Lea Thompson and Wendie Malick to Head The Chicken Sisters Adaptation at Hallmark
KJ Dell’Antonia’s best-selling 2020 novel The Chicken Sisters is being adapted into a new original TV series at Hallmark, TVLine has learned.
A family drama with southern charm and romance, the eight-episode Chicken Sisters series is set in the fictional town of Merinac, “where a generations-old rift between dueling fried chicken restaurants — Mimi’s and Frannie’s — has left the founders’ families fractured and the locals taking sides,” reads its official description. “When popular cooking competition show Kitchen Clash comes to town, this could be the recipe for ending this feud once and for all. But things are fixing to heat up both inside and outside of the kitchen as the reality show spotlight causes sparks to fly as secrets are spilled and feathers get ruffled.”
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Lea Thompson (Switched at Birth) and Wendie Malick (Hot in Cleveland) will star alongside Schuyler Fisk (Castle Rock) and Genevieve Angelson (Good Girls Revolt). Rounding out the cast are James Kot (Christmas on Cherry Lane, Virgin River), Rukiya Bernard (Yellowjackets, Van Helsing), Ektor Rivera (StartUp) and Jake Foy (Ride), and Margo Martindale (The Americans) as the show’s narrator.
Annie Mebane (Shrinking) serves as executive producer and showrunner on the series, which will premiere mid-September, exclusively on the streaming service Hallmark+.
“Annie Mebane blew us away with her vision for The Chicken Sisters — her unique spin and enthusiasm for this fried chicken feud had us excited from Day 1,” EVP of programming, Hallmark Media, Lisa Hamilton Daly said in a statement. “And talk about a dream cast! Schuyler, Genevieve, Lea and Wendie are the perfect actors to lead this witty and heartfelt story. We are confident that each episode is going leave our viewers craving more and more.”
Added Mebane: “When I read The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell’Antonia, I fell in love with these characters. On the surface, the show is about two restaurants competing on a reality show, but it’s about the baggage we pass down through the generations and learning to unpack it. I love telling this multigenerational story focused on women: their frustrations, their desires, and ultimately, their healing. We’ve assembled an incredible cast, and we can’t wait to welcome audiences to Merinac.”
Thompson most recently starred in the CW/CTV series The Spencer Sisters, which is not expected to return for Season 2, the actress revealed on Instagram.
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