On the heels of the incredibly successful launch of E!’s first scripted series, “The Royals,” the network has announced the pilot pick-up for a drama entitled “The Arrangement.” The pilot was written by Jonathan Abrahams, who won a Writer’s Guild Award and a Primetime Emmy for his previous work on “Mad Men.” Abrahams will also executive produce the project along with Jimmy Fox of Objective Productions USA, an All3Media company. Stephen Lambert and Eli Holzman of All3Media America will also serve as executive producers. Universal Cable Productions is set to produce.
“Jonathan has written a terrific script that juxtaposes a very public Hollywood romance with darker, more nefarious elements. We are excited to work with Universal Cable Productions and Objective to make this pilot and bring the story to life,” said Kevin Plunkett, SVP Scripted Programming, E!. “’The Arrangement’ is the perfect follow-up to the success of ‘The Royals,’ taking the E! brand further into the scripted space with young skewing, escapist stories.”
E!’s first scripted series, “The Royals,” premiered in March 2015 to much success and is currently the highest-rated new original scripted series this year across all key demos in ad supported cable (excluding spinoffs). L3 data for the latest installment of “The Royals” reinforces that the hit series is continuing to grow its fan-base, particularly among young, social women. Over the last three episodes, “The Royals” garnered over 1MM A18-49 L3, which is 3% above the season average. In its sixth episode, the series ranked #5 for the night and #3 for the timeslot with A18-49, and ranked #3 for the night and #1 in the timeslot with W18-34. Additionally, “The Royals” has consistently been the only new show other than “Better Call Saul” to be in top 25 most social cable shows each week, hitting #7 in all of cable last week. E! ordered a second season of “The Royals,” which the network announced in January.
“The Arrangement” is a Cinderella story for modern times, with a dramatic and complicated Hollywood twist. The drama follows Megan Morrison, a beautiful young actress who auditions for the female lead in a summer blockbuster playing opposite Kyle West, the hottest actor of the moment. After an amazing audition segues into a dream-like first date, Megan’s Cinderella story takes a turn to the bizarre when she is presented with a contract that details an entire relationship with Kyle. Megan must weigh her options and the benefits and consequences to her career and her life overall… and decide whether or not she will accept “The Arrangement.”
