SOAPNET ANNOUNCES "RELATIVE MADNESS," A NEW SIX-WEEK ORIGINAL SERIES OF SPECIALS COUNTING DOWN THE MOST OVER-THE-TOP TV AND CELEBRITY FAMILIES, AIRING THURSDAYS AT 11:00 P.M., BEGINNING MAY 8
Brian Frons, president, Daytime, Disney ABC Television Group, today announced "Relative Madness, " an original series of six new one-hour specials on SOAPnet. Each show will have a 'family' theme that will count down the top 25 most over-the-top TV and celebrity family moments. The shows will include a blending of real-life celebrities and pop-icons, as well as fictional primetime and daytime characters. Just in time for Mother's Day, "Relative Madness" premieres with its first installment, "Mama Drama," THURSDAY, MAY 8 at 11:00 p.m., ET/PT. The series will conclude the week of Father's Day with "Father Knows Less."
"We live in a 'Soap Nation' and these series recognize this by combining the soapy themes found everywhere today � in daytime, primetime, reality and celebrity-life," said Frons. "SOAPnet continues to broaden its reach by investing in original programming; this franchise is another step in our ongoing effort to expand SOAPnet's audience while aligning pop culture and celebrity antics with the 'soapy' drama it is."
Each show will count down the 25 most over-the-top TV and celebrity family moments and blend commentary from a variety of talent and comedians. The commentators include comedian Joy Behar ("The View"), actor Cameron Mathison ("All My Children," "Dancing with the Stars"), actress Andrea Bowen ("Desperate Housewives"), designer Paige Hemmis ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"), actor Willie Garson ("Sex in the City"), actress Tatyana Ali ("The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air") and mother and daughter reality stars Lisa and Britney Gastineau ("The Gastineau Girls"). Also weighing in on the family woes will be actress Rebecca Budig ("All My Children"), actor John-Paul Lavoisier ("One Life to Live") and actress Sarah Brown ("General Hospital").
"Relative Madness" episodes include:
May 8: "Mama Drama" � Counting down the most over-the-top TV and celebrity moms, featuring Dina Lohan and Britney Spears, "I Love New York's" New York, "All My Children's" Erica Kane and "Days of our Lives'" Sami Brady.
May 15: "It's a Sibling Thing" � Counting down the most-over-the-top TV and celebrity brothers and sisters, including Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, Paris and Nikki Hilton, "90210's" Brandon and Brenda Walsh, "General Hospital's" Lucky Spencer, Lulu Spencer and Nikolas Cassadine, and "The Young and the Restless'" Kevin Fisher and Michael Baldwin.
May 22: "Brawl in the Family" � Counting down the most-over-the-top TV and celebrity family feuds such as Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen, "Dynasty's" the Carringtons, "The Sopranos," "General Hospital's" the Quartermaines and "All My Children's" the Chandlers.
May 29: "Crazy� in Love" � Counting down the most-over-the top TV and celebrity couples such as Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, "Sex in the City's" Carrie and Big, "All My Children's" Angie and Jesse Hubbard and "General Hospital's" Luke and Laura Spencer.
June 5: "Twisted Family Trees" � Counting down the most-over-the-top TV and celebrity family ties, highlighting the Karadashian-Jenners, Hugh-Hefner and "The Girls Next Door," "Nip Tuck's" the McNamaras and Troys, "The Young and the Restless'" the Newmans and "Days of our Lives'" the DiMeras.
June 12: "Father Knows Less" � Counting down the most over-the-top TV and celebrity dads, including Kevin Federline, Alec Baldwin, "The Sopranos'" Tony Soprano, "One Life to Live's" Todd Manning and "General Hospital's" Dr. Noah Drake.
"Relative Madness" is produced by both World of Wonder Productions, WOW, and City Lights Media Group on behalf of SOAPnet. WOW produced "It's a Sibling Thing," "Twisted Family Tree" and "Father Knows Less." City Lights produced "Mama Drama," "Brawl in the Family" and "Crazy...in Love."
WOW Productions, the award-winning and critically acclaimed production company owned and operated by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, is renowned for producing a wide variety of films, specials and series featured by both US and UK broadcasters, including HBO, BBC, Channel 4 UK, MTV, VH1, PBS, Showtime and Bravo. World of Wonder's latest initiative is WOW TV (http://www.wowtv.com.tv), an online application that allows people to create and brand their own broadcast networks.
City Lights Media Group has become one of New York City's most respected and fastest growing media companies, engaged in film and television financing, production and distribution and operating one of the largest post-production facilities in the country. City Lights Pictures executive-produced John Waters' "A Dirty Shame" for New Line Cinema, and produced supernatural thriller "Tamara" for Lionsgate. City Lights Television is currently in production on over 200 episodes of television for networks including Lifetime, TV Guide, Travel, HGTV, WE, Fine Living, DIY, Speed Channel, Discovery Health and SOAPnet.
SOAPnet offers same-day episodes of popular daytime dramas including "All My Children," "Days of our Lives," "One Life to Live," "General Hospital" and "The Young and the Restless" at night for convenient viewing. In addition, the network provides inside access to stars and storylines with original programs, including "General Hospital: Night Shift," the docusoap "The Fashionista Diaries," the reality series "I Wanna Be a Soap Star" and the biography shows "Soapography" and "1 Day With..." Wrapped in a 24-hour environment, SOAPnet also offers primetime classics including "The O.C.," "One Tree Hill," "Beverly Hills 90210," "Melrose Place" and "Dallas," as well as former daytime series "Port Charles" and "Ryan's Hope."
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