Hidden Palms: A desert O.C.

A new US drama series has been leaked on the internet before its series premiere this week.

Hidden Palms is created by Kevin Williamson of Dawson’s Creek and Scream fame for the CW Channel.

Set in the idyllic Palm Springs in the Californian desert, the soap is surrounded by settings of perfect houses and lush golf courses. But the adolescents who front the storyline are surrounded by the resort town’s “greys and gays.” The tagline “Scandal. Suicide. Murder. Some towns have all the fun” would probably cause some trouble if it is picked up here.

It follows the life of Johnny Miller (Taylor Handley, The O.C) who moves to Palm Springs with his mother Karen (Gail O’Grady, NYPD Blue) following the suicide of his father.

Here he meets Cliff (Michael Cassidy, The O.C.), a boy with a dark side; and the pretty Greta. Across the road is the geeky Liza.

While the show looks a lot like The O.C. in its pretty, affluent kids there is an added touch by gay-writer Williamson in the character of Jessie Jo (Leslie Jordan Will and Grace) who plays a drag queen in Johnny’s AA group.
According to the show’s website Jesse Jo “is the only voice of reason in the strange and artificial atmosphere of Palm Springs.”

Hidden Palms is a Lionsgate Television production in association with Outerbanks Entertainment with executive producers Kevin Williamson (Dawson’s Creek, “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “Scream 1, 2 and 3”) and Scott Winant (Huff, My So-Called Life).