By Rick Gables
Ovation will premiere its new decadent drama Riviera on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Following the critically acclaimed, three-season run of the epic drama series Versailles, Ovation continues its tradition of presenting premium artful programming with the debut of Riviera, a scripted drama series starring Julia Stiles, Lena Olin, Anthony LaPaglia, Iwan Rheon, Dimitri Leonidas, Roxane Duran and Adrien Lester. Created by Neil Jordan (The Borgias, The Crying Game), the series masterfully weaves complex characters and an intricate plot, all against the incomparable backdrop of the Cote d’Azur. There is beauty, there is wealth, but audiences will soon learn that all that glitters is not gold. Art curator Georgina Clios, whose husband Constantine, head of the Clios Bank, is killed in a yacht explosion. She must work out who in his family she can trust to help her uncover whether it was an accident, murder, or if Constantine is still alive.
FOX will premiere its live musical event Rent on Sunday, Jan. 27, from 7 to 10 p.m. ET live/PT tape-delayed. The groundbreaking, Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical is a re-imagining of Puccini’s La Boheme, set in New York City’s gritty East Village. Rent tells the unforgettable story of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams during a time of great social and political turmoil. Winner of four Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize, writer/composer Jonathan Larson’s tour de force continues to offer an inspiring message of hope and friendship. The extremely talented ensemble cast for this live event includes Kiersey Clemons, Brandon Victor Dixon, Brennin Hunt, Mario, Tinashe, Valentina and Keala Settle.
TNT will premiere its new limited series I Am the Night on Monday, Jan. 28, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Inspired by true events, the series tells the gripping story of Fauna Hodel (India Eisley), a teenage girl who is given away at birth, and grows up outside of Reno, Nevada. Fauna lives more-or-less comfortably with the mysteries of her origin, until one day she makes a discovery that leads her to question everything. As Fauna begins to investigate the secrets of her past, she meets a ruined reporter (Chris Pine), haunted by the case that undid him. Together they follow a sinister trail that swirls ever closer to Hollywood’s darkest debauchery, and possibly, its most infamous unsolved crime.