The story of New Edition will be soon coming to BET.
Deadline reported today that the look will be a three-night miniseries biopic, produced by Real Husbands Of Hollywood’s Jesse Collins. The series will tell the story of the Boston-born pop/R&B group’s rise to fame in the 1980s, when they dominated charts and playlists with hits like “Cool It Now,” “Candy Girl,” and “If It Isn’t Love.”
Maybe the best news in all this is that New Edition members Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ronnie DeVoe, Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant are listed as co-producers. Shooting will begin early next year and it should arrive in our TV screens sometime in 2016.
Here’s more from Deadline:
The untitled three-night miniseries is the first scripted music-focused TV movie to air on BET and falls under a multi-year first-look development deal Collins signed with BET Networks last spring. New Edition’s longtime manager Brooke Payne also will serve as an executive producer. Abdul Williams (Lottery Ticket) will pen the script. A search is underway for a director.
“It’s been a long time coming and that time is finally here! Now that we have signed the deal, New Edition’s journey will be captured in a three-night miniseries to tell our life story through our very own eyes. We are happy to have New Edition Enterprises collaborate with BET Networks’ Debra Lee and Stephen Hill along with Jesse Collins Entertainment,” said New Edition. “From our beginning in the Orchard Park Projects in Boston to Hollywood and everything in between, just like The Temptations and The Jackson Five—we are ready to retrace our footsteps and show everyone how we got here. For the fans all over the world, this one’s for you.”
The band, formed in Boston in 1978, reached the height of its popularity in the 1980s with hits such as “Candy Girl” “Cool It Now” and “Mr. Telephone Man.” The group is credited with kicking off the boy band movement of the ‘80s and ‘90s’, leading the way for groups like New Kids on the Block, The Boys, Boys II Men, Hi-Five, Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.
What a day to be alive.