Paramount Network to Air ‘Heathers’ Series Over Five Days

Heathers, the shelved adaptation of the classic 1989 teen movie, is making it to TV after all.

The Paramount Network is planning to release the first season of the show ahead of Halloween, but with edits. Beginning Oct. 25, the cable network will air two episodes a night until Oct. 29. The 10-episode series has been condensed down to nine, with certain scenes edited out . The finale will be followed by the premiere of a new Heather’s themed-episode of “Lip Sync Battle” with series stars Melanie Field and Brendan Scannell.

The entire series will also be made available for streaming on the network’s app and website beginning Oct. 22.

Heathers, which was created by Jason Micallef and stars Grace Victoria Cox in the Winona Ryder role of Veronica Sawyer, was originally slated to premiere in March and was even briefly made available on the network’s streaming platform. But it was postponed after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida and eventually rescheduled for July. After the Santa Fe High School shooting in Houston happened, the show was scrapped.

“I am beyond excited that American audiences will finally get to see ‘Heathers,’” said series showrunner Jason Micallef. “Obviously I wish fans could see the tenth episode but the producers and I felt strongly about not changing anything in it, and so, it’s been considered too controversial for U.S. audiences. Still, every day at this job is a delightful dream so it’s hard to complain. Plus, what matters most is fans will now get to see the satire we all love so much.”

The show is described a pitch-black comedy anthology set in the present day, featuring a group of all-new Heathers, who have the same character names from the original film, but this time, the outcasts are the ones who have become high school royalty.

Shannon Doherty’s original character Heather Duke will be played by Scannell in the revitalized role of a character who identifies as gender-queer; Heather McNamara (originally played by Lisanne Falk in the film) is now a black lesbian played by Jasmine Mathews; and Heather Chandler (originally Kim Walker in the movie) is played by Field. James Scully and Grace Victoria Cox play J.D. and Veronica, the roles originally played by Christian Slater and Winona Ryder.

It’s unclear at this point what the future holds for Heathers should Season 1 be successful. The show was always planned as an anthology series, and the cast’s options for Season 2 have expired. However, the show’s writers almost completed development on Season 2 before the show was shelved.

(Excerpts) Read More at: Variety.com and TVGuide.com