wives, about the struggles, dreams and friendships of families living on an active army post.
Lovespring, the highly touted, improvisational-comedy series about a dating service, averaged a 0.8 household rating and 839,000 viewers during its June run, according to Nielsen Media Research data. Angela's Eyes, about an FBI agent who has the gift of knowing when someone is lying, generated a 1.5 rating and 1.73 million viewers for its premiere installments.
In addition to Army Wives, the network also recently announced that it would debut a new reality series in January, Gay, Straight or Taken?
From the executives behind NBC's Deal or No Deal, the show sends one woman on three dates. If she can choose the single, straight guy, she wins a prize for both of them. If she chooses one of the other two, the man pockets the money.
Daniels, who could not be reached for comment at press time, took over as Lifetime Entertainment Services president in Sept. 2005.
