FX PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER JOHN LANDGRAF MAKES KEY PROGRAMMING AND CASTING ANNOUNCEMENTS AT FX PRESENTATION AT TCA SUMMER TOUR IN BEVERLY HILLS
BEVERLY HILLS, July 15, 2008 � John Landgraf, the President and General Manager of FX Networks, today made multiple programming and casting announcements about some of FX's critically acclaimed and award-winning series, and announced a new comedy series at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour. They included:
� FX will order 19 additional episodes of NIP/TUCK and the series will end its historic run in early 2011. Creator/Executive Producer RYAN MURPHY will see the show through to its end as showrunner. The 2005 Golden Globe� winner for best drama series recently finished production on final 8 episodes of its 22-episode fifth season, and those eight episodes will air in early 2009. The additional order will bring the series to 100 episodes for the life of the show. It has been the #1 scripted series in basic cable among adults 18-49 five years in a row, a record which will not be broken any time soon.
� FX intends to produce 39 more episodes of IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA in addition to the 13 currently in production. The series' fourth season premieres on Thursday, September 18th at 10 p.m. SUNNY has seen significant ratings growth each of its three seasons. It ranks among the top series downloaded on iTunes and also on Hulu, where it has been #1 among all series for the past week, and it is one of the top-selling TV DVDs for Fox Home Entertainment. ROB McELHENNEY, CHARLIE DAY and GLENN HOWERTON will remain as both stars and executive producers, and KAITLIN OLSON and DANNY DeVITO will stay on as series stars.
� Using IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELHIA as a springboard to launch a second comedy series, FX will be ordering 13 episodes of a new original scripted series currently titled TESTEES (working title; see attached release). TESTEES will premiere in October following a new original episode of SUNNY. It was created by KENNY HOTZ, who has written for SOUTH PARK, and he created and ran the series KENNY VS. SPENNY on Comedy Central. TESTEES is a scripted comedy which focuses on two friends in their early 30s who earn their living as medical guinea pigs.
� FX and Sony Pictures Television closed a deal with MICHAEL J. FOX for a four-episode arc for the fifth season of RESCUE ME. The 22-epsiode fifth season begins in the spring of 2009 and Fox will appear in the season five opener.
� Academy Award� winning actress MARCIA GAY HARDEN will be joining new cast members WILLIAM HURT and TIMOTHY OLYPHANT as additions to the cast of DAMAGES for its second season which premieres in January of 2009.
� TED DANSON will return to the cast of DAMAGES for several episodes this season in his role as �Arthur Frobisher.�
� THE SHIELD's JAY KARNES will be joining SONS OF ANARCHY for at least six episodes in the series' first season.
� DREA de MATTEO, who appears in the SONS OF ANARCHY pilot, will appear in five additional episodes of the first season.
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