SUSPENSE DRAMA “KATS” RETURNS WITH A DEMITV REBOOT.

“KATS was an instant hit. As humbly as I can say this, I was not surprised. You have to understand that this was the on-screen show I created based upon the character Madelyn Courtland that I created in my former stageplay DIAMONDS. In 2011, Diamonds was so successful, it gave me my big break into television. So, I had no doubt that creating a one-hour tv series tethered to the world of the Courtlands would be a hit.” Says Demetrius Malone.

Malone’s assumption proved true as fans truly loved the stage play Diamonds as well as the television series Kats. “Diamonds was the show that landed me my first writing jobs for a few daytime soap operas on NBC and ABC. Diamonds put me on tv, but KATS kept me there.” Malone says. “I was a contracted screenwriter, and I didn’t have the luxury of going back on the road with another stageplay tour or the Diamonds sequel as originally planned. I had to be available to hit the ground running at a minute’s notice when the EP of one of my new contracts would call. So, I decided to create Kats. I had done some work on The Vampire Diaries for Banana Productions. I had never seen the show, but after I left Covington (Georgia) where the show filmed, I knew that I wanted to do a story based upon a small close knit mysterious town.

Immediately, Ureka Roy Bridges came aboard to assume her stageplay role of Madelyn in Kats. One of the last roles cast was the evil and vicious Jessica Montgomery. The role later went to stage actress Gail Brooks Allen. “I had heard of Demetrius through Jennifer(Kilpatrick) who plays Eve, Ava, and Emma on Kats. She had met Demetrius when she was directing a production of Hair Spray. She reached out to Demetrius for some talents. She later told me that Demetrius was casting for an elderly Caucasian matriarch. I had absolutely no film or tv experience. At that time, I had only theatre experience. But I reached out, and the rest was history,” laughs Allen. “As far as evil goes, it doesn’t get much worse than Jessica Montgomery, and only an angel such as Gail could master a role of that kind.” Malone says.

KATS is set in the fictional town of Katherine, West Virginia where everything seems peaceful and quiet. By the end of the first episode, viewers learn that all the women in town are a part of a deadly organization known as the Kats. Under the leadership of Jessica Montgomery, the women all scheme, plot, and manipulate to protect their organization. “During the 1950’s, Jessica’s husband Jonathan accepted money to remain quiet while a pharmaceutical company experimented on the women in the town by pumping drugs into the town’s water supply. As a result of this wicked act, all of the women and girls in the town were left infertile for generations. A guilt-ridden Jessica later began selling children to the women and helping them all pass of the children as their own. A clientele that started with just the local women of Katherine, grew over the next fifty years with even Kats in the White House.

“The storyline was perhaps one of the best things I’d ever seen. All of these women from various walks of life all maintained the same secret, but for different reasons.” Says Karen McDaniel who portrayed Celia. At the conclusion of season one, a serial killer has come to town, and after stealing Jessica’s manual the killer began using the manual as a hitlist to kill all of the women who purchased children from Jessica. So, Jessica rallies all of the living Kats from around the world to her home where the women host a masquerade ball to lure out the serial killer. Perhaps the biggest twist in the show’s 2 season run, was the revelation that Justine, the wife of the local minister, and a Kat herself, was in fact the Silver Rose Killer.

Malone: “KATS was insane, and the show wrapped because of one reason. I was going through the most difficult divorce imaginable. Mentally and emotionally, I couldn’t split my energy between my children and my career any longer. So, I chose my children. The show never returned for season 3. The cast was understanding, and perhaps they were not even surprised.”

“We all knew that he was struggling. It was clear. We could see it in his eyes and on his face. He was barely hanging on.” McDaniel recalls of the days on set. “While Diamonds went on to sell to Netflix in 2019, I made sure that I still maintained the rights to Kats since the character of Madelyn originated in Diamonds. When I decided to relaunch DemiTv, I knew that I wanted KATS back and better than ever! So, the calls began. Within a matter of months, the original cast was all on set together again. It was very emotional for us all. So many years had passed since we’d all seen one another or been together. Some had lost spouses, children, parents and friends to Covid-19.” Malone explains.

Lashonda Davidson, who thrilled viewers as the resident psychopath Justine Cambridge says, “I am so excited to return to the show. I have absolutely no idea where we are heading with the story. Last time Justine was seen, she was placed into a coma by Azlan and Jessica to avoid the death penalty. Who knows where things will pick up now? I am thrilled.”

“KATS will pick up 7 years after the final episode, just as we are getting back started 7 years later with production. While the majority of the original cast is returning, there will be a slew of new townsfolk across Katherine who get caught up in the new tangled webs of the Kats”

KATS will premiere as a part of the early 2022 relaunch of DemiTv.

Viewers will be able to watch DemiTv on Apple Tv, Roku, FireTv, Android Tv, Google Tv, not to mention Android and Apple Devices, and even in their online browser.