Fox has greenlighted a new country music themed series. On Friday, the network announced that they’ve approved an entire season to be made on behalf of the new show called “Monarch”. The best part is that one of Nashville’s top music talent managers is involved.
With new country music shows like “Country Comfort” opening to a massive audience, there couldn’t be a better time for Fox to commission a country music drama. Okay, maybe there is, but for some reason, Fox chose this moment, so country music lovers can rejoice. Drama and country music huh? I’m in, and by in I mean that I’d sweep the set floors for free if and only if I’m allowed to get a sneak peek of some of the action happening in the upcoming series.
“Monarch” Details
The upcoming series, formerly referred to as “Untitled Country Music Dynasty”, is set to feature both original songs and covers and will be executive produced by the creator Melissa London Hilfers. Twelve episodes are currently announced for the series.
According to the released logline, the one-hour drama will revolve around a multigenerational music empire that is said to be Texas-sized and will involve America’s first country music family. The Romans are fiercely talented, and while their name is synonymous with honesty, their very foundation is a lie. When their reign as country royalty is threatened, Nicky Roman, the heir to the crown, already battling an industry stacked against her, will stop at nothing to protect her family’s legacy.
Monarch is wholly owned by Fox entertainment and is one of two series in Fox history, the other is “Our Kind of People”, to skip pilot order by advancing directly to a writers’ room commitment. It subsequently got granted a straight to series order.
Fox Entertainment already opened a writers’ room for the series, as reported by Deadline, in August of last year, but it wasn’t operating with the title “Monarch” at the time.
Fox Entertainment to Bring Authenticity to New Country Music Drama
According to a press release, Jason Owen will join Gail Berman and Hend Baghdady as executive producers on the show alongside series creator Melissa London Hilfers and showrunner Michael Rauch.
For those of us who don’t know Jason Owen, while he got his start in television and film, he later moved to Nashville and turned his attention to music. Now, he’s the man who helped shape the careers of several high profile country artists like Shania Twain, Kacey Musgraves, Dan + Shay, Faith Hill, Little Big Town, Kelsea Ballerini, Midland and more. So his involvement with the series is a good sign that Fox is committed to bringing a country music drama that will stay true to country music.
“Music-driven programming is a big part of the DNA of Fox’s success with shows like The Masked Singer, Empire, American Idol and Glee,” Fox Entertainment President Michael Thorn shared with Deadline last year. “We have been looking for new ways to tell stories with music; what’s the next chapter for us in terms of a juicy drama that incorporates music in the storytelling.”
As of yet, no actors are associated with the project and no official date has been announced for when the show could go into production.
Hilfers is repped by UTA, Alan Gasmer and attorney Allison Binder from Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher LLP.
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