Paramount Network to Air ‘Heathers’ Series Over Five Days

By Joe Otterson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The “Heathers” TV series is finally going to make it to air.

The Paramount Network is planning to release the first season of the show ahead of Halloween, but with edits. Beginning Oct. 25, the cable network will air two episodes a night until Oct. 29. The 10-episode series has been condensed down to nine, with certain scenes edited out . The finale will be followed by the premiere of a new Heather’s themed-episode of “Lip Sync Battle” with series stars Melanie Field and Brendan Scannell.

The entire series will also be made available for streaming on the network’s app and website beginning Oct. 22.

“I am beyond excited that American audiences will finally get to see ‘,’” said series showrunner Jason Micallef. “Obviously I wish fans could see the tenth episode but the producers and I felt strongly about not changing anything in it, and so, it’s been considered too controversial for U.S. audiences. Still, every day at this job is a delightful dream so it’s hard to complain. Plus, what matters most is fans will now get to see the satire we all love so much.”

The series adaptation of the cult classic high school dark comedy has had a troubled path to the screen. The series was initially in development at TV Land before moving over to fellow Viacom cabler , with the show meant to serve as one of the early launch pads for the network after the Spike rebrand. It was then pushed from its original March 7 launch date in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida in February. It was then scheduled to launch on July 10, but after another school shooting that killed 10 people at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, in May, Paramount Network decided to pull the show indefinitely.

The show is described a pitch-black comedy anthology set in the present day, featuring a group of all-new Heathers, who have the same character names from the original film, but this time, the outcasts are the ones who have become high school royalty.

Shannon Doherty’s original character Heather Duke will be played by Scannell in the revitalized role of a character who identifies as gender-queer; Heather McNamara (originally played by Lisanne Falk in the film) is now a black lesbian played by Jasmine Mathews; and Heather Chandler (originally Kim Walker in the movie) is played by Field. James Scully and Grace Victoria Cox play J.D. and Veronica, the roles originally played by Christian Slater and Winona Ryder.