Lifetime Television Kicks Off Summer Programming Schedule With the Dramatic Series 'Beach Girls,' Starring Rob Lowe and Julia Ormond

-- Jami Gertz, Poppy Montgomery, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Kelly Lynch Star in New Lifetime Original Movies --

-- 'Strong Medicine' Returns With New Cast Member Rick Schroder --

-- Vivica A. Fox and Mark Consuelos/'MISSING' Back for Third Season --

NEW YORK, May 24 -- Riding high on six consecutive months of primetime ratings increases including double-digit growth among younger women, Lifetime Television heads into the summer with a sizzling array of hot programming keyed by "Beach Girls," a six-hour series starring Rob Lowe ("The West Wing," "Salem's Lot") and Julia Ormond ("Sabrina," "Legends of the Fall"), premiering July 31.

Along with Lowe and Ormond's star turns in "Beach Girls," Jami Gertz, Poppy Montgomery, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Kelly Lynch star in Lifetime Original Movies, which rank #1 in 2005 among all basic cable networks in total viewers, W18-34 and W18-49.

Lifetime's warm weather fun starts with the June 12 premieres of its Sunday night powerhouse drama series, "Strong Medicine" at 9PM (ET/PT), beginning its sixth season (the longest-running original drama ever created for basic cable) with new cast member Rick Schroder, followed at 10PM (ET/PT) by the third season of "MISSING," starring Vivica A. Fox, Mark Consuelos, Caterina Scorsone and Justin Louis as a quartet of dedicated FBI agents who will stop at nothing to solve missing person cases.

Summer Programming Highlights

THE "I DO" DIARIES: Royal Weddings (WT), airing Sunday, June 5 at 11Pm (ET/PT), is a royal hour that promises to give mere mortals an inside look at some of the most celebrated royal nuptials in recent history -- including exclusive dish from some of the best known royal watchers around the world. This fun, cheeky special is a revealing look at the real life fairy tales of princes and princesses and dukes and duchesses.

Kelly Lynch ("Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story," "The Jacket "), Jeremy Sumpter ("Peter Pan," "Clubhouse") and Lyndsy Fonseca ("I Do, They Don't," "The Young and the Restless") star in "cyber seduction: His Secret Life," the story of a popular suburban high school sophomore whose addiction to Internet pornography wreaks havoc on his life and begins to tear his family apart. "cyber seduction: His Secret Life" premieres Monday, June 20 at 9PM (ET/PT).

Sixteen-year-old Justin Petersen (Sumpter) is an all-star swimmer from a loving and devoted middle-class family. After a school acquaintance introduces him to online porn, Justin finds himself secretly obsessed with a cyber- fantasy world that has little connection to the flesh-and-blood people around him. His girlfriend, Amy (Fonseca), doesn't understand why Justin is growing emotionally distant, while at the same time behaving more sexually aggressive. When Justin's athletic and academic performances begin to suffer, his parents realize something is seriously wrong. But it takes a friend, whose ex-husband dealt with a similar problem, to make it clear to Justin's mother (Lynch) that pornography can be just as addictive as heroin or alcohol.

"cyber seduction: His Secret Life"" is produced by WTTV in association with Jaffe/Braunstein Films and The Bremer Goff Company for Lifetime Television. Simon Wright ("Perfect Strangers," "A Tale of Two Wives"), Howard Braunstein, Michael Jaffe ("She's Too Young," "Martha, Inc.: The Story of Martha Stewart"), Michael Bremer ("More Than Meets the Eye: The Joan Brock Story," "Prague Duet") and Paul Goff ("More Than Meets the Eye: The Joan Brock Story") are executive producers. Tom McLoughlin ("She's Too Young," "Odd Girl Out") will direct from the teleplay written by Wesley Bishop ("On Thin Ice," "The Christmas Shoes") and Richard Kletter ("She's Too Young," "Odd Girl Out").

Poppy Montgomery ("Without a Trace," "Blonde"), David Sutcliffe ("Happy Endings," "I'm with Her") and Shawn Christian ("Summerland," "Shopgirl") stars in the Lifetime Original Movie, "Murder in the Hamptons," a provocative drama based on a true story of the high profile murder of powerful multi-millionaire Ted Ammon. The movie unfolds around his relationship with his volatile, estranged wife, her lover with a dubious past, and Ammon's shocking murder that created scandalous headlines. "Murder in the Hamptons" premieres Monday, July 11 at 9PM (ET/PT)

In October 2001, millionaire investment banker Ted Ammon (Sutcliffe), going through a bitter divorce, is found murdered, stunning his exclusive Hamptons community. Through interviews with friends, relatives and neighbors, the story returns to 1995, when Ammon first meets Generosa Rand (Montgomery). The couple falls in love, marries and adopts two children. The marriage ultimately falls apart due to Generosa's insecurities and Ted's constant absences on business. The Ammons separate, and Generosa begins an affair with Danny Pelosi (Christian), a construction worker with a history of jail time for assault. In the midst of a nasty divorce and custody battle, Ted is found bludgeoned to death at their Hamptons estate. Despite intense police and media scrutiny, Generosa marries Danny. Then, in a strange twist of fate, Generosa is diagnosed with terminal cancer. She leaves Danny, gives away custody of the children and returns to the Long Island house to die. Even when offered amnesty, Generosa refuses to admit what she knows about Ted's murder. Months later, Danny Pelosi is arrested and convicted of the murder of Ted Ammon.

"Murder in the Hamptons" is a production of Muse Entertainment for LIFETIME Television. Barbara Lieberman (LIFETIME's "Obsessed," "Gleason") and Bernard Zukerman ("This is Wonderland," "The Death and Life of Nancy Eaton") are executive producers. Jerry Ciccoritti ("Lives of the Saints," "Chasing Cain") directs from a teleplay by Robert L. Freedman ("Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows").

Michelle Trachtenberg ("Ice Princess," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), Sean Maher ("Brian's Song," "Party of Five") and Will Estes ("U-571," "American Dreams") star in the Lifetime Original Movie, "The Dive From Clausen's Pier," premiering Monday, July 25 at 9PM (ET/PT). Ann Packer's spellbinding novel about a young woman's quest to find herself after her fiance is paralyzed in a diving accident.

Carrie Beal (Trachtenberg) is deeply attached to her lifelong friends and the close-knit community in her hometown of Madison, WI. Now engaged to marry Mike Mayor (Estes), her sweetheart since high school, Carrie feels restless and trapped, secretly doubting whether she still loves him. When Mike is paralyzed in a diving accident, Carrie is needed by Mike more than ever. In a crisis of confusion, anguish and guilt, Carrie flees without a good-bye to anyone, she leaves her engagement ring by sleeping Mike's bedside and heads for New York. There she succumbs to an intoxicating affair with an intriguing older man, Kilroy (Maher), and begins a promising career in fashion design. Just as her relationship with Kilroy reaches an explosive turning point, Mike and her old friends reach out to Carrie once again. Compelled to examine both her former self and the person she has become, Carrie must search within her heart to find out the truth about where she belongs.

"The Dive From Clausen's Pier" is produced by Con Artists, the television arm of Icon Productions, in association with Fox Television Studios for LIFETIME Television. Bruce Davey ("The Passion of the Christ," "Braveheart"), Nancy Cotton ("Kevin Hill," "Clubhouse," "Complete Savages") and Brenda Friend ("Joan of Arc," "Jenifer") executive produce. John Wierick (LIFETIME's "Baby for Sale," "The Matthew Shepard Story") wrote the teleplay, and Harry Winer (LIFETIME's "Infidelity," "Veronica Mars," "Alias") directs. David Madden and Lisa Demberg will supervise for Fox Television Studios.

Based on the best-selling novel by Luanne Rice, "Beach Girls," premiering with a special two-hour program Sunday, July 31 at 8PM (ET/PT) and running weekly through Sunday, August 28, explores the depths of the bonds of friendship, the complexities of love and the endurance of family ties. Three teenage girls, who summer together each year in the sleepy beach town of Hubbard's Point, pledge their eternal friendship while in their youth. However, as the years go by, the beach girls grow apart -- until the death of one of them brings her widower and daughter back to the Point to reconnect with the women who knew her best. The series is filled with heartbreaks, secrets, first loves, rediscovery of love and the magic of summer romance.

"Beach Girls" is produced by Robert Greenwald Productions in association with Fox Television Studios for Lifetime Television. Executive producers are Robert Greenwald (upcoming ABC "Rosemary's Baby" miniseries, "Uncovered: The War in Iraq,") and Alys Shanti ("Plain Truth," "The Book of Ruth"). Edith Swensen ("Student Seduction," "Too Young to Be a Dad"), Elle Triedman ("Providence," "Cupid") and Eric Tuchman ("Defending Our Kids: The Julie Posey Story") wrote the teleplays.

Emmy(R) Award nominee Jami Gertz ("Still Standing," "Gilda Radner: It's Always Something") stars in "Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story," (wt) a gritty drama based on a true story about a former parole officer who, despite nearly insurmountable odds, sets up a pioneer program in one of America's toughest high schools to help the children of incarcerated parents regain control of their own lives. "Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story" premieres Monday, August 22 at 9PM (ET/PT).

Gertz plays a parole officer who knows that the children of incarcerated parents grow up expecting the same future for themselves. Together with another colleague, she proposes a program to be instituted at a local high school. The class offers help to teenagers with a parent in jail. However, the high school's administration accepts this model program only on a trial basis. Despite appalling obstacles and a fair number of naysayers, the students gradually begin to respond and open up to the officers and their peers. On one of their proudest days, they talk to inmates about their feelings of hurt, loneliness and abandonment, as well as the severe problems in their lives. Although the program is working, the administration warns the two that it will not survive unless all of the seniors are able to pass their final exams and graduate with their class. As the end of the school year approaches, she faces a crisis to save everything she believes in or lose it all.

"Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story" is produced by Once Upon a Time Films for LIFETIME Television. Stan Brooks ("Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss," "On Thin Ice") and Craig Baumgarten ("The Order," "Shattered Glass") are the executive producers. Andy Wolk ("Finding John Christmas," "Deliberate Intent") directs from his own teleplay co-written with Peter Wolk ("The Defenders: Taking the First," "The Defenders: Choice of Evils").

"Strong Medicine" is produced by Sony Pictures Television for LIFETIME Television. Whoopi Goldberg and Tammy Ader are the executive producers and creators of the series. "MISSING" is produced by Lions Gate Television Corp. in association with CHUM Television. Glenn Davis & William Laurin ("Once a Thief," "Power Play") and Debra Martin Chase are executive producers and Vivica A. Fox is co-executive producer of the series based on the 1-800-WHERE- R-YOU novels by best-selling author Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries). Davis and Laurin also serve as series writers.

LIFETIME is the leader in women's television and one of the top-rated basic cable television networks. A diverse, multi-media company, LIFETIME is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. Launched in 1984, LIFETIME serves 88 million households nationwide. In 1998, LIFETIME launched Lifetime Movie Network, now in more than 44 million homes, and in 2001, Lifetime Real Women. LIFETIME Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime Real Women, Lifetime Radio for Women, Lifetime Home Entertainment and Lifetime Online are part of LIFETIME Entertainment Services, a 50/50 joint venture of The Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company.

SOURCE Lifetime Television
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