'Operation Varsity Blues' college admissions scandal to be adapted into TV series from upcoming book 'Accepted'
A TV series based on the recent college admissions scandal is in the works, Variety has confirmed.
Annapurna Television has optioned the rights to the upcoming book 'Accepted' by Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz. The book is set to be published by Portfolio, a division of Penguin Random House. Sue Naegle, Ali Krug, and Patrick Chu will produce on behalf of Annapurna Television. D.V. DeVincentis will adapt the book for television. DeVicentis' has written multiple episodes of 'The People v. OJ Simpson' and the features films 'High Fidelity' and 'Grosse Pointe Blank'.
The book details the admissions scandal in which 50 people — including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, Loughlin's husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, and film financier Bill McGlashan — were indicted in a scheme to influence the admissions of their children into a number of prominent universities. Several college officials and athletic coaches were also indicted.
Korn is a Wall Street Journal reporter who has covered various aspects of higher education for the paper since 2011, and for Dow Jones Newswires. Levitz is a national reporter who covers general news, economics, courts and daily life from The Wall Street Journal’s Boston bureau. She and colleagues were finalists for the 2015 Pulitzer public-service award for revealing the cancer-spreading risk of a common medical procedure.
The case, dubbed Operation Varsity Blues by federal investigators, involved parents rigging entrance exams and paying bribes to school officials to have their children admitted as student-athletes (even if the kids didn't play sports). The alleged ringleader, William "Rick" Singer, ran a college admissions business and arranged the transactions. Singer, who promised a "side door" to parents for getting their kids into the schools they wanted, has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the investigation.
Following the indictments, Loughlin lost roles on Hallmark Channel's 'When Calls the Heart' and the 'Garage Sale Mystery' movie series and will not return for the final season of Netflix's 'Fuller House'. A Netflix film starring Huffman had its release date pushed from April to August.
