"The Red Band Society" on ABC

These days, the regional Catalan television TV3's homepage has had the news that the North American ABC was interested in buying the concept of its series "Polseres vermelles" [Red wristbands / bracelets]. The following is an unauthorized translation/summary of the main points:

The series, created by writer Albert Espinosa [whose English speaking website is here] and directed by Pau Freixas, is inspired in the daily life of a group of children in a children's hospital struggling to cope with the various diseases they suffer. The name of the series is taken from the red plastic bracelets they all wear as a type of patient's ID.

Last season, the series inspired the phenomenon "red bracelets": a legion of faithful followers, most of them teenagers, who made their parents watch, too. These youthful fans, however, did not have enough with watching TV, but moved their passion to the Internet: there sprung up a Facebook group dedicated to the series, and a blog that extends the contents of each chapter immediately after release.

 
TV3 is already working on the second season of the series, after the success of the first 13 episodes of the first season.

On Oct. 28, the Catalan daily El Punt Avui added the following: 

Yesterday it was confirmed that behind the project there a two heavyweights of the industry in Hollywood: Friends creator Marta Kauffman and the filmmaker Steven Spielberg, through his production company Dreamworks, are finalizing a deal to adapt the series under the name "The Red Band Society". Its Catalan creator Albert Espinosa yesterday confirmed via Twitter the information that had appeared in the specialized press in the U.S.