TCA 2019: Starz Renews ‘The Girlfriend Experience’ for Third Season

Beverly Hills, Calif. — Starz will team with producer Steven Soderbergh for a third season of the original drama anthology series The Girlfriend Experience as well as a new original show Leavenworth, the network announced during the Television Critics Association press tour Friday.

The third season of The Girlfriend Experience is set amidst the London tech scene where a young female neuroscientist begins to explore the transactional relationship world, according to Starz. The 10-episode series, based off of Soderbergh's 2009 movie of the same name, is executive produced by Soderbergh, Jeff Cuban and Anja Marquardt (She’s Lost Control).

Soderbergh will also serves as executive producer of Leavenworth, which will debut on the network Oct. 20. The series centers on a controversial true-crime story playing out in the military justice system, according to Starz. Paul Pawlowski and David Check also serve as executive producers for the series, said network officials.

Related: Starz Orders New Season of True-Crime Series ‘Wrong Man’

Starz also announced Dangerous Liaisons, inspired by the classic novel of the same name. The series tells the origin story of the early years of the iconic characters Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont when they meet as passionate young lovers in the slums of 18th century Paris. The story of seduction and betrayal follows the dangerous liaisons of the rich and powerful in the court of Louis XVI, as they wreak havoc on society, and each other along the way, according to Starz.

Starz COO Jeffrey Hirsch also announced the return of Outlander for its fifth season in 2020. He also said that the network's freshman drama/fantasy show Now Apocalypse will not return for a second season. 

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.