PREMIERE

�THE KNIGHTS OF PROSPERITY� PLOT THE CELEBRITY HEIST OF A LIFETIME, AS THEY SCHEME TO ROB MICK JAGGER, WHEN ABC�S NEW COMEDY SERIES PREMIERES WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, ON THE ABC TELEVISION NETWORK

�The Knights of Prosperity� is a hilarious tale of haves and have nots, starring Donal Logue as the leader of a band of affable, new-age Robin Hoods who have never even shoplifted a candy bar, but now find themselves prepping for a heist to finance all of their long-held, heart-felt dreams. The target -- Rock icon Mick Jagger�s super luxe Central Park West apartment. The series premieres WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3 (9:00-9:30 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.

In the premiere episode, �Pilot,� Eugene Gurkin�s (Donal Logue) dreams always have exceeded his means. In fact his dead end job on the late, late janitorial shift won�t even fund a bottle of premium booze. In a serendipitous moment, he catches an episode of an entertainment news show and his passion is ignited. Soon he excitedly recruits a group of �average joes� into his �gang� -- �The Knights of Prosperity� � to plan the celebrity heist. The first order of business is to get a copy of the key to Jagger�s apartment. And, as usual for this group of �Ocean�s idiots,� nothing comes easily.

Society might disregard the Knights and give them short shrift, but this group of upstarts refuses to be ignored: Beauty bombshell Esperanza Villalobos (Sof�a Vergara), a diner waitress in Queens, is more than just a pretty face; the only female member of the gang, she sees the celebrity heist as an opportunity to control her own fate � something men have normally done for her.

Working as a janitor alongside Eugene on the overnight shift, Francis �Squatch� Squacieri (Lenny Venito) relates to Eugene�s desire for more out of life than mopping up after millionaire executives. The one married Knight, his motivation is to provide a better life for his wife and children.

Back home in India, Gourishankar �Gary� Subramaniam (Maz Jobrani) was a superstar lawyer, but here in New York City he drives a cab to make ends meet. Reluctant to join the group at first, Gary has a change in heart when Eugene reminds him that, although he was a winner at home, here he chauffeurs old ladies to Broadway matinees.

Warehouse security guard Rockefeller Butts (Kevin Michael Richardson), a mountainous, cigar-chewing man, has one simple request in order to join the Knights -- cookies.

A college Communications student, ultra-nerdy Louis Plunk (Josh Grisetti) finds himself at rock bottom after being rejected for an internship by the Montel Williams show. A chance ride in Gary�s taxi turns into an offer for Louis to serve an �internship� on a movie. When he discovers the truth about his golden opportunity, he still decides to stay.

Their scheme is to steal from the rich and give to the poor � namely, themselves. What they don't realize is that there�s a much richer target for them� the chance to find hope, self-esteem and self-confidence.

�The Knights of Prosperity� theme song was written by Paul Shaffer (�Late Show with David Letterman�), with lyrics by Rob Burnett and Jon Beckerman and sung by Kevin Michael Richardson.

�The Knights of Prosperity� stars Donal Logue as Eugene Gurkin, Sof�a Vergara as Esperanza Villalobos, Lenny Venito as Francis �Squatch� Squacieri, Maz Jobrani as Gourishankar �Gary� Subramaniam, Kevin Michael Richardson as Rockefeller Butts and Josh Grisetti as Louis Plunk.

Rob Burnett and Jon Beckerman, producers of �Late Show with David Letterman� and creators of �Ed,� are the co-creators and executive producers of �The Knights of Prosperity.�

David Letterman, Mick Jagger, who will appear in a cameo, and Victoria Pearman are also executive producers. Merrill Karpf, Steve Tompkins and Eric Horsted are co-executive producers. �The Knights of Prosperity,� a single-camera comedy, is a production of Touchstone Television.

�The Knights of Prosperity� is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC�s selected HDTV format, with 5.1-channel surround sound and Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning.

A TV parental guideline will be assigned closer to airdate.