NEW ON TV: E! Entertainment Moves Into Scripted Programming, Rebrands With New Logo

E! Entertainment (DStv channel 124) unveiled this new logo as well as a new tag-line of “Pop of Culture” which will come into effect on E! Entertainment in America on 9 July, and which I can reveal will also happen for E! Entertainment as seen in Africa a month later in September 2012.

E! Entertainment wants to make the brand more aspirational. The emphasis for E! Entertainment – as fronted by the new tag-line – will be to in the centre of popular culture. The E! Entertainment website will also be relaunching with a new look in July.

“From news to reality to live events, E! lives at the epicenter of pop culture,” says Suzanne Kolb, E! Entertainment president in a statement. “For us, this exciting next chapter is all about never letting anyone go a minute without their “pop of culture’.”

The rebrand will happen in July in America to co-incide with the first of many brand-new shows E! Entertainment is launching as it starts scripted television in the form of dramas and comedies, and E! says the refresh will be seen in Africa from September this year on the channel.

E! Entertainment will is moving into scripted television shows for the first time with a large number of brand-new TV dramas and comedies.

Since African TV viewers see the European feed of E! Entertainment which uses a major chunk of the TV content on E! Entertainment in America, the likelihood is very great that Africa will get to see these shows too.

I’ve asked but E! Entertainment in Britain could not yet confirm which of the new scripted shows will be shown and seen in Africa, but here is the exciting new TV dramas and comedies E! Entertainment is planning to bring to the channel.

Dorothy: is a contemporary tale inspired by The Wizard of Oz. A girl from Kansas City falls for a man and moves with him to the Emerald City to work at his Emerald Hotel.

Anne of Hollywood: is the story of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, but taking place in present-day Hollywood. Based on the bestselling novel by Carol Wolper, the story of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII is reset in present-day Hollywood … “the flashiest, most treacherous court of all.” drama will have love, passion, intrigue, betrayal, infidelity and conspiracy.

The 400: will chronicle the rise of the Vanderbilt dynasty. The rise of the Vanderbilt dynasty is chronicled in this sprawling, stylized and fast-paced drama set in New York high society of the 1890s.

An untitled assistant project: Ambition bordering on insubordination fuels the lives of a group of executive assistants who are seemingly loyal minions to their high-powered bosses. However, when their superiors are out of the office, the gloves come off as these aspiring titans plot their way up the corporate ladder.

Juror #9: is a legal thriller, Amy Devlin Mysteries is a detective procedural and Fascination Street is a show taking place in two time periods about brothers investigating the disappearance.

Upstarts: takes place in America’s Silicon Valley during the dotcom boom of the late 1990’s. Three big dreamers seek to grab their share of wealth and glory amidst Silicon Valley’s digital gold rush of the late 1990s. Fueled by power, money, sex and politics, these three will stop at nothing to earn a spot atop the digital food chain.

”Our strategy is centered on telling compelling stories that reflect pop culture relevancy in unique and irreverent ways, and these scripted series will complement E!’s already diverse mix of reality, topical, news and comedy franchises,” says E!’s president of entertainment programming Lisa Berger in a press statement.

“The response from the creative community has been incredibly positive and we are excited to be in business with such high-caliber writers, producers and directors.”