Paramount+ - Grease is the word, the song and video from the Paramount+ series Grease: rise of the Pink Ladies

By Mulder, 10 march 2023

The spin-off series Grease was ordered by WarnerMedia in October 2019 under the title Grease: Rydell High, intended to air on their streaming service HBO Max In April 2020, Annabel Oakes was hired to write the pilot episode and act as executive producer of the series In May 2020, the title of the series was changed to Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, and it was announced that the series is scheduled to premiere in 2021. 

In October 2020, it was announced that the series would instead premiere on Paramount+ after HBO and HBO Max Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys decided not to move forward with the series at HBO Max. Along with the network switch, Annabel Oakes was announced as the series creator In July 2021, the series received a ten-episode series order officially from Paramount+. Marty Bowen and Erik Feig have joined the series as executive producers. Alethea Jones was announced as producer in October 2021 and will also direct the first episode. The series was originally slated to be shot in California after receiving a tax credit for filming in the state. On January 31, 2022, it was reported that production had begun in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Grease is the word is the cover of the iconic song Grease, written by Barry Gibb and performed by Frankie Valli, which opened the 1978 film. Grease is the word is one of 30 songs from the first season of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies produced by Justin Tranter (executive music producer and Grammy-nominated songwriter). Each of her songs is choreographed by Jamal Sims.   

The first two episodes of the 10-part musical series will launch on Thursday, April 6, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada. They will be available the following day, April 7, in France as well as the United Kingdom, Australia, Latin America, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. A new episode will be released weekly on Thursdays for subscribers in the U.S. and Canada, and on Fridays for subscribers in France, the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Produced by Paramount Television Studios, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies stars Marisa Davila (Jane), Cheyenne Isabel Wells (Olivia), Ari Notartomaso (Cynthia), Tricia Fukuhara (Nancy), Shanel Bailey (Hazel), Madison Thompson (Susan), Johnathan Nieves (Richie), Jason Schmidt (Buddy), Maxwell Whittington-Cooper (Wally), and Jackie Hoffman (Deputy Principal McGee). 

The musical series takes place four years before the action of the original Grease movie. In 1954, before the advent of rock'n'roll and the T-Birds rule the high school, four rebellious, slightly jaded girls decide to have fun in their own way, forever upsetting the moral order of Rydell High School. 

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies is written and produced by Annabel Oakes (Atypical, Minx), who is also showrunner and directed one of the episodes. Alethea Jones (Made for Love, Dollface, Evil) directed the pilot and two other episodes and is executive producing. Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey are executive producers for Temple Hill, and Adam Fishbach is also executive producer. Erik Feig and Samie Kim Falvey are executive producing via Picturestart, and Grace Gilroy is producing. Choreography was created and directed by Jamal Sims, and music is by Grammy-nominated Justin Tranter.

Synopsis:
Set in 1954, four years before the events of Grease, the series follows four troubled college girls who unite to unleash the moral panic that will change Rydell High forever and become the founding mothers of the first high school clique known as the Pink Ladies.

Grease: The Rise of the Pink Ladies
Created by Annabel Oakes
Based on Grease by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey
Starring Marisa Davila, Cheyenne Isabel Wells, Ari Notartomaso, Tricia Fukuhara, Shanel Bailey, Madison Thompson, Johnathan Nieves, Jason Schmidt, Maxwell Whittington-Cooper, Jackie Hoffman
Executive Producers: Annabel Oakes, Marty Bowen, Erik Feig
Producer : Alethea Jones
Production companies : Disappearing Ink, Picturestart, Temple Hill Entertainment, Paramount Television Studios
Original Network : Paramount+

(Source : press release)