THE SKED: “Devious Maids” Takes A Walk to Lifetime

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It’s rare for a busted network pilot to find a home somewhere else, but DEVIOUS MAIDS, which had been created by Desperate Housewives‘ Marc Cherry initially for ABC (and by its in-house studio), has accomplished the feat.  Lifetime has adopted the serialized comic soap with a 13-episode order to begin airing in 2013, presumably as a companion to one of the network’s successful series like The Client List or Army Wives.  The economics of basic cable are different than those of the broadcast networks, so the series, while set in Beverly Hills, will shoot in Atlanta for the tax incentives, and at least one role from the ABC version will be eliminated.  ABCP produces Army Wives, so they’re very familiar with the way Lifetime’s budgets work.  (In addition, Lifetime already airs the cable reruns of Desperate Housewives.)

Maids is a comic soap that concerns the struggles and aspirations of 5 women who toil for the rich, and it stars Ana Ortiz, Judy Reyes, Dania Ramirez, Roselyn Sanchez and Susan Lucci (the latter already recurs on Lifetime’s Army Wives, so she’ll be right at home).  Aside from Cherry, the Executive Producers include Eva Longoria.