'Rise of the Pink Ladies' Explained: The Cast Breaks Down 'Grease' Prequel Series (Exclusive)

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International The Kardashians are heading back to E! — sort of. The NBCUniversal-backed cabler has acquired two-part series “The Kardashians: A Billion Dollar Dynasty,” which will air on E! in the U.S. on May 1. The show marks the family’s return to E!, which was the home of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” for more than 20 seasons. After the reality behemoth concluded in 2021, the clan struck a deal with streamer Hulu for “The Kardashians,” which launched in 2022 and was recently renewed for Season 3. The Optomen-produced two-part “specialty” series, which is being sold internationally by All3Media International, details how the family became one of the world’s most recognized brands, and changed the face of social media while achieving extreme wealth.

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The lead stars of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies made an appearance at Deadline’s Contenders Television awards-season event to talk about their experiences on the musical.

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McKinley Franklin author “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” might not spotlight characters from the original 1978 film like Didi Conn’s Frenchy or Stockard Channing’s Rizzo, but it does set the stage for their impending reign on Rydell High. Though tampering with any reiteration of the cultural cornerstone that is “Grease” has proven unsuccessful in the past, showrunner Annabel Oakes was clearly up for the challenge. So, how does one begin to cast the characters for a prequel television series based on the beloved movie? Casting directors Leigh Ann Smith and Conrad Woolfe of Indigo Casting accredit showrunner Oakes’ clear vision. “[Oakes] had lived in that world with these characters for so long,” Smith tells Variety. Adds Woolfe, “We didn’t necessarily feel pressure [casting these characters] because Oakes had done such an incredible job of expanding the universe in her imagination before we even came to the table to do the casting.”

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. For some, one of the best scene in 1978’s “Grease” is when Sandra sleeps over with her new group of girl friends from Rydell High as they sing “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee,” hair rollers in and heartthrob celebrities like Elvis plastered on their teenage girl bedroom walls. Now, the origins of that beloved girl gang, who call themselves the Pink Ladies, are at the center of a new prequel series on Paramount+, released today. Set in 1954, four years before Sandy and Danny’s whirlwind romance, “Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies,” explores how four Rydell High outcasts forged a friendship and became the forebears to the Pink Ladies from the original film, such as Rizzo and Frenchy. However, despite the retro time period, the directors chose to present the story through a more progressive 2023 lens, imbuing ideas about sexual orientation and race throughout its 10 episodes.

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told The Guardian in an oral history for the movie recently. “It is a non-PC fairytale that is better for the cast not being teens,” the filmmaker went on.

Mama June Shannon and her family don't have an easy road ahead of them on the newest season of ET has an exclusive sneak peek of the drama-packed series, complete with Mama June's wedding planning and an intense family therapy session. The clip shows snippets of June's impending nuptials with her new husband, Justin, but the celebrations are frequently interrupted by her tenuous relationship with her daughters. Audiences hear Lauren «Pumpkin» Elfird say that she hasn't talked to her mother since the family's highly publicized court battle over Alana «Honey Boo Boo» Thompson's child support.

, an all-new installment in the  franchise that expands the world of Rydell High and its two most formidable school cliques, the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds. In fact, the original musical series focuses on the former as it shows how an unlikely group of girls came together to form a refuge for the female misfits that they were on the verge of becoming and helped them transform into the coolest coeds in school.Simply put: «It's about four outcast girls [who] can’t really find their place at Rydell High, so they come together and they decide to start breaking rules,» Cheyenne Isabel Wells tells ET, before Ari Notartomaso adds, «And join a girl gang.»   The cast, including Wells (Olivia), Notartomaso (Cynthia), Marisa Davila (Jane) and Tricia Fukuhara (Nancy), as well as showrunner Annabel Oakes and music producer Justin Tranter break down what's in store for, from the catchy new song-and-dance numbers to the many connections to the original films.

Since the end of “Game of Thrones” in 2019, star Kit Harington has clearly been very particular with what projects he signs on to do. It makes sense, as his time of ‘Thrones’ dominated his work schedule for years, so now he just wants to do projects that seem worth the time.

Amber Dowling Even in the streaming wars era, with programmers gambling on new concepts in order to gain and retain subscribers, schedules aren’t brimming with musicals. That’s because TV musicals are hard. And as a general rule, they rarely stick — even when well executed. Sure, for every “Galavant” and “Eli Stone” there’s a “Glee,” a “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” or a “Smash,” which was a delightful disaster for two seasons. But even “Glee” had its own set of pacing and storyline problems after the surprising first season. “Smash” failed to catch fire in the ratings despite its cult following, and “Zoey” barely held on during its two-season (and a movie) run. As for Apple TV+’s “Schmigadoon!,” the proof will be in the (corn) pudding as to whether it can sustain its momentum when Season 2 debuts this month.

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Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies has been praised in early reviews, albeit with some caveats.The musical comedy series serves as a prequel to the 1978 classic Grease, taking place four years prior in 1954 to tell the origin story of the Pink Ladies girl gang.According to a synopsis, the show “follows four fed-up and misfit students who band together to bring out the moral panic that will change Rydell High forever and become the founding mothers of the first high school clique known as the Pink Ladies”.Ahead of the show’s UK premiere on Paramount+ on April 7, critics have released reviews of the show’s first four episodes which paint an encouraging picture.Entertainment Weekly, who awarded the show a B- rating, described the show as “uneven” but “when Rise Of The Pink Ladies leans in to this vision of the protagonists as equal-rights innovators, it sings”. It adds that these highlights are “too often muffled by a surplus of mostly forgettable music, overly long episodes, and lukewarm central love stories”.ScreenRant particularly praised the show’s cast and said the series “offers plenty of enjoyment” even if it doesn’t justify its existence: “Regardless of whether this is a show that needed to be made, Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies is an entertaining trip into Rydell’s past, and one that deserves some credit for facing thorny topics head on.”In a C+ review, Consequence was slightly more critical, saying that it suffers from being connected to the Grease IP.

Charna Flam “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” music producer and songwriter Justin Tranter says their prolific career actually started with a passion for musicals. “Musicals are why I started making music as a kid. Even though I was in a rock band and now I make pop music, musicals are why I started making music in the first place,” the Grammy-nominated songwriter told Variety at the Paramount+ series’ premiere Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Tranter has worked with Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, the Chicks, Leon Bridges, Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber, just to name a few. After “fighting hard” to join “Rise of the Pink Ladies” and providing demos for showrunner Annabel Oakes, the two then teamed up with choreographer Jamal Sims for the series. Along with some co-writers, Tranter wrote and produced 30 original songs for the 10-episode season.

Sports Illustrated Studios & 101 Studios has partnered with future Hall of Famer Stephen Curry and his Unanimous Media to produce a narrative film and a documentary about the All Star Café. The projects will be based on Jon Wertheim’s 2020 Sports Illustrated article.