First on TVNewser: ABC News is moving forward with another documentary series detailing the daily life of doctors, nurses, employees and patients at a prominent hospital.
This time, the series will be set at New York Presbyterian, with filming set to take place at its Cornell and Columbia campuses starting in February, and continuing through the Summer. The seven-part series will debut on ABC in “the spring or summer of 2012,” according to a memo that was sent to employees of NY Presbyterian.
“The series will be a fresh look at life inside a top-ranked academic medical center and will focus on dramatic and inspirational stories told in the words and from the point of view of patients and their health care providers,” the memo said.
As was the case with ABC’s previous medical documentary efforts “Hopkins 24/7” in 2000, “Hopkins” in 2008 and “Boston Med” in 2010, producer Terence Wrong will be at the helm of the new project.
At the Television Critics Association Winter press tour, new ABC News President Ben Sherwood said that docs like the ones Wrong produces could have a more prominent place in ABC’s primetime lineup:
“My mandate is not just to do those in the summertime,” Sherwood said. “Through a much closer relationship with Entertainment and a closer relationship with the network itself, my hope is that ABC News is called upon to produce compelling and riveting primetime programming, not just during those summer months, but during the rest of the year.”
He also hinted that there was another doc series in the works, saying:
“As a viewer, I was riveted by those series. As the new leader of this organization, I’m excited to look at ideas that they have. And there is one in particular that is in the works that we have approval for and that I am really excited to get to watch on television. You know those take a little while to produce, but Terence Wrong is a brilliant producer. Those programs bring audiences, and they remind viewers fundamentally about what ABC does.”