Heathers, a pitch-black comedy anthology series based on the 80s cult classic film of the same name, will premiere on Paramount Network on Wednesday, March 7 at 10 pm, ET/PT. The project was initially developed at TV Land, with a script deal struck in March 2016, although the script was reimagined as an anthology, set in the present day and inspired by the original movie. Leslye Headland (Sleeping with Other People. Bachelorette) directed the pitch-black comedy pilot.
The series follows "good girl" Veronica Sawyer (Grace Victoria Cox), who deals with a very different but equally vicious group of 'Heathers.' Heather Chandler (Melanie Field) is the unconventional leader of this popular high school clique and rules Westerburg High through fear, intimidation and amazing fashion sense. Heather Duke (Brendan Scannell) is Heather C's #1 sidekick and harnesses the Heather's power to destroy whoever he views as a total discount hobgoblin. Heather McNamara (Jasmine Mathews) is considered the nicest Heather in the group who lives in the shadow of the others. She's hiding a dark secret that she doesn't want to be exposed. JD Dean (James Scully) is the new boy in town with a dark side and sets out on a reckless path of destruction proving that no one, even his girlfriend Veronica is safe.
Original Heathers cast member Shannen Doherty guest stars as a pivotal character in several episodes along with Selma Blair and Casey Wilson. The cast also includes Birgundi Baker as Lizzy, Cameron Gellman as Kurt, Adwin Brown as Seth, Romel De Silva as Kyle, Annalisa Cochrane as Shelby Dunnstock, Jeremy Culhane as Dylen Lutz, Jesse Leigh as Peter Dawson, Mandy June Turpin as Mrs. Sawyer, Paige Weldon as Lily and Christina Burdette as Jesus Julie. It remains unclear when a new trailer for this highly-anticipated series will debut.
The original Heathers movie starred Winona Ryder as Veronica Sawyer, with Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk and Kim Walker playing the three Heathers. The cast also included Christian Slater, Penelope Milford and Patrick Labyorteaux, with Michael Lehmann directing from a script by Daniel Walters. The original movie was never given a wide release in 1988 and it only made $1.1 million in its five-week theatrical run, but it would go on to become a cult classic upon debuting on home video formats.
Heathers was created for television and written by Jason Micallef (Butter) who serves as executive producer and showrunner. Leslye Headland is an executive producer and directed several episodes. Gary Lucchesi is executive producer for Lakeshore Entertainment. Brad Gardener, Senior Vice President of Original Programming for Paramount Network and TV Land also serves as executive producer. Paramount Network is a premium entertainment destination that pushes the limits of story-telling with bold original scripted and non-scripted series. Inspired by over a century of cinema, Paramount Network is where today's brightest stars bring the experience of the big screen to every screen with stories that are immersive, inclusive, and deeply personal. For more information on the series, visit ParamountNetwork.com.