You like Army Wives. You really like it.
Isn’t it interesting how in the days of waning network ratings year after year we keep getting reports of basic cable shows setting new ratings records. This time, Army Wives second season premiere set a new series high with 4.5 million viewers. I’ll give kudos to Lifetime for really knowing how to support a season premiere; major networks take notes. The day before the premiere, which was this past Sunday, they marathoned the last ten episodes of the first season. They’ve also made the entire season available online, with ad support.
Is it because more and more of us have these channels than ever before? Or maybe we’re just spreading out across the dial more than ever before? At the same time, though, there’s more freedom off the network channels to show more edgy fare. Shows like The Shield and Mad Men are a bit too strong in content for the likes of ABC, and sometimes the sheer intensity and quality of the storytelling eclipses much of free TV fare. Or maybe it’s just because Catherine Bell is so freaking hot … sometimes. Seriously, sometimes she looks like that up there, and other times she looks like a boy who’s been lost in the woods for a few weeks. Still, at even a 50/50 shot I think it’d be worth the chance.
Attention! Army Wives back in training
Cynopsis reports that now that the writers’ strike is over — hallelujah! — Lifetime Television will soon begin production on the second season of Army Wives with episodes scheduled to air in early summer. This is great news for fans of the Lifetime original drama series that was a ratings juggernaut when it premiered last summer. In fact, Army Wives was the most successful series in Lifetime’s 23-year history! During its 13-episode run, Army Wives was the highest rated drama on cable among women, establishing new Lifetime marks for an original scripted series. The soapy-drama was scheduled to return in April, but then the writers struck and the show has been in hibernation — I mean, hiatus — ever since.
With familiar TV faces heading up the cast, including Catherine Bell (JAG) and Kim Delaney (NYPD Blue), Army Wives was a bit of a surprise success. Not many in the know anticipated a “Desperate Housewives in military fatigues” would capture the hearts and minds of viewers, but it did. Said Susanne Daniels, President, Entertainment, Lifetime Networks: “It is incredibly gratifying when a critically acclaimed show is also a successful show, and we are grateful to the four million loyal viewers who tuned in every Sunday to make this series a huge hit for Lifetime.” And now all four million — and more — can look forward to a summer-filled with fresh, new episodes.
White House Dinner Guests Party It Up in D.C.
White House Dinner Guests Party It Up in D.C.
As previously reported by , Hollywood stars made Washington D.C. their home this weekend for last night’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
And as with any big event with Tinseltown A-listers on hand, there was much to do before and after the George W. Bush hosted evening.
Preceding the Correspondents’ Association dinner, stars including Lauren Conrad, Pamela Anderson and Catherine Bell were on hand at the Edison Suite in the Washington Hilton for the Bloomberg Pre-Dinner Cocktail Reception.
And following the evening with President Bush, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt joined double-dippers Catherine Bell and Pamela Anderson, along with Black Eyed Pea Wil. I. Am, at the Embassy of Costa Rica for Bloomberg’s after-party.
Catherine Bell Biography
A beguiling dark-eyed beauty with a statuesque figure, Catherine Bell rose to prominance on the military-themed television series “JAG” (1995 -2005) as Maj. Sarah “Mac” MacKenzie. Born in London, Bell emigrated to California with her Iranian mother at the age of two and began acting and modeling as a child. After a stint as a fashion model in Japan, Bell first got a foothold in Hollywood as a body double, performing a nude scene for Isabella Rossellini in director Robert Zemeckis’ “Death Becomes Her” (1992). Small roles in TV movies, C-level action flicks, sydicated fare including “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and racy TV series such as HBO’s risque comedy “Dream On” and the erotic cable anthology “Hot Line”–which made great advantage of her enviable physique–followed.
She made her “JAG” debut on an 1996 episode as Lt. Diane Schonke, the love interest of lead character Harm (David James Elliott). After return engagements her character was tragically killed off, but Bell learned that “JAG” producer Don Bellasario was looking for a new regular female lead for the series and wrote Bellasario a letter, suggesting that it would be intirguing if the new character were the spitting image of Harm’s lost love. Bellasario agreed and Bell joined the cast as a new character, Maj. Sarah “Mac” MacKenzie when the show switched networks from NBC to CBS in 1997. She parlayed her visibility and the show’s mainstream popularity–especially with military supporters–into several magazine covers and roles in telepics, ultimately landing a high-profile movie role as the object of Jim Carrey’s lust in the comedy “Bruce Almighty” (2003). When her co-star Elliott announced his attention to leave the show following its tenth season in 2004-2005, producers initially planned to reshape the series around Bell, but the network ultimately pulled the plug on the show.
- Born:
on 08/14/68 in London, England - Job Titles:
Actor, Model
Family
- Grandparents: spoke Farsi
Significant Others
- Husband: . Adam
Education
- University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, pre-med
Milestones
- 1971 Moved to Los Angeles with family (date approximate)
- 1992 Served as Isabella Rossellini’s body double in “Death Becomes Her”
- 1993 Had supporting role in the NBC movie “Mother of the Bride”
- 1995 Feature acting debut “Men of War”
- 1997 Joined cast of “JAG” playing Sarah ‘Mac’ MacKenzie when show moved to CBS
- 1998 Co-starred with Maureen O’Hara in the CBS TV-movie “Cab to Canada”
- 2003 Returned to the big screen in the comedy “Bruce Almighty”
- Spent several months in Japan as a model