Upfronts 2012: Bravo Ups Originals With 11 New Series, Plots Scripted Foray

During Bravo’s annual state of the union at its New York cable upfront presentation, the network announced 11 new series on deck, re-upped eight current shows and offered details on two scripted series eyed for a 2013 premiere.

The new series mark a 27 percent increase in original programming for the cable network.

Of the new orders for Bravo, the most significant might be Silicon Valley and Huh? (both working titles). They mark Bravo’s foray into documenting the digital arena, expanding on its current portfolio of food, fashion, beauty, design and pop culture.

“Our ‘affluencers’ are passionate about our content and are the first to try new technologies and engage in social media,” Bravo media and style president Frances Berwick said of the tech-centric series. “It’s that combination of passion, engagement and curiosity that has powered our development of attention-grabbing experiences and trend-setting digital offerings. And it’s allowed us to drive the conversation and provide unique partnership opportunities across every platform.”

Silicon Valley partners Bravo with Randi Zuckerberg — entrepreneur, executive producer and sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg — for a docu-drama about the intertwining lives of young tech professionals. Huh? goes inside the offices of Ben Huh, the man behind the cat meme site icanhascheezburger.com.  

Also on deck is the fourth entry in the Top Chef franchise, Life After Top Chef, from Magical Elves’ Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz. It highlights the lives of popular past contestants Jen Carroll, Richard Blais, Fabio Viviani and Spike Mendelsohn in their careers after the competition.

Yachting-themed Below Deck, workplace doc Gallery Girls and Real Housewives restaurant series SUR from Beverly Hills’ Lisa Vanderpump, all working titles, also are set for Bravo premieres.

Another Real Housewives spinoff of sorts, The Kandi Factory, comes on the heels of Atlanta star Kandi Burruss‘ well-received special. The singer-songwriter and producer will use the series to consult aspiring musicians.

Miss Advised (RelativityREAL and Ashley Tisdale’s Blondie Girl Productions), following single relationship experts, and Newlyweds: The First Year (Monkey Kingdom), an anthology about couples in their first year of marriage, also received series orders.

The tentatively titled LA Shrinks (Intuitive Entertainment) and Decades (True Entertainment), following psychologists and vintage-clothing peddlers, respectively, round out Bravo’s unscripted orders.

On the scripted front, the two series in development for a possible 2013 premiere are 22 Birthdays and Blowing Sunshine.

Birthdays (working title) comes from UCP Studios, writers and EPs Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein and EPs Doug Liman and Dave Bartis from Hypnotic. It revolves around a group of wealthy parents throwing lavish birthday parties for their private-school children in each episode.

Blowing Sunshine, also a working title from writer and EP Jason Ning, takes place in a fictional rehab for high-profile patients.

Bravo also announced new seasons of Flipping Out, Tabatha Takes Over, Million Dollar Decorators, Top Chef Masters, Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, Chef Roblé & Co., Pregnant in Heels and Inside the Actors Studio.