VH1 and Entertainment Weekly Join Forces and Put America's Pop Culture Knowledge to the Test With New Original Series 'The World Series of Pop Culture'

Nationwide Search for Experts in Pop Culture Trivia From the Executive Producer of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' Premieres Summer 2006

Interactive Show Components Include Online Game Play, Show Highlights, and a Chance to Qualify Online

NEW YORK, Jan. 23 -- Question #1: On their self-titled sitcom, Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney work as bottle-cappers at what Milwaukee brewery?

Question #2: On the series "Twin Peaks," what is Agent Dale Cooper's favorite dessert?

Think you know the answers? Read on and find out.

VH1 and Entertainment Weekly challenge America to answer those questions and so many more when they test the country's pop culture savvy with the new original series "The World Series of Pop Culture." From the executive producer of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," "The World Series of Pop Culture" is the ultimate pop culture competition designed for teams to display their astounding range of knowledge about everything music, television and film. Hosted by NY1 News anchor Pat Kiernan, "The World Series of Pop Culture" is scheduled to premiere on VH1 in the summer of 2006.

The search for the country's best pop culture gurus begins in March with regional qualifying competitions in five cities:

* Los Angeles March 4th & 5th

* Chicago March 11th & 12th

* Dallas March 18th & 19th

* Atlanta March 25th & 26th

* New York April 1st & 2nd

Thousands will audition but only 15 teams of three players each will be chosen to compete for "The World Series of Pop Culture" championship. The 16th and final team will be cast online at http://www.vh1.com, where budding contestants can attempt to qualify by taking VH1's very own "Pop Culture IQ Test." Three of the top scorers from the online test will join forces and become the final "wildcard" team in the tournament. Visit http://www.vh1.com/shows/casting_call/ for more details.

VSPOT, VH1's broadband network will also be the source of supplemental exclusive show content, game highlights and much more including online game play.

All 16 teams will face off in New York City and compete in the biggest team trivia challenge ever. Here's how the game is played: once the first category is revealed, the teams will have 30 seconds to deliberate before sending a teammate to the microphone to play for that entire category. The chosen players will each get one question per round, and each category will contain ten rounds of questions of increasing difficulty. Categories will run the gamut, being as broad as "Family TV" or as specific as "1980's Teen Comedy Films."

Within a round, a player is eliminated if he or she answers the question incorrectly and his opponent answers his correctly. The first team to beat its opponents in three categories, and eliminate all their players, will win and move on to the next round. In the very end, one team will be crowned the champions of "The World Series of Pop Culture" and receive $100,000 in cash and prizes.

"This is truly a search for the best pop-culture heads in America," said Michael Hirschorn, Executive Vice President, Original Programming and Production, VH1. "What's really exciting about 'The World Series of Pop Culture' is that it's tailor made for the emerging multiplatform universe. Viewers can do more than just watch. They can participate, and possibly even win."

"Entertainment Weekly's Pop Culture Quizzes have long been a favorite with our readers," said Fred Nelson, the magazine's VP of Editorial Development. "We are delighted to partner with VH1 and Embassy Row to engage America's passion for entertainment in a dynamic new format."

Viewers can log onto http://www.vh1.com to find out how to audition and learn more about "The World Series of Pop Culture."

VH1's "The World Series of Pop Culture" is executive produced by Michael Hirschhorn, Jim Ackerman and Matt Hanna of VH1 and Michael Davies for Embassy Row.

Answers to "World Series of Pop Culture" Sample Questions:

#1 Shotz Brewery

#2 Cherry Pie

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in nearly 84 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital services including VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, VH Uno and VH1 Country. Connect with VH1 at http://www.VH1.com.

VH1 is a registered trademark of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom International Inc. MTV Networks also operates and offers joint ventures, licensing agreements and syndication deals whereby its programming can be seen worldwide.

Entertainment Weekly, a winner of four National Magazine Awards (two for General Excellence, one for Design and one for Special Interest) is America's leading consumer magazine of entertainment and popular culture. The magazine is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Inc., and has a guaranteed circulation rate base of 1.725 million reaching an audience of 11 million readers.

* all Times ET/PT

SOURCE VH1
Web Site: http://www.vh1.com http://www.vh1.com/shows/casting_call