So the Lifetime channel is coming to Canada starting tomorrow with a three-month free preview, replacing what used to be Showcase Diva (ie channel 83 on Rogers Digital).  Normally, I wouldn’t care about a women’s network, were it not for the posters on the subway promoting The Client List, a steamy new drama starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as a hooker with a heart of gold.

Well okay, that’s not quite the plotline, apparently.  As the Lifetime network website states, Love Hewitt’s character has “taken a job at a seemingly traditional day spa, but soon realizes that the parlor offers a little more than just massage therapy. It’s not the happy ending she was expecting but it does open her eyes to a world she’s never seen before.”  A world of massaging men’s penises, I presume.  But does she offer full service?

It seems the show, which first aired in April in America, caused a bit of a stir.  In fact, an online petition was started several months back, denouncing Love Hewitt’s portrayal of “the misconception that Massage Therapy includes inappropriate sexual contact.”  However, it seemingly wasn’t very successful, garnering just over half of the 6,660 signatures it was seeking.  (What’s in a number, eh?)  Lifetime, meanwhile, responded with a press release stating “The Client List is a fictionalized story about the experiences of a single mother as she unexpectedly faces dire economic circumstances. The series also features a broad range of characters with alternative points of view who make different choices.”

I know I’ll be choosing to tune in next Sunday at 10 pm…