Lifetime has announced that Greg Berlanti drama You has been renewed for a second season two months before its series premiere in September.
In addition to being the only homegrown scripted series on Lifetime’s slate, helping the show’s early renewal is that Netflix licensed its first-run international SVOD rights in a similar arrangement to NBC’s Good Girls, The CW’s Dynasty, and Syfy’s Nightflyers. This helps cover a significant portion of production expenses and can make shows profitable before even premiering in some cases. It also makes it easier for networks to take on shows not produced by an adjacent studio, which is the case with WB’s You.
Based on the Caroline Kepnes novel of the same name, with season two centered on followup Hidden Bodies, You follows aspiring writer Beck (Elizabeth Lail) as she crosses paths with handsome bookstore manager Joe (Penn Badgley). Though Beck is intrigued by this guy and soon begins forming a connection with him, what she doesn’t know is that Joe will do anything for love, even if it means stalking you on social media, using the Internet to gather intimate personal details to get closer, or taking out anyone who stands in his way.
In addition to Lail and Badgley, You stars Shay Mitchell (Pretty Little Liars), Zach Cherry (Spider-Man: Homecoming), and Luca Padovan (Super Wings!).
The series premiere of You is set to air Sunday, September 9th at 10:00. You can take a look at the show below.
Is the type of show Lifetime should be using to make over its scripted brand? If this show is successful, should Lifetime go after more shows that vaguely resemble their successful movie brand? For those who’ve read the novel this is based on, does it have a narrative that’d support a 10-episode season?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKSYTlSaGik
