YEAR OF THE SOAP: New Jennifer Lopez Lesbian Family Drama to Unite Emmett from QUEER AS FOLK, Janice Dickinson's Ex-Husband, ABC Family

1993: "From the producers of KNOTS LANDING."

With a couple movies out this year, huge clothing and perfume lines, a new greatest hits album about to drop and a summer concert tour, Jennifer Lopez is busy. Soap fans are busy, too.  Let's join her as she jettisons the sclerotic AMERICAN IDOL (three weeks of satire, three weeks of farce, with several weeks of nap time in between) for an exciting new ABC Family venture featuring "a new kind of family" indeed - one with same-sex parents, adopted twins, a biological son and a new, teenage homewrecker.

That sounds to me like a recipe for some fabulous family drama - and another ABC Family hit that just happens to be a soap opera.

2012 has seen a steady flow of high-profile soap opera projects backed by big names from the entertainment industry. Let's take a look at the latest.

- As much as we adore PRETTY LITTLE LIARS and THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERCAN TEENAGER, early indications are that UNTITLED JENNIFER LOPEZ/ABC PROJECT (no name yet - we're taking suggestions in the Comments section, below) will be more in the spirit of the mature and brilliant SWITCHED AT BIRTH, which is presently the best television series that can be enjoyed with the whole family.
- They will need to cast four teens (two boys, two girls) and two moms: a private school teacher (I'm hoping for Portia De Rossi) and a cop (Queen Latifah, please).
- Jennifer has some experience with the genre: she EP'd COMO AMA UNA MUJER, a soapy five-part miniseries for Univision, a few years back; in the '90s she was in night soap SECOND CHANCES (she's in the poster, on the right); and, of course, in a sense, she inspired the popular telenovela, UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN.

QUEER:  "Emmet" will EP along with J-Lo.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
- J-Lo will executive produce as well as guest star in the weekly, hour-long, evening serialized drama, which won't debut until 2013.
- Writers/Creators Peter Paige (Emmett in QUEER AS FOLK; Steve in RIC & STEVE, THE HAPPIEST GAY COUPLE IN THE WORLD) and Brad Bredeweg will reunite (they wrote FLY GIRLS together; yes, "reality" shows have writers!) and also executive produce, bringing some solid gay street-cred to the project.
- The man who brought us DYNASTY: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure, Greg Gugliotta, will also executive produce - in 2008 Greg tried to get E! to air a soap, producing THE KATIE MAY SHOW, "a character driven series about ordinary people whose lives happen to be complicated..."
- And finally, J-Lo's partner-in-crime at Nuyorican Productions, Simon Fields - a man who has done Madonna, Michael, and Prince videos as well as Janice Dickinson (they were married) - is also an executive producer.

Who would you cast in Jennifer Lopez's new ABC Family series? And what would a good title be? Share your ideas in the Comments section, below!