The Lizzie Borden Chronicles
Episode 1.1
Directed by Stephen Kay
Written by Richard Blaney and Gregory Small
Starring Christina Ricci, Clea Duvall, Cole Hauser, Bradley Stryker, Jeff Wincott, and Dylan Taylor
Lifetime
Air Date: Sunday, April 5th, 2015, 10pm ET

On January 25th, 2014, Lifetime premiered the movie Lizzie Borden Took An Ax starring Christina Ricci in the title role and Clea DuVall as her sister, Emma Borden. After her father and stepmother were found brutally murdered with a hatchet, based on a true story, the TV movie took them through the investigation and trial of which Lizzie was eventually acquitted. The ending revealed that she did kill her parents. The movie had high ratings, so a six-episode limited series was ordered, which was recently increased to eight.

The Lizzie Borden Chronicles 1.1 review: The episode opens with some little girls playing jumprope singing the famous Lizzie Borden poem. These words flash across the screen – “Four months after the acquittal of Lizzie Borden for the murder of her parents.” The girls jumping are interrupted with flashes of a raised ax dripping with blood. It’s not just little girls who think Lizzie is a murderer despite the verdict, pretty much the whole town does, with whispering stares.

Lizzie Borden took an ax
And gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.
— Anonymous

Lifetime — a network that used to be associated with Hallmark-y movies that took B- or C-List actors and made them fall in love, enjoy Christmas, rescue puppies, and the like — has been grabbing movies and television of a darker nature, most likely to appeal to a wider demographic, which makes perfect sense.

On April 5, 2015, Lifetime not only returns to the dark with a new limited series, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, it delves back into the world of one of its own made-for-tv movies. For the new miniseries, Christina Ricci reprises her role as as Lizzie Borden, the innocent-looking Sunday school teacher, who was acquitted of brutally murdering her parents, amidst much debate and controversy.

See the trailer videos and promo pics below.

Your TV fix is here. Have you been feeling sad that some of your favorite television shows are off until the fall, or God forbid, the winter? No need to fret; a number of new and returning series arrive this month.

Check out this TV preview of Sci-Fi/Fantasy shows arriving in July and see if any catch your eye! Descriptions below come from the respective television stations.