Lifetime just gave marching orders for a full season of ‘Army Wives’ after the success of its fall pilot. The network ordered 13 episodes of the show starring Kim Delaney and Catherine Bell for a March 2007 premier. Let me reiterate for all the gentlemen; the show features Catherine Bell (you remember, the hottie from ‘JAG’). Lifetime: Television (just) for Women? Not anymore.
‘Army Wives’ revolves around a group of women and one man living with their families on an Army post and the issues they deal with as their spouses serve their country. According to TV.com, the show is filmed on location in Charleston, South Carolina, and is based on the book ‘Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives,’ by Tanya Biank, who also serves as consultant.
But despite the reality-based theme of the drama, Lifetime Networks president of entertainment promises, "It's not about the war itself, it's not a political statement." Right, so if you’re not going to say war is wrong, I guess that means war is awesome as long as you can film a show with Maxim and FHM-featured Catherine Bell living on an Army base. I guess we can live with that philosophy.
For those who fear Lifetime will girlie up a show about such serious things as war and hardship, consider this Wiki factoid: Catherine Bell was the only celebrity to correctly predict that the New England Patriots would defeat the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI by a score of 20-17. That stunning prediction was made in The Sporting News before the 2001 season had even begun, and while most believed the Patriots had no chance of even making the playoffs. How many of the manliest male NFL fans can say they did that?
Bell’s other upcoming TV work include thriller ‘Still Small Voices’ and ‘Company Town.’
