Do You Remember: Privileged

On September 9, 2008, the new dramedy series Privileged debuted on The CW. The show was based on the book “How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls” by Zoey Dean. The lead was former Reba star JoAnna Garcia (Once Upon a Time and The Astronaut Wives Club), who played twentysomething Megan Smith, a Yale graduate with a relentlessly positive attitude and a plan to conquer the world of journalism except she is slaving away at a tabloid magazine.

But, in the course of one whirlwind day, she gets fired, meets cosmetic mogul Laurel Limoges (legendary actress Anne Archer) and becomes the live-in tutor for Laurel’s twin granddaughters in Palm Beach, Florida.

The girls – Rose (Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale) and Sage (Ashley Newbrough from Mistresses and the made-for-TV movie Love Under the Stars) – are beautiful, rebellious and not thrilled with their new tutor [to say the least]. Megan, however, is determined to win them over as she enjoys the perks of the new job: a private suite in the family’s breathtaking home, an incredible convertible and live-in chef Marco (Allan Louis from Person of Interest and NCIS).

Megan also quickly catches the eye of wealthy dilettante Will (Brian Hallisay from The Client List and Revenge), who lives on the estate next door and who just so happens to be dating Megan’s estranged sister Lily (Kristina Agpar). To make matters even more complicated Megan’s best friend Charlie (Michael Cassidy from People of Earth and The Magicians) is secretly in love with her.

The guest stars who were featured in the one and only season of Privileged included:

Dave Franco (brother of James Franco) who went on to appear in the Now You See Me movie;

David Giuntoli, who became the star of the long-running NBC fairytale drama Grimm;

Andrew J. West, who guest starred in The Walking Dead and appeared as grown-up Henry in Once Upon a Time;

Robert Buckley, who is one of the stars of iZombie;

Inbar Lavi, who made heads turn in the Bravo series Imposters and in the return of Prison Break;

Floriana Lima, who plays Maggie Sawyer on The CW series Supergirl;

Sarah Drew, who went on to star in the long-running series Grey’s Anatomy;

Julian Morris, who appeared as Wren Kingston on Pretty Little Liars and Paul Curtis in Hand of God; and,

Colton Haynes, who went on to appear in Teen Wolf and Arrow.

The CW was pleased with the show’s initial performance, even giving the show an extended order of additional episodes, but despite the final episode, which aired on February 24, 2009, ending with the words “To be continued,” the series was cancelled on May 19, 2009, after airing only 18 episodes.

Do you remember Privileged?