Pat Robertson's '700 Club' may share late night with a racy new show on Freeform - Los Angeles Times
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Pat Robertson’s ‘700 Club’ may share late night with a racy new show on Freeform

The Rev. Pat Robertson listens as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016.

The Rev. Pat Robertson listens as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016.

(Steve Helber / AP)
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Move over Pat Robertson -- Freeform wants to be the next network to enter the late-night comedy business.

As part of its upfront announcement for the 2016-17 TV season, the Disney/ABC-owned cable channel said its developing a talk show, called “Later Bitches,” from “Daily Show” Executive Producer Jennifer Flanz and Elise Terrell, another producer on the Comedy Central program.

Freeform describes the show, which has no premiere date or talent attached to it yet, as a “Sex in the City” version of late-night talk, hosted by “a group of smart, alluring and dynamic ladies having fun on their own terms.”

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The project, if it comes to fruition, would bring another woman’s point of view to the male-dominated late-night domain. Since the departure of “Chelsea Lately” from E!, “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” which only airs once a week on TBS, is the sole female voice in topical late night comedy.

The provocative title and premise also makes it a curious fit with the Freeform’s current late night occupant – “The 700 Club.” The talk and news program is hosted by Christian Broadcasting Network founder and religious conservative Pat Robertson.

A spokesperson for Freeform said no decision has been made on whether “Later Bitches” will air before or after “The 700 Club,” which is shown at 11 p.m.

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Disney inherited an agreement to run Robertson’s program in perpetuity when it acquired Fox Family from News Corp. in 2001. The channel’s name was changed to ABC Family under Disney’s ownership.

Robertson’s ministry founded the channel as CBN, later changing the name to The Family Channel. He sold it to Fox in 1997.

Robertson’s program has remained on the channel even as Disney has moved it far from its original mission of family-oriented programming, with edgier series such as “Pretty Little Liars” and “The Fosters.”

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The ABC Family name was changed in January to Freeform to indicate the channel’s move to target millennial viewers.

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