The Beautiful Life
The Beautiful Life | |
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Teen drama | |
Created by | Adam Giaudrone |
Starring | |
Opening theme | "Samurai Showdown" by Shane Newville |
Composers |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 (4 unaired) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Production location | New York City |
Running time | 42 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | The CW |
Release | September 16 December 18, 2009 | –
The Beautiful Life (also known as The Beautiful Life: TBL) is an American
On September 25, 2009, The Beautiful Life was canceled after two episodes due to low ratings.
The first five (of six reportedly produced) episodes were streamed on YouTube, with Kutcher stating, in December 2009, "What we feel like we're doing is creating, in some ways, an industry first.... A show that couldn't find its legs on television, we believe can find its legs on the Web."[6] The five episodes, when they first streamed, had been sponsored by HP.[7]
Cast and characters
Main cast
- Mischa Barton as Sonja Stone – A supermodel, who has returned to the fashion scene after a mysterious disappearance for the (secret) birth of her daughter
- Sara Paxton as Raina Marinelli – An aspiring model, who instantly rises to fame
- Ben Hollingsworth as Chris Andrews – A newly appointed model, who is new to the fashion world.
- Corbin Bleu as Isaac Taylor – A once child model who aspires to a career as a DJ.
- Nico Tortorella as Cole Shepherd – A rising underwear model
- Ashley Madekwe as Marissa Delfina – A socialite and backstabbing model
- Elle Macpherson as Claudia Foster – The owner of Covet Models and a mother figure to the models
Recurring
Jaime Murray played a powerful wardrobe stylist, announced as a recurring character who would be eyeing Isaac.[8] Ed Quinn would have played Claudia's husband,[9] and Gal Gadot was cast to play Olivia, a Gisele Bündchen-type supermodel, but neither got the chance after the show's sudden cancellation.[10] Billy Magnussen appeared as Alex, brother to Raina, in what was intended to be a multiple-episode arc.[11]
Guest stars
The first episode shows the models at a
Production notes
The show was largely filmed on location in New York City. Studio interiors were filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios, Queens, New York.
In order to give the show an authentic look and feel, the show's producers negotiated a number of product placement deals and other agreements with various designers and fashion houses. This allowed the costume department to secure the loan of a wide range of genuine designer outfits and accessories for the cast to wear.
Prior to the start of production, as part of her preparations for the role of Sonja Stone, Mischa Barton had her ears pierced for the very first time. This was required in order to comply with one of the product placement deals that the producers of the show had negotiated with various high-end fashion designers. One of the terms of this deal was that Barton's character would wear the designer's earrings and, as most of the earrings were made for pierced ears, Barton had to have her ears pierced especially in order to wear them.[15]
Due to scheduling conflicts with his tour to Australia, magician David Copperfield filmed his cameo scenes for episode 8 in July 2009, before any other filming for the episode had begun. The Sawing In Half illusion that he performed on Mischa Barton was a new boxless version of the illusion which has never been performed publicly, although stills of the scene showing Barton apparently divided in two without any boxes covering her did subsequently appear in a popular magic magazine.[14]
Promotion
The Beautiful Life was heavily promoted through the cast's and producer's Twitter with promotional photos of Sara Paxton, Corbin Bleu, and Ashley Madekwe appearing semi naked with the tag line "What are you looking at?".[16] The Beautiful Life was heavily promoted during New York Fashion Week and through New York magazine. In a very targeted mailing, 4,000 high profile contacts in the fashion and media worlds got a polybagged edition of New York magazine featuring those semi naked shots of the cast and then, during Fashion Week, copies of New York featuring an ad spread and the naughty nudes were handed out in the show tents. The show also received some unplanned publicity due to Mischa Barton's medical issues in the weeks leading up to the start of production.[17]
Ratings and cancellation
The series premiere did poorly with 1.38 million viewers, and a 0.6/2 in Adults 18–49, 0.8/2 in Adults 18–34, and 1.1/3 in Women 18–34. The second episode also drew in low numbers, with a 0.6/2 rating with adults 18–49, with only 1.1 million viewers.[18] The show was officially cancelled on September 25, 2009, due to the poor reception.[19]
Reception
On
Robert Bianco of
International airings
The show was originally announced as being part of the Autumn schedule of Ireland's
Episodes
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers / Online views (millions) | |
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1 | "Pilot" | Christian Duguay | Adam Giaudrone | September 16, 2009 Released online December 15, 2009 | 1.38 Views online: 0.94 | |
Raina Marinelli is a stunning beauty with a secret past. She makes an unforgettable impression while strutting down the runway in a Zac Posen gown during New York Fashion Week, and effectively steals the spotlight away from fellow model Sonja Stone. Sonja has been out of the country for mysterious reasons. She is now desperate to convince her agent, Claudia Foster, that she can reclaim her status as the reigning supermodel. Deemed the new "it" girl, Raina soon meets Chris Andrews, a strikingly handsome Iowa farm boy just entering the modeling world. Raina takes him to the "models' residence" where she lives along with other young hopefuls, including Marissa Delfina, Isaac Taylor and the current alpha-male model known as Cole Shepherd. | ||||||
2 | "The Beautiful Aftermath" | Michael Lehmann | Anna Fricke & Mike Kelley | September 23, 2009 Released online December 15, 2009 | 1.04 Views online: 0.69 | |
Chris believes his chances at a modeling career are over and prepares to leave New York City until he receives a surprise phone call from Claudia. Claudia informs Raina that she needs to focus more on her career and less on her new relationship with Chris. Isaac confronts Vivienne about her behavior towards him at a go-see, and the two end up working out an arrangement that serves both their needs. Marissa accuses Sonja of stealing the Versace campaign from her and decides to seek revenge in a very public way, which leads Sonja to Cole for assistance. Marissa invites Raina's brother, Alex to a party hosted by Nina Garcia, where more secrets about Raina's past are revealed. | ||||||
3 | "The Beautiful Lie" | Sanford Bookstaver | Dailyn Rodriguez | Never aired on television Released online December 16, 2009 | Views online: 0.78 | |
Raina has an unpleasant meeting with her brutal ex-con father whom she finally gets the nerve to stand up to. Meanwhile, Sonja must face the consequences when a revealing photo of her goes public, while she continues to ask Cole to keep the existence of her newborn baby daughter a secret from the public. Also, Chris tries to help Raina and her brother Alex when Russian mobsters give a lot of trouble for Alex over his past business. | ||||||
4 | "The Beautiful Triangle" | Michael Fields | Lisa Henthorn & Jonathon Roessler | Never aired on television Released online December 18, 2009 | Views online: 0.64 | |
Raina and Cole's stars begin to skyrocket as they begin work on the Calvin Klein ad. Chris, on the other hand will find his initial success at the Details shoot fade, as he explores the less glamorous side of the industry from the outside looking in. Sonja books a major campaign that comes with strings attached. Marissa embarks on a business relationship with Alex while Isaac realizes his relationship with Vivienne is more complicated than he imagined when he meets an aspiring young model. | ||||||
5 | "The Beautiful Campaign" | Norman Buckley | Adam Giaudrone | Never aired on television Released online December 18, 2009 | Views online: 0.83 | |
The unveiling of the Calvin Klein billboard in Times Square and the interest from W Magazine starts to take a toll on Raina as she continues to struggle with her feelings for Cole. Problems arise in Claudia's marriage with Richard while Sonja's working on the campaign. Marissa steals a one of a kind pair of shoes from Max Azaria when she doesn't get booked for the Herve Leger show. |
Episodes online
On December 17, 2009, executive producer Ashton Kutcher reported on The Beautiful Life's official YouTube channel that because of the cancellation, the remaining four episodes would be carried online, with a hope that additional episodes could be produced if viewer demand was high enough. Only five of the six produced episodes were released on the program's
References
- ^ "Mischa Barton Opts for 'A Beautiful Life'". The Hollywood Reporter. March 13, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009 – via Reuters.
- ^ Rao, Priya (July 28, 2009). "Material Girls: The Stars of 'The Beautiful Life'". wwd.com. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
- ^ Rice, Lynette (September 25, 2009). "CW cancels Mischa Barton starrer 'The Beautiful Life'". ew.com. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
- ^ CW Cancels "The Beautiful Life", The Hollywood Reporter, September 25, 2009
- ^ Sidman, Amanda (November 17, 2009). "CW mulls resurrecting Mischa Barton's 'The Beautiful Life;' unaired episodes to run this summer". Daily News. New York. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
- ^ Fischer, Molly (December 17, 2009). "Mischa Returns to the (Very) Small Screen". New York Observer. Archived from the original on January 6, 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
- ^ Baar, Aaron (December 19, 2009). "HP To Sponsor 'Beautiful Life' On YouTube". MarketingDaily. Archived from the original on January 18, 2010. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
- ^ Godwin, Jennifer (August 17, 2009). "Dexter Diva Joins The Beautiful Life". au.eonline.com.
- ^ Godwin, Jennifer (August 25, 2009). "True Blood Star Joins CW's The Beautiful Life". au.eonline.com.
- ^ "ABC, CW freshmen add cast". The Hollywood Reporter. August 19, 2009.
- ^ O'Connor, Mickey; Bryant, Adam (August 25, 2009). "Mega Buzz: Scoop on House, Numbers, 24, and More!". tvguide.com.
- ^ Abrams, Natalie (August 19, 2009). "Mischa Barton Dabbles With Drugs in The Beautiful Life". au.eonline.com.
- ^ Bryant, S. "David Copperfield To Debut New Boxless Sawing In Half On Fashion Industry TV Drama". Genii magazine, August 2009, (Vol 72, No 8.).
- ^ a b Farmer, R., "David Copperfield Performs New Sawing In Half On Mischa Barton For TV Drama", Magic magazine, Vol.18 No.12 (August 2009).
- ^ "Mischa Barton, January 2010". flickr.com. January 20, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
- ^ Daniels, Karu F. (September 28, 2009). "The CW: Canceling 'The Beautiful Life' After Only Two Weeks". bvnewswire.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
- Daily Telegraph, July 28, 2009.
- ^ "Two and out For The CW's Beautiful Life". thefutoncritic.com. September 25, 2009.
- ^ "The CW Cancels Mischa Barton's 'Beautiful Life' After TWO Episodes". Huffington Post. September 25, 2009. Archived from the original on September 27, 2009. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e "The Beautiful Life: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- ^ Robert Lloyd (September 16, 2009). "'The Beautiful Life' thin on vision". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Hinckley, David (September 15, 2009). "Mischa Barton, Elle Macpherson and 'The Beautiful Life' add little to the fashion TV landscape". The New York Daily News. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- ^ Lowry, Brian (September 11, 2009). "The Beautiful Life". Variety. Archived from the original on November 18, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- ^ a b c Bianco, Robert (September 15, 2009). "CW's model series 'Beautiful Life' struts its vapid stuff". USA Today. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- ^ Goodman, Tim (September 4, 2009). "TV reviews: 'Melrose Place,' 'Vampire Diaries'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- ^ a b Stasi, Linda (September 16, 2009). "So-called 'Life'". The New York Post. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- ^ Osterhout, Jacob E. (December 17, 2009). "'The Beautiful Life' will get second life online; ill-fated CW show headed for the Web". Daily News. New York.
External links
- The Beautiful Life at IMDb
- The Beautiful Life: TBL's channel on YouTube