A&E announced a number of new unscripted series to its lineup, before its upfront presentation to advertisers in New York tonight.
The network has ordered five one-hour installments of Dogs of War, about a married couple who started the nonprofit organization called Paws and Stripes, which pairs war veterans with dogs. Produced by Custom Productions, Inc. and Redtail Media LLC, the series will premiere this fall.
Godfather of Pittsburgh follows Vince Isolde, an Italian-American who owns nightclubs in the Steel City, where he has made friends and enemies, along the way. Eight hours of the show, produced by Renegade 83 in association with Grainey Pictures and Brookline Ice Films, are on tap for this fall.
With one out of three relationships starting digitally, A&E also has ordered 10 half-hour installment of social-experiment show Love Prison, where couples will meet for the first time in a cabin on a remote island. From Leftfield Pictures, the show will bow this summer.
In Lone Star Lady, fulltime football mom Rochelle takes center stage with her family. Despite their newfound oil wealth, the family keeps busy carting the boys to football practice, dealing with large cell phone bills, teen sexting and squeezing in a rare date night. But Rochelle excels in extreme parenting; her motto is to get her four sons “out of the house without being fathers or felons,” and she will do whatever it takes. Premiering this summer, A&E will debut nine installments from 12 Forward Entertainment.
As described by the networks, the following shows are in various stages of development:
“8 Minutes”– (working title) one-hour pilot
Each year 100,000 young women are forced into prostitution. Most will never escape. This fact put Kevin Brown and Greg Reese on a mission, and it’s one of the most dangerous, voyeuristic missions in the country. The former police officers’ organization, Safe Passage, helps save teenage girls from lives of sexual servitude. In each episode, the organization will make contact with a girl who is "in the life” and go undercover enabling hidden cameras to capture their operation. But they only have 8 minutes to complete the extraction.
“Big Brew Theory”– (working title) half-hour pilot
Four quirky and highly intelligent MIT grad students who have pooled their life savings to achieve their dream of creating a home grown micro-brewery team up with a beautiful MIT undergrad to launch their business.
“Nightwatch”– (working title) one-hour pilot
"Nightwatch" follows the dangerous and hectic stretch between 9PM and 3AM when emergency responders come across the most unnerving cases. New Orleans is the backdrop for this nonfiction drama series where cameras have unlimited access to the city’s Fire Department and EMS Unit. Those who cover the night shift battle time and circumstance to save lives while they try to keep their own personal lives and relationships in order.
“The Unproduceables”– (working title) half-hour pilot
"The Unproduceables" will follow the behind-the-scenes trials and tribulations of producer Mark Efman as he works with a cast of senior citizens in an attempt to create a reality series focusing on the intertwined lives at a Florida retirement center. Despite cranky attitudes, odd schedules and seemingly frivolous interpersonal problems among residents, Mark is determined to make the best show possible. While working in such close quarters, the cast and crew inevitably form close relationships, and Mark, at the helm, will become the grandson that many of these residents wish they had.
