Nellie Andreeva

Eva LongoriaRelationship shows’ hot streak at the broadcast networks continue. The latest entry in the genre is NBC’s Ready for Love, executive produced by Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria and hosted by Giuliana and Bill Rancic, which the network has greenlighted for a launch next winter. The series, from Longoria’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, Renegade 83 and Universal Television, will feature three successful and handsome men, handpicked by Longoria, who are committed to finding the right woman. They will try to accomplish that with the help of three matchmakers. Prospective female candidates can apply using the new Facebook app, which also will be used to showcase the bachelors, with Facebook employed extensively during the entire run of the series. “The show’s innovative format that uses online profiles and proven matchmakers will provide a better chance for our suitors to realize connections that will last long beyond the season finale,” NBC’s head of alternative programming Paul Telegdy said.

The three successful, family-oriented men looking for mates are Ben Patton, an international financier from Dallas; Tim Lopez, a member of the popular music group Plain White T’s from Santa Barbara, Calif., and Ernesto Arguello, an entrepreneur with a social vision from Miami. The three matchmakers will each select their team of 12 girls, four per guy. Once selected, each matchmaker team will live in a different house where they will receive personalized advice and mentoring. At the end of each week everyone will convene on a state of the art stage in front of a live audience to watch the dates and receive feedback from the matchmakers. The women who fail to make a connection with the men will be sent home. In the finale, the three men will choose their final three women, who together, must decide if they’ll get engaged, married, or simply live happily ever after. Ready For Love, which was packaged by CAA, joins two other upcoming dating reality series, CBS’ 3 and Fox’s Take Me Out. Additionally, NBC has Season 2 of Love In The Wild on tap for summer. Longoria has been stepping up her producing efforts post-Desperate Housewives. She recently joined ABC’s pilot Devious Maids as an executive producer. This marks another case of cross-pollination for the new NBCUniversal, with an NBC show featuring talent from the Comcast side of the company, E!’s Giuliana Rancic.

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