‘Virgin River’ Creator Sue Tenney & Fellow Alum Amy Palmer Robertson To Adapt ‘The Lifeguards’ Novel As TV Series For Wiip

EXCLUSIVE: Indie studio Wiip has optioned Amanda Eyre Ward’s 2022 novel The Lifeguards. In Sue Tenney‘s followup to the Netflix hit Virgin River, which she developed and served as executive producer/showrunner on for four seasons, she will tackle The Lifeguard‘s TV adaptation with fellow former Virgin River writer-producer Amy Palmer Robertson for what the duo are promising to be “a sexy, soapy, domestic suspense series.”

Combining three mothers’ points of view in a narrative tale with commentary from neighborhood listservs, secret text messages, and police reports, The Lifeguards, is both a story about the secrets we tell to protect the ones we love, and a riveting novel of suspense filled with half-truths and betrayals, fierce love and complicated friendships, and the loss of innocence on one hot summer night.

“The mothers and teenage sons of The Lifeguards are close to my heart,” Ward said. “From the moment I met the team that will bring them to the screen, I knew my characters were in good hands. I’m so honored and thrilled to see the show that Sue Tenney, Amy Palmer Robertson, and the brilliant minds at wiip will create.”

Wiip optioned The Lifeguards earlier this year and reached out to Tenney and Robertson to write the adaptation.

“We were immediately hooked by Amanda Ward’s brilliant and juicy page-turner because of its frank exploration of the complicated relationships between mothers and their teenaged sons, all set against the backdrop of a delicious, monied murder mystery,” Tenney and Robertson said. “Thanks to wiip, who are champions of creative and compelling storytelling, we’ve been given the freedom to create a sexy, soapy, domestic suspense series that is both thought-provoking and filled with exciting, unpredictable twists.”

Wiip’s Paul Lee (Mare of Easttown) and Hope Hartman (The Summer I Turned Pretty) will executive produce alongside Tenney and Robertson.

“As soon as our team read The Lifeguards, we knew it had all the elements of a truly compelling series,” Hartman said. “Amanda crafted a story that blends suspense with emotional depth, offering a chance to explore the complexities of motherhood, loyalty, and friendship. With seasoned writers like Sue and Amy, whose work on Virgin River is beloved, ensures this adaptation will deliver the kind of premium storytelling that will resonate deeply with audiences.”

Tenney created Virgin River, which was a breakout hit for Netflix, based on Robyn Carr’s books. During Tenney’s four-year stint as executive producer and showrunner of the romantic drama, Robertson, who served as consulting producer, co-executive producer and executive producer, was one of her top lieutenants. Between the two, Tenney and Robertson wrote or co-wrote 6 of the series’ 10 episodes in Seasons 1 and 2 and 7 of 10 in Season 3 and 7 of 12 in Season 4.

Before Virgin River, Tenney developed, and showran Hallmark Channel’s popular drama Good Witch, starring Catherine Bell, and also served as showrunner on the network’s Cedar Cove, starring Andie MacDowell. Robertson was a writer-producer on both. Before her transition to writing, she oversaw television development for Davis Entertainment at Fox. Subsequently, she ran her own production company with an overall at Sony Pictures Television. Tenney and Robertson are repped by UTA and Brian Lazarus at Ziffren Brittenham.

Ward’s most recent novel Lovers and Liars was published in May. Her previous books include Sleep Toward Heaven, How to Be Lost, Love Stories in This Town, Forgive Me, Close Your Eyes, The Same Sky, The Nearness of You and The Jetsetters. Her work has been optioned for film and television and translated into fifteen languages. She is repped by WME and Michelle Tessler of Tessler Literary Agency.