Plain White T’s Developing A TV Series Based On Their Hit ‘Hey There Delilah’
The Hollywood Reporter announced today that acoustic-pop outfit the Plain White T’s will be turning their biggest hit into a “contemporary fairy tale” TV series. Lively McCabe Entertainment and Primary Wave will be shopping around for potential networks to pick up the show.
The band’s frontman Tom Higgenson will be partnering with writer Jeremy Desmon (Pump Up The Volume, One Hit Wonder) to pen the script for the show. The two will be in L.A. pitching the show to potential networks this month. Lively McCabe’s Michael Barra and Primary Wave’s Deb Klein will be producers on the show.
“It’s been more than a decade since ‘Hey There Delila’ was released, and people always ask me about it. A whole lot of people really connected with that song, and I’m very proud of that,” Higgenson said. “I’m so excited to have an opportunity to give a new generation the chance to form their own connection with the song, and fall in love with its story through this new project.”
“‘Hey There Delilah’ is a perfect example of an iconic story song that has introduced characters and a premise to a massive multigenerational audience, and is begging to be expanded into a full-length story for contemporary television audiences,” says Barra. “Lively McCabe is thrilled to be working with Tom, Deb and Jeremy to bring it to life on the screen.”
Released in 2006, “Hey There Delilah” spent 35 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and several weeks at the No. 1 spot. The song itself is a narrative in which Higgenson sings about a long-distance flirtation between a struggling singer-songwriter and a New York City university student. The song was the third single from their album All That We Needed.
Since its release, the song has been covered by numerous artists, certified platinum, and has been licensed for several TV shows including Orange is the New Black, Family Guy, and Sesame Street. The song earned the band two Grammy nominations for Song Of The Year and Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group in 2008 but the group lost to Amy Winehouse and Maroon 5, respectively.
In 2018, the band was also nominated for a Tony for their song “BFF” in the SpongeBob Squarepants musical
The Plain White T’s formed originally as a trio in 1997 with members Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher. The group has gone on to release seven studio albums and has found success with other singles such as “1,2,3,4” and “Rhythm of Love” though neither achieved the success they saw with “Delilah.”
The band’s eighth studio album, Parallel Universe, is slated to hit shelves this month.
