'Lipstick Jungle' Kisses Writers Goodbye

Zap2It.com | July 19, 2007

'Lipstick Jungle' stars Lindsay Price, Brooke Shields and Kim Raver

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Midseason NBC show going 'in new direction'

NBC's midseason dramedy "Lipstick Jungle" will get a behind-the-scenes makeover as the show has parted ways with two of its executive producers.

Showrunners DeAnn Heline and Eileen Heisler were let go this week after NBC and producer Universal Media Studios decided to take the show "in a new creative direction," according to The Hollywood Reporter. The cast is expected to remain intact, although a previously announced recasting for the husband of Brooke Shields' character -- played by Chris Wiehl ("Love Monkey") in the pilot -- will still go forward.

"Lipstick Jungle," based on a novel of the same name by "Sex and the City" author Candace Bushnell, has taken a long road to the small screen. It was first developed for the 2006-07 season, with Bushnell and Robin Schiff ("Miss Match," "Grosse Pointe") writing the script and Gina Gershon attached to star.

That version went under but was followed by a new script written by "My So-Called Life" veteran Jill Gordon, the HR says. Heline and Heisler, veterans of "Three Sisters," "Committed" and "How I Met Your Mother," joined the project last fall and wrote their own draft.

The show is now searching for a new showrunner, who will serve as an exec producer alongside Bushnell. The changes will also push the start of production back to late fall, but the show isn't due on the air until January at the earliest.

"Lipstick Jungle" stars Shields, Kim Raver ("24") and Lindsay Price ("Pepper Dennis") as longtime friends and power players in their respective fields -- show business, magazine publishing and fashion, respectively. It's slated to air on Sunday nights following the end of NBC's NFL coverage.

Heline and Heisler won't necessarily be out of work for too long. ABC is still considering their comedy pilot "The Middle," having extended the options on its cast earlier this month.