Wicked Wicked Games
Encyclopedia
Wicked Wicked Games is a telenovela
that debuted on December 6, 2006 on the American
television network
MyNetworkTV
. Twentieth Television
produced 63 episodes to air weekdays. The limited-run serial
was directed by Terry Cunningham, Dennis Dimster, P. David Ebersole
, Jeff Hare and Jeremy Stanford. It focuses on a bitter, obsessed woman's vendetta against her former lover. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
has not announced plans to release this series on DVD
.
as Blythe Hunter, a beautiful scorned woman, whose boyfriend Theodore Crawford (Clive Robertson
) left her twenty-five years ago to marry someone else. As revenge, she decides to destroy him by grooming her two sons to marry his two daughters and take over The Tides, a racetrack in Del Mar, California
. She wreaks havoc on the Crawfords, but the plan doesn't go the way she had hoped.
Wicked Wicked Games also starred David Smith
and Jack Krizmanich
as Blythe's sons, Josh and Aaron, respectively. Josh is a doctor who gets manipulated into Blythe's schemes by the more "wicked" son Aaron. Jessie Ward
and Kate French
played Emma and Brooke respectively, the Crawford daughters.
Blythe approaches Aaron to pose as "Daniel Karol" and help her undermine Theodore and take control of the Tides. Blythe also employs her lawyer, Benjamin Grey to help her do her dirty work. Aaron quickly gets the job, and begins to work for Theo. Only Taylor Burns, CFO of the Tides, is suspicious of him. Over the show's first month, Emma gets engaged to the Tides lawyer Edward (who is cheating on her with secretary Jennifer), Brooke quickly falls for Daniel, and Blythe reveals herself to Theo, and tries to rekindle the flame between them, steaming Theo's girlfriend, Hope Lorca, who raised Brooke and Emma after their mother's death, and was the family housekeeper.
Soon, Emma makes a startling discovery- that Theo is not Brooke and herself's real father, but her late mother, Anna had a lover named Gavin. She confronts Theo and Madeline, Theo's sister, who confirm the truth. Madeline indulges in cyber romance with "Phillipe", who she confides in. Lani Walker, Blythe's assistant, falls for Taylor, and is shocked by the lengths her boss is going to. Blythe loves to torture Lani, and she soon begins to undermine Blythe, a huge mistake on her part. Theo is soon on to Blythe. Blythe is thrilled to learn that Theo may be planning to propose to her, but instead proposes to Hope, which soon pleases Blythe, realizing that he will be too busy planning a wedding to notice his business being taken from him. Not too much later, Blythe takes over the Tides, and throws Theo out. She takes pride in revealing that "Daniel" is her son, Aaron, which also stuns Brooke. Theo is devastated, and turns to alcohol for comfort. Jennifer wants Edward to leave Emma, and Edward's obsession with Emma grows, as Emma continues to fall for Josh. Taylor ends things with Lani after realizing that she was aware of what Blythe was planning, and Lani is devastated. Brooke continues on a downward spiral with alcohol and drugs. She soon learns that her father, Gavin died several years ago, and nearly dies from an overdose.
Tension had been mounting between Theo and Hope following the loss of the Tides, and Hope decides to leave town for a while. Madeline asks her to stay and work things out, but Hope thinks it is for the best. She has a final encounter with Blythe, when Blythe strangles her to death. Blythe makes it look as though Hope completely vanished, and left Theo. Blythe continues with the second stage of the plan, getting her hands on the Crawford estate. Blythe reveals to Theo that Josh and Aaron are his sons and that she was pregnant when he left her for Anna. "Why, because he's your son?" Theo asks. "No, because he's yours." Blythe reveals in front of Aaron. Aaron and Brooke as well as Josh and Emma do eventually get together because Brooke and Emma are their stepsisters and they are their stepbrothers because they're Theo's sons just like they're Anna's daughters with her lover Gavin. It's revealed that Blythe is bipolar and has another personality who she created after Theo left her pregnant with their sons.
n series, Aunque me Cueste la Vida
(Though It Might Cost Me My Life). In it, Julie Restifo played the vengeful mother, who was named Belgica Michelena. Production began in July 2006 and continued for six days a week over four months. Tatum O'Neal openly complained about the grueling schedule.
The show was originally intended to run in syndication as Art of Betrayal under the Desire umbrella title. The Desire logo appeared during the opening credits and MyNetworkTV's website listed the serial as "part of the Desire series". Sean Young
and Gordon Thomson were originally signed for the lead roles played by Tatum O'Neal and Clive Robertson. Actress Jessie Ward
played Penelope Sayers on another MyNetworkTV telenovela
, Desire
.
The theme song for this series is Think Again by Blond Mafia. Recap shows originally aired on Saturdays but were replaced by movies on February 3, 2007. While Harper Entertainment announced plans to publish a book called Wicked, Wicked Games: The Diary of Blythe Hunter, it has not been released. The Del Mar Racetrack
was used for race track location shooting. Other scenes were filmed at Stu Segall Productions
in San Diego.
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
that debuted on December 6, 2006 on the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
. Twentieth Television
Fox Television Studios
Fox Television Studios, Inc. is the TV production arm of the News Corporation's Fox Entertainment Group, as well as being the production arm of Fox and a production arm of 20th Century Fox Television, Inc., itself a division of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation...
produced 63 episodes to air weekdays. The limited-run serial
MyNetworkTV telenovelas
The MyNetworkTV telenovelas were Fox Television's attempt to create a successful low-cost programming franchise by adapting Spanish-language telenovelas for U.S. viewers. While originally planned for syndication, the format became the original lineup of MyNetworkTV in 2006...
was directed by Terry Cunningham, Dennis Dimster, P. David Ebersole
P. David Ebersole
Peter David Ebersole is an American television director and independent filmmaker. He began his film career as a child actor, playing the lead in the musical "Junior High School" , which also starred Paula Abdul. Since then, he won AFI's Franklin J...
, Jeff Hare and Jeremy Stanford. It focuses on a bitter, obsessed woman's vendetta against her former lover. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of the 20th Century Fox film studio. It was established in 1976 as Magnetic Video Corporation, and later as 20th Century Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video and FoxVideo, Inc....
has not announced plans to release this series on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
Story
This romantic melodrama starred Tatum O'NealTatum O'Neal
Tatum Beatrice O'Neal is an American actress best known for her film work as a child actress in the 1970s. She is the youngest to win a competitive Academy Award, at the age of 10, which she won for her performance as Addie Loggins in Paper Moon opposite her father Ryan O'Neal...
as Blythe Hunter, a beautiful scorned woman, whose boyfriend Theodore Crawford (Clive Robertson
Clive Robertson
Clive Gladstone Robertson is a British actor perhaps best known for his roles on the soap opera Sunset Beach, the Canadian science fiction series Starhunter, and the 2010 science fiction computer game Darkstar: The Interactive Movie.-Biography:Robertson spent much of his younger life abroad,...
) left her twenty-five years ago to marry someone else. As revenge, she decides to destroy him by grooming her two sons to marry his two daughters and take over The Tides, a racetrack in Del Mar, California
Del Mar, California
Del Mar is an upscale beach town in San Diego County, California. The population was 4,161 at the 2010 census, down from 4,389 at the 2000 census. The San Diego County Fair is hosted on the Del Mar Fairgrounds every summer. Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "by the sea", because it is located...
. She wreaks havoc on the Crawfords, but the plan doesn't go the way she had hoped.
Wicked Wicked Games also starred David Smith
David Smith (actor)
David Smith is an American actor and model born in Chicago, Illinois who is featured on the My Network TV telenovela Wicked Wicked Games. Before getting into acting he has worked with high fashion industry such as Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Hugo Boss Green Label, Oscar de la Renta and currently...
and Jack Krizmanich
Jack Krizmanich
Jack Krizmanich is an American actor and model. He played Aaron Spencer on theMyNetworkTV serial Wicked Wicked Games...
as Blythe's sons, Josh and Aaron, respectively. Josh is a doctor who gets manipulated into Blythe's schemes by the more "wicked" son Aaron. Jessie Ward
Jessie Ward (actress)
Jessie Ward , sometimes credited as Jessica Ward, is an American actress who is featured on the MyNetwork TV telenovelas: Desire and Wicked Wicked Games...
and Kate French
Kate French
Kate Lauren French is an American television and film actress and model. She is perhaps best known for her role as Niki Stevens on The L Word.-Early life:...
played Emma and Brooke respectively, the Crawford daughters.
Blythe approaches Aaron to pose as "Daniel Karol" and help her undermine Theodore and take control of the Tides. Blythe also employs her lawyer, Benjamin Grey to help her do her dirty work. Aaron quickly gets the job, and begins to work for Theo. Only Taylor Burns, CFO of the Tides, is suspicious of him. Over the show's first month, Emma gets engaged to the Tides lawyer Edward (who is cheating on her with secretary Jennifer), Brooke quickly falls for Daniel, and Blythe reveals herself to Theo, and tries to rekindle the flame between them, steaming Theo's girlfriend, Hope Lorca, who raised Brooke and Emma after their mother's death, and was the family housekeeper.
Soon, Emma makes a startling discovery- that Theo is not Brooke and herself's real father, but her late mother, Anna had a lover named Gavin. She confronts Theo and Madeline, Theo's sister, who confirm the truth. Madeline indulges in cyber romance with "Phillipe", who she confides in. Lani Walker, Blythe's assistant, falls for Taylor, and is shocked by the lengths her boss is going to. Blythe loves to torture Lani, and she soon begins to undermine Blythe, a huge mistake on her part. Theo is soon on to Blythe. Blythe is thrilled to learn that Theo may be planning to propose to her, but instead proposes to Hope, which soon pleases Blythe, realizing that he will be too busy planning a wedding to notice his business being taken from him. Not too much later, Blythe takes over the Tides, and throws Theo out. She takes pride in revealing that "Daniel" is her son, Aaron, which also stuns Brooke. Theo is devastated, and turns to alcohol for comfort. Jennifer wants Edward to leave Emma, and Edward's obsession with Emma grows, as Emma continues to fall for Josh. Taylor ends things with Lani after realizing that she was aware of what Blythe was planning, and Lani is devastated. Brooke continues on a downward spiral with alcohol and drugs. She soon learns that her father, Gavin died several years ago, and nearly dies from an overdose.
Tension had been mounting between Theo and Hope following the loss of the Tides, and Hope decides to leave town for a while. Madeline asks her to stay and work things out, but Hope thinks it is for the best. She has a final encounter with Blythe, when Blythe strangles her to death. Blythe makes it look as though Hope completely vanished, and left Theo. Blythe continues with the second stage of the plan, getting her hands on the Crawford estate. Blythe reveals to Theo that Josh and Aaron are his sons and that she was pregnant when he left her for Anna. "Why, because he's your son?" Theo asks. "No, because he's yours." Blythe reveals in front of Aaron. Aaron and Brooke as well as Josh and Emma do eventually get together because Brooke and Emma are their stepsisters and they are their stepbrothers because they're Theo's sons just like they're Anna's daughters with her lover Gavin. It's revealed that Blythe is bipolar and has another personality who she created after Theo left her pregnant with their sons.
Production notes
This serial was derived from a 1998 VenezuelaVenezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n series, Aunque me Cueste la Vida
Aunque me Cueste la Vida
Aunque me Cueste la Vida is a 1998 Venezuelan telenovela produced by Radio Caracas Televisión. It was written by José Simón Escalona, Salvador Garmendia, and Martin Hahn and directed by Olegario Barrera...
(Though It Might Cost Me My Life). In it, Julie Restifo played the vengeful mother, who was named Belgica Michelena. Production began in July 2006 and continued for six days a week over four months. Tatum O'Neal openly complained about the grueling schedule.
The show was originally intended to run in syndication as Art of Betrayal under the Desire umbrella title. The Desire logo appeared during the opening credits and MyNetworkTV's website listed the serial as "part of the Desire series". Sean Young
Sean Young
Sean Young is an American actress, best known for her performance in films from the 1980s such as Blade Runner, Dune, and No Way Out.-Early life:...
and Gordon Thomson were originally signed for the lead roles played by Tatum O'Neal and Clive Robertson. Actress Jessie Ward
Jessie Ward (actress)
Jessie Ward , sometimes credited as Jessica Ward, is an American actress who is featured on the MyNetwork TV telenovelas: Desire and Wicked Wicked Games...
played Penelope Sayers on another MyNetworkTV telenovela
MyNetworkTV telenovelas
The MyNetworkTV telenovelas were Fox Television's attempt to create a successful low-cost programming franchise by adapting Spanish-language telenovelas for U.S. viewers. While originally planned for syndication, the format became the original lineup of MyNetworkTV in 2006...
, Desire
Desire (TV series)
Desire is an American telenovela which debuted at 8:00PM Eastern/7:00PM Central on September 5, 2006, on the American network MyNetworkTV, and ended on December 5. It was produced by Twentieth Television...
.
The theme song for this series is Think Again by Blond Mafia. Recap shows originally aired on Saturdays but were replaced by movies on February 3, 2007. While Harper Entertainment announced plans to publish a book called Wicked, Wicked Games: The Diary of Blythe Hunter, it has not been released. The Del Mar Racetrack
Del Mar Racetrack
Del Mar Racetrack is an American Thoroughbred horse racing track at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in the seaside city of Del Mar, California, 20 miles north of San Diego. Operated by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, it is known for the slogan: "Where The Turf Meets The Surf." It was built by a partnership...
was used for race track location shooting. Other scenes were filmed at Stu Segall Productions
Stu Segall Productions
Stu Segall Productions is a studio facility located in San Diego, California.-Filmings:The studio is used primarily for filming television series and movies in the San Diego area...
in San Diego.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Tatum O'Neal Tatum O'Neal Tatum Beatrice O'Neal is an American actress best known for her film work as a child actress in the 1970s. She is the youngest to win a competitive Academy Award, at the age of 10, which she won for her performance as Addie Loggins in Paper Moon opposite her father Ryan O'Neal... |
Blythe Hunter |
| Clive Robertson Clive Robertson Clive Gladstone Robertson is a British actor perhaps best known for his roles on the soap opera Sunset Beach, the Canadian science fiction series Starhunter, and the 2010 science fiction computer game Darkstar: The Interactive Movie.-Biography:Robertson spent much of his younger life abroad,... |
Theodore Crawford |
| David Smith David Smith (actor) David Smith is an American actor and model born in Chicago, Illinois who is featured on the My Network TV telenovela Wicked Wicked Games. Before getting into acting he has worked with high fashion industry such as Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Hugo Boss Green Label, Oscar de la Renta and currently... |
Josh Spencer |
| Jessie Ward Jessie Ward (actress) Jessie Ward , sometimes credited as Jessica Ward, is an American actress who is featured on the MyNetwork TV telenovelas: Desire and Wicked Wicked Games... |
Emma Crawford |
| Jack Krizmanich Jack Krizmanich Jack Krizmanich is an American actor and model. He played Aaron Spencer on theMyNetworkTV serial Wicked Wicked Games... |
Aaron Spencer |
| Kate French Kate French Kate Lauren French is an American television and film actress and model. She is perhaps best known for her role as Niki Stevens on The L Word.-Early life:... |
Brooke Crawford |
| Debbe Dunning Debbe Dunning Debbe Dunning, sometimes credited as Debra Dunning, is an American actress. A native of Burbank, California, she graduated from John Burroughs High School, the same school her parents graduated from exactly twenty years earlier. She was a cheerleader and her school's Homecoming Queen, also winning... |
Hope Lorca |
| Serena Scott Thomas Serena Scott Thomas Serena Harriet Scott Thomas is an English actress.-Family and personal:Scott Thomas was born in Nether Compton, Dorset. Her mother, Deborah , was brought up in Hong Kong and Africa, and studied drama before marrying Scott Thomas' father... |
Madeline "Maddie" Crawford |
| Joan Severance Joan Severance -Early life:Severance was born in Houston, Texas to John and Martha Severance. Her father was an IBM Systems Manager that had to move frequently around the world. According to Severance "by the time I was 11, we'd lived in 12 different places". Severance and her family also lived in Libya, but in... |
Anna Whitman |
| Femi Emiola Femi Emiola Femi Emiola is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the TV series Wicked Wicked Games and in the web series If Looks Could Kill. Her first name is prononuced "F-eh-mi" and means "love me" or "marry me" in Yoruba.-Early life:... |
Lani Walker |
| Kim Porter | Violet Walker |
| Paul Greene | Benjamin Gray |
| Tim McElwee | Edward Hoffman |
| Tanja Reichert Tanja Reichert Tanja Reichert is a Canadian actress. She got into acting when she was 15 years of age, but she first appeared on the TV only seven days after she turned 17 years old, when she had the role of "Shelley-Girl #2" in Breaker High for two episodes ; and she has appeared in many... |
Jennifer Harrison |
| Nicholas Irons | Taylor Burnes |
| Azie Tesfai | Cherry Milton |
External links
- Three New Primetime Drama Strips for MyNetworkTV
- Tatum O'Neal To Star In MyNetworkTV's Upcoming Primetime Drama "Wicked Wicked Games"