Bravo Announces New Night of Reality Shows

Bravo is Planning a Reality-heavy Thursday Schedule with New Shows About Luxury Living, Paula Abdul

The Bravo television network announced Wednesday that its plans for the upcoming year include a new night of all original reality-based programming. The new season features several promising shows, including a new documentary series about the daily life of American Idol judge Paula Abdul.

Bravo's schedule of new series will include "Welcome To The Parker," which is set behind the scenes at the prestigious Parker Palm Springs luxury hotel. The show will profile the people who work at the hotel, as well as a spate of guests who come to visit the swank establishment. Another series, "Flipping Out," will follow a house-flipping Hollywood real estate mogul as he sets up multi-million dollar deals in some of Los Angeles' most exclusive neighborhoods. Rounding out the trio is "First Class All The Way," a look at the life of luxury travel consultant Sara Duffy.

These three new Bravo shows that focus on the lifestyle of some of the wealthiest members of the upper class in America may have been developed in response to this season's successful "The Real Housewives Of Orange County."

The network also plans to debut a documentary series about Paula Abdul, the former cheerleader pop star and current tastemaker as a judge for hit Fox show "American Idol." The new series will be called "Hey Paula!"

No firm debut dates for the new shows have been announced, but it is expected that at least some of the shows will play in primetime on Thursday nights next year.

Bravo has newly dubbed Thursday a night of fully original programming, designed to attract a younger demographic of viewers. Spokespeople for Bravo told reporters that the network's marketing strategy this year is to attract new viewers in the coveted 18 - 49 year old demographic, rather than focusing on the 25 - 54 year olds which currently make up a large percentage of the network's audience. In the past year, the network has enjoyed a 22% increase in the amount of 18 - 49 year old viewers tuning in during primetime hours.