Reality Hybrid on Tap at Thriving WE Cabler

[Brett Ferino]

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - WE: Women's Entertainment, looking to build on its progress last year when subscribers and advertisers rushed to sign up, will produce its first original scripted series in 2003-04.

The project is actually a curious fusion of the scripted and reality genres in which a fictional character is foisted onto unsuspecting real people. Produced in-house, "The Tinsley Bumble Show" follows a New York socialite who is forced to find some direction in life after her father is arrested for a white-collar crime. Six episodes will begin airing in July.

Played by relatively unknown theater thespian Rebecca Johnson, Tinsley improvises "scenes" with the help of her cameraman and fictional brother Jason, who is purportedly shooting a documentary on her life. Debbie Allen ("Fame") appears in the first episode as a dance instructor unimpressed by Tinsley's talents.

"It's an experiment in the truest sense of the word," said Martin von Ruden, executive vp and general manager of WE. "We're bucking the conventions of the reality genre."

Also on the series front, Courteney Cox will executive-produce the home design series "Mix It Up." The verite dating series "Single In ..." will return with new seasons set in Los Angeles and the South Beach neighborhood of Miami.

In addition, WE will introduce 10 specials in 2003-04, ranging from biographies of fashion impresarios Stella McCartney and Vera Wang to "Young Bucks," a report on rich, young bachelors.

The Cablevision-owned cable network's subscriber base last year jumped from 38 million to 52 million, and its advertiser count went from just Johnson & Johnson to 85 different sponsors.