Rob Sharenow - P 2012
Getty ImagesLifetime is staging a social experiment for the ages.
The female-skewing cable network has set a four-part docuseries exploring what happens to a community when all its women are removed and men are left to run households, businesses and the community.
The Week the Women Went, based on the British social experiment format from the BBC, will take all the women from Yemassee, South Carolina, and put them into isolation, forcing men to handle all the responsibilities during a seven-day experience.
The exploration of gender roles will premiere Wednesday, June 6 from 10-11:30 p.m., with hourlong installments set to air Wednesday, June 13 and 20 at 10 p.m., with a two-hour finale set for Wednesday, June 27 at 10 p.m.
The town — located about 240 miles northwest of Atlanta — was selected after an extensive search. Dr. Wendy Walsh will narrate the project based on the format that premiered on BBC Three in 2005, which became one of the channel’s highest-rated unscripted series of the year. The format has been sold in multiple territories, including Germany, India and Sweden.
BBC Worldwide Productions will produce, with Jon Kroll (Big Brother) on board to executive produce alongside BBC Worldwide Productions’ Elli Hakami (Gold Rush: Alaska) and Jane Tranter (Top Gear). Lifetime’s Rob Sharenow, Gena McCarthy, Colleen Conway and Noah Pollack will exec produce for Lifetime.
The docuseries marks the latest big swing for the female-fronted network, which this week officially announced Lindsay Lohan would portray Elizabeth Taylor in a TV biopic.
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