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ER, Third Watch and Southland executive producer John Wells is back at NBC with a new drama. The network has handed out a pilot pickup to Bad Girls, written by Nancy Pimental and executive produced by Wells. The project, based on the long-running UK hit series of the same name, follows the ins-and-outs of a group of unlikely women in a federal prison: a scandalous female warden, her new protégé and a host of inmates — some mothers, some friends — who struggle with loyalties to people on the inside and the outside. Wells and Pimental are executive producing with John Wells Prods’ Andrew Stearn and original series’ producer Shed Media. The Warner Bros TV project reunites Wells with NBC topper Robert Greenblatt, who picked up another Wells-backed drama based on a British format while at Showtime, Shameless, on which Pimental serves as writer-producer. This marks Wells’ first pilot at NBC since the network’s previous regime abruptly canceled his cop drama Southland, which has since found a second life at TNT.
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On the air there’s already “Two Broke Girls” and “The New Girl”. HBO is doing “Girls” in the spring. Now “Bad Girls”? And the protagonists of these shows are over eighteen… Whatever happened to calling women “women”?
Thank you. NBC just wants to go dark and ugly with their schedule. This show sounds like a real pleasure. “Girls” in prison? The world is waiting to see this on NBC. Right.
“Bad Girls” was, in fact, a brilliant British show. Major shame that it will be adapted for and aired on network TV here in the States when it belongs on Showtime, FX, HBO, etc. It’s gonna suck.
love to hear this! juicy roles for women! bring it on!
you go, woman!
I appreciate the sentiment, but it’s not about being ashamed of growing up as your thread name suggests, and it’s not about age. I believe it’s about maturity. “Girls” implies a degree of immaturity and instability, versus “women,” which would imply maturity and stability. “Two Broke Girls,” “The New Girl,” and “Girls” all feature females starting anew or struggling to grow up regardless of their biological age. Simply being 18 doesn’t make you a woman, regardless of what the law or your Bat Mitzvah says.
It seems “Bad Girls” will feature a lot of “girlish” behavior – gossip, drama, and so on. But let’s be honest… it’s just a hell of a lot catchier than “Bad Women.” And that’s the most important part. Frankly, “Bad Girls” is also more sexual. If the show was about men, I see no reason it couldn’t be called “Bad Boys.” Oh wait – that’s a movie about two adult men…
Finally, it also implies “girl time,” which is a common expression, like a show you might have heard of called “Golden Girls.”
I’ve seen the original UK version, which is really good. I thought Alan Ball was working on an adaptation of this show, first for FX and then for HBO. I hope they stick closely to the original. There’s one relationship I’m curious if they will keep intact.
I take your point ESigel. Maybe it doesn’t have to do with shame. I guess I’m frustrated that women today no longer feel at all offended by this kind of infantilization. In real life being a woman doesn’t mean that you’re suddenly so stable that that you’re no longer dramatic or interesting. In my personal experience, it’s very possible to be an adult female and be conflicted, evolving and frankly, fucking up left and right. I wish television could reflect that. I agree that having Girls in the title does make a show sound sexier. But I don’t think that the kind of sexuality that it reflects is necessarily a good thing or a modern thing. When I hear that a show about women in prison is called Bad Girls, I hear echoes of porn and an inherent condescension. ‘Oz’ was about a male prison but it was certainly not called ‘Bad Boys’. Finally, yes, I have heard of ‘Golden Girls’, I used to watch it when I was babysitting back when I was actually a girl. And it has that magical alliterative G, much like Gilmore Girls or Gossip Girl. Or Get a Grip…which I should do….
Sareeta, I also saw the UK version…most likely my favorite show of all time. Alan Ball had the rights to Bad Girls. He recently sold it to NBC. I’m highly disappointed that a network like NBC picked it up…this is not a ‘made for prime-time’ show. It needed to be with Alan Ball on HBO. Let’s hope they don’t ruin it. *fingers crossed*
Let’s hope they don’t ruin it. *fingers crossed*
Nah, it’s NBC, they could never ruin it.
I won’t watch anything on NBC as long as Leno is still there.
This show should not be on network but on cable to be done right!
Alan Ball was working on an adaptation of Bad Girls for HBO, with Nancy Oliver as EP, but the deal fell apart, much like later on Ball’s deal for All Signs of Death fell apart after the pilot was shot (supposedly because HBO couldn’t find room for it on its schedule.)
If I were HBO, after Ball ran Six Feet Under, widely regarded as one of the greatest series of all time, and True Blood, which made HBO viable again in its post-Sopranos period, I’d greenlight almost any idea he came up with.
Bad Girls on NBC? A broadcast network? It’s going to have to be way toned-down. Is there anyone who wouldn’t have rather seen the Ball/Oliver version?
I haven’t seen Bad gGirls but from what I know about the show it would fit better on cable than network tv if they don’t want to water it down.
This sounds beyond dreadful. Girls in prison? This is what Greenblatt believes can save NBC?
Every show picked up by NBC is dark beyond compare, has robots, insane doctors, cult life, “Girls” in prison… what are they smoking at NBC?
They must want their last viewers to feels as bad as they do before they jump ship.
Wells proved he was not just network by Americanizing Shameless (which I have personally preferred to the UK version for the cast and not the writing) but this is very different from putting it on Showtime where the Gallaghers got to wreak havoc.
I haven’t seen the show Bad Girls so I cannot say how much being on a network undercuts it but I think if Wells can find a great cast it can make the material viable (which let’s face it, is mainly why Shameless has been a success).
I am surprised nobody mentioned the easiest connection to another show in name, Bad Girls Club.
I have always like his work on TV. This show has potential and hopefully works out to being a good pilot.
I just read about it on wikipedia and I don’t see NBC having the guts to do some of the stories. They should have pitched it to a cable network.