A new Lifetime movie about the infamous 2019  College Admissions Scandal, appropriately titled The College Admissions Scandal of 2019 is scheduled to premiere October 12th at 8:00 p.m. EST. It stars Penelope Ann Miller and Mia Kirshner as two mothers of high school students desperate to see them admitted into a prestigious college. They are thinly veiled versions of Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, the two most recognizable names associated with the scandal. The FBI unearthed the scandal when it investigated fraudulent college admissions in a sting called Operation Varsity Blues. Over fifty parents were investigated for bribing admissions departments of top universities such as USC and Yale. with enormous sums of money. In a supporting role, Michael Shanks plays a visible substitute for Rick Singer, the go-to connection in the scandal. The trailer portrays two apparently domineering mothers and their rather oblivious and bewildered son and daughter. The trailer also teases a scene of a young man turning in an SAT test and, once the door closes behind him, the proctor’s subsequent revisal of his answers. Another snippet shows one mother assessing a spread of photographs of her daughter playing soccer, which recalls the photoshopped rowing team pictures used as evidence in the scandal.  Inevitably, the FBI makes its ominous entrance towards the end of the trailer and leaves the viewer eager to see the story evolves as justice is pursued.  

As far as its implications concerning the specific schools involved, it poses no threat: the school will likely be the typical Hollywood fabrication of the elite prep school. The movie is a low-budget, made- for- television b-movie not destined for critical acclaim.  It shows no promise as a great, or even good, film, nor does it make any claims as such. However, few people can resist a light and accessible flick once and a while, and the College Scandal element will certainly provide an added interest for many people.