Heathers (TV series)

• Grace Victoria Cox as Veronica Sawyer, a self-described "good person" who struggles with her sense of identity and is a part of the most popular clique of Westerberg. Maisie de Krassel portrays a young Veronica in four episodes.
• Melanie Field as Heather Chandler, the social justice warrior leader of the most popular clique of Westerberg's senior class and the queen bee of the school. She has gained major traction on a number social media platforms. Emma Shannon portrays a young Heather in a guest appearance in the episode "Reindeer Games".
• James Scully as Jason "JD" Dean, Veronica's love interest and a new student at Westerburg with the tendency to wax poetic about the adolescent experience. Maverick Thompson portrays a young JD in a guest appearance in the pilot episode.
• Brendan Scannell as Heather "Heath" Duke, a member of the Heathers who identifies as genderqueer. She is Heather Chandler's second-in-command and does not hesitate to talk down to whomever she views as lesser than her. Jack R. Lewis portrays a young Heath in a guest appearance in the episode "Do I Look Like Mother Teresa?".
• Jasmine Mathews as Heather McNamara, a biracial girl who identified a lesbian but, after being exposed for having an affair with an adult faculty member, is outed and becomes a social pariah. She is the most naive and timid member of the Heathers.

• Selma Blair as Jade Duke, Heather Duke's step-mother, a stripper and menthol smoker who's biding her time until her 82-year-old husband dies (4 episodes).
• Shannen Doherty as Mrs. Dean, JD's mom who committed suicide when he was just a child. She also appears as Dr. Destiny during a hallucination in the episode "Reindeer Games" (3 episodes).

On August 27, 2009, Sony Pictures Television announced that Heathers was to be adapted for television to air on Fox. Mark Rizzo was hired to write the series, and Jenny Bicks was to co-produce with Lakeshore Entertainment.[10] The program was described as a modernized version of the original story, and all characters from the film were expected to be scripted into the adaptation.[11]

On September 12, 2012, it was announced that the television network Bravo would begin developing a Heathers reboot unrelated to the earlier announcement by Sony Pictures Television. The storyline was to pick up twenty years after the events of the film when Veronica returns home to Sherwood, Ohio with her teenage daughter, who had to contend with the next generation of mean girls, all named "Ashley". They were to all be the daughters of the two surviving Heathers. Neither Ryder nor Slater were attached to the project.[12] However, in August 2013, Bravo declined to order the series.[13]

On January 13, 2017, TV Land ordered a newly developed iteration of the series, described as an anthology dark comedy set in the present day. The series was set to be written by Jason Micallef and Tom Rosenberg, with Gary Lucchesi serving as an executive producer for Lakeshore Entertainment.[14] On January 13, 2017, Heathers was ordered to series at TV Land.[15]

On March 16, 2017, it was reported that the series would move to Paramount Network, a planned rebranding of TV Land's sister network Spike.[16] On June 1, 2018, however, it was announced that Paramount Network had dropped the series due to concerns over its content in the wake of recent school shootings in the United States. It was reported that the series' producers had begun to shop the series to other broadcasters, and that writing for a potential second season had neared completion, which would take place in an entirely different setting than the first season and original film.[2] By July 16, 2018, it was reported that both Netflix and Freeform had passed on the series.[17] On October 4, 2018, it was announced that Viacom and Paramount Network had reversed their decision on the series and that, following various edits and a reduction in episode count from 10 to 9, the series would premiere on the cable network on October 25, 2018.[18]

On October 11, 2016, it was announced that James Scully and Grace Victoria Cox had been cast in the male and female leads J.D. and Veronica.[19] Later that month, Melanie Field, Brendan Scannell, and Jasmine Mathews joined the main cast as the titular "Heathers" (Heather Chandler, Heather Duke, and Heather McNamara, respectively).[20] On November 22, 2016, it was announced that original film cast member Shannen Doherty had been cast as a pivotal character in the series' pilot episode.[21] It was later reported that she is set to appear in three of the first season's episodes in total.[22] On June 23, 2017, Birgundi Baker and Cameron Gellman signed onto the series in the recurring roles of Lizzy and Kurt, respectively.[23] On July 6, 2017, it was reported that Selma Blair had been cast in the recurring role of Jade, "the gold-digging stepmother to Heather Duke" who is described as "a stripper menthol smoker who is rough around the edges, but with a bit of glamour to her."[24]

In November 2016, the series' pilot began production in Los Angeles, California.[21] Principal photography for the rest of the first season took place from spring through fall of 2017 in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles. Locations utilized for filming included the Rancho San Antonio which is being used to portray Westerburg High School.[25]

On August 28, 2017, the Paramount Network released a teaser trailer for the series alongside a series of posters, each depicting a different character.[26] On February 18, 2018, the first official trailer for the series was released.[27] Beginning on February 12, 2018, a series of promotional posters, each depicting a different character, were released.[28] On October 23, 2018, a clip from the series featuring Selma Blair as her character Jade was released.[29] A day later, a second clip was released[30] and a day after that a third clip was released as well.[31]

The series was initially set to debut on March 7, 2018.[32] However, on February 28, 2018, it was announced that the premiere would be delayed in light of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.[33] Paramount Network released a statement explaining their decision saying, "Paramount Network's original series Heathers is a satirical comedy that takes creative risks in dealing with many of society's most challenging subjects ranging from personal identity to race and socio-economic status to gun violence. While we stand firmly behind the show, in light of the recent tragic events in Florida and out of respect for the victims, their families and loved ones, we feel the right thing to do is delay the premiere until later this year."[34] On March 14, 2018, Viacom suspended programming across all of its networks, including Paramount Network, for 17 minutes due to its support of student-led protests and campaigns that emerged in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas shootings.[35]

On May 1, 2018, it was announced that the series would officially premiere on Paramount Network on July 10, 2018.[36] On June 1, 2018, it was reported that Paramount Network had dropped the series entirely, and that it would be shopped to other networks. Viacom executives became increasingly uncomfortable with airing the program due to its themes; another major school shooting, the Santa Fe High School shooting, had occurred in May 2018. Keith Cox, the network's president of development, noted that the pilot had been filmed "before the climate changed", and that "the combination of a high school show with these very dark moments didn't feel right".[2]

On October 4, 2018, it was reported that the series would premiere on October 25, 2018 on Paramount Network over the course of five nights. The series was edited for content by the network resulting in numerous cuts or changes including the removal of a scene in the finale where Westerburg High School is blown-up and the altering of a scene in episode 5 that featured a first-person video game with teachers holding guns. Ultimately, the edits resulted in the number of episodes being reduced from 10 to 9, with the Paramount Network's dedicated application and website on October 22, 2018. Following the premiere of the final episode on October 29, 2018, a Heathers-themed episode of Lip Sync Battle was slated to air featured guests including Melanie Field and Brendan Scannell.[18]

Following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on October 27, 2018, Paramount Network decided to pull episodes seven and eight from their schedule and declined to broadcast them on television. The two episodes had previously been made available on Paramount Network's official website and application on October 22, 2018. The ninth and final episode ultimately aired on October 29, 2018 as originally scheduled.[7][37]

Though Paramount Network had pulled the series, the production companies involved with the show had already sold the series' international broadcast rights. The series airs on HBO Europe in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. It started airing twice a week on July 11, 2018 on HBO Europe streaming service with a weekly run airing on television beginning in September in those territories. Additionally, HBO Europe subscribers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden started getting episodes twice a week on the streaming service on July 11, 2018. Subscribers in Spain and Andorra got the first three episodes on HBO Europe streaming service on the same date, with the remaining installments dropping on July 18, 2018. Additionally, HBO Europe subscribers in Portugal, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea, Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe begin streaming the series on a future date. Digiturk licensed the series in Turkey and Cyprus for premium subscribers with weekly episodes launching July 20, 2018. In Greece, OTE began broadcasting one episode a week starting on July 15, 2018. In Iceland, Síminn's video-on-demand service began streaming the series on July 12, 2018.[17] In Australia, every episode of the series launched on September 28, 2018 on Stan.[38] In the United Kingdom, the series is available in its original 10 episodes version on StarzPlay.[39]

Coinciding with the American premiere of the series, Lakeshore Records released two soundtracks for the series. On October 12, 2018, Lakeshore released Heathers - Original Television Series Soundtrack featuring songs from the series by various artists including DJ Shadow, Poison, and Peggy Lee. A limited vinyl edition was released in Urban Outfitters stores on January 25, 2019.[40] On October 19, 2018, Lakeshore released Heathers - Original Television Series Score consisting of the show's original score composed by Chris Alan Lee.[41][42]

All music is composed by Chris Alan Lee.