Lifetime CEO unveils new shows

Thursday morning marked the media tour debut of recently appointed Lifetime Chief Executive Andrea Wong. She introduced a panel for the channel’s new series “Side Order of Life,” which led into one for “State of Mind,” both of which premiere Sunday. And both are looking to repeat the success of Lifetime’s “Army Wives” -- all three were picked by the channel’s entertainment president, Susanne Daniels.

“State of Mind” is about a therapist whose own problems parallel her patients’, starting when she discovers her husband having an affair with the couple’s therapist.

Amy Bloom, a practicing psychotherapist who wrote the pilot and created the show, told reporters there probably won’t be too many more therapy series since “it’s not an interesting process to watch.”

And Lili Taylor, who stars as shrink Dr. Ann Bellowes and said she’s had her own therapists, said one reason she took the role was that she had no doubt her character was completely authentic.

How long can one last as a therapist if you’re as frank as Bellowes, who tells her patients they should get a divorce if they aren’t interested in changing? Quite a while, said Bloom, noting she’s been employed herself for more than 20 years.

Other announcements from Lifetime, TV’s top female-oriented network:

* “Army Wives,” the network’s highest-rated series in its history, has been picked up for another, 18-episode season.

* A new Friday-night block of reality programming will include a second season of “Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead,” starting Oct. 12.

* An original movie, “The Murder of Princess Diana,” based on a novel of the same title, will air in August.