KEENEN IVORY WAYANS AMONG CELEBRITY JUDGES TO APPEAR ON HGTV'S NEW SERIES "SUMMER SHOWDOWN"

The Network's Most Popular Designers Duke it Out To Pull Off the Ultimate Design Makeovers

Knoxville, Tenn. [For Immediate Release - July 8, 2008] -Keenen Ivory Wayans has been tapped to be a judge on HGTV's new series "Summer Showdown." The special four-episode series - premiering Sunday, August 3, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, with future episodes airing on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT through August 24 - will give viewers a front row seat as HGTV's elite designers and carpenters race against the clock in head-to-head design competitions.

Each week, Wayans - along with other celebrity judges including: actress Emily Procter; actress/comedienne Beth Littleford; designers Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams; actress Kim Fields; and "Sparkle" Josh Johnson from "HGTV Design Star" Season 2 - will critique and evaluate the work that will display each team's skills and expertise. In the end, the judges will determine which design team will reign supreme and take home the title.

The "Summer Showdown" judges are:

Keenen Ivory Wayans

Keenen Ivory Wayans is one of the industry's greatest talents who has helped shape the face of American comedy over the past 20 years as an actor, writer, director and producer. In 1990, Keenen created, produced and starred in the Emmy Award-winning landmark series "In Living Color," which helped launch the FOX network, as well as FX. Keenen went on to write, produce and direct the box-office hit "Scary Movie," a parody of slasher films that garnered $277 million worldwide. After "Scary Movie," Keenen created, produced and directed many other successful comedies, such as "Scary Movie 2," "Little Man," and "White Chicks." Currently, Keenen is in production on a feature that he wrote and will produce with his brothers for Paramount Pictures. In addition, he also is writing and producing a sitcom for CBS and developing a lifestyle show with Planet Green.

Kim Fields

During Kim's thirty plus years in show business, she has starred in two long-running TV series, "The Facts Of Life" and "Living Single." She has accumulated numerous starring credits in commercials, guest-starring roles, theater productions, TV movies, including BET's "Hidden Blessing" and Independent Feature Films, such as "An Uninvited Guest" with Mekhi Pheifer and the romantic comedy "Me & Mrs. Jones." Kim continues to receive critical acclaim as an actress in comedy, drama, stage and television. Her life and career also have been the subject of an A&E "Biography" and a Lifetime "Intimate Portrait." In recent years, she has received kudos for her directing and producing of the documentary "Discovering Monk" and "Trane: One Night @ Carnegie Hall," along with several specials for BET and BETJ in the Caribbean.

Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams

Since 1989 this talented team has been on a mission to make people more comfortable by offering furniture, lighting, rugs and accessories through their trendsetting company, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams. You've seen their furnishings in virtually every national home magazine; on the sets of "Sex & the City," "The Office," "Will & Grace," and "Friends"; and in hotels such as the W and Ritz-Carlton. Their furnishings are available in freestanding Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Signature Stores across the country and in top national chains including Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Williams Sonoma Home, Bloomingdale's and top home furnishings specialty retailers.

"Sparkle" Josh Johnson

Josh Johnson was the fourth runner-up on Season 2 of "HGTV's Design Star." During the show, Josh was given the moniker "Sparkle" for his electric personality, glamorous fashion sense and uninhibited design style. With eighteen years of experience in music, fashion and interior design, Josh has toured throughout the U.S. and Europe as a musical performer on stage with such names as Patti LaBelle, CeCe Winans and Amy Grant. In addition, he has been a host and design expert on a variety of television talk shows. Josh's designs have been published in several style magazines and he maintains an ongoing circuit of celebrity guest appearances throughout the country. Additionally, he has designed sets exclusively for the Country Music Television Awards for three consecutive years.

Beth Littleford

Actress and comedienne Beth Littleford won widespread notoriety during her four years on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." She also hosted several of her own half-hour interview series, "The Beth Littleford Interview Specials." Littleford spent two seasons on ABC's "Spin City," and had guest-starring appearances on many shows including CBS's "Without A Trace" and "Still Standing," NBC's "Joey" and "Frasier," ABC's "Samantha Who?," FOX's "The Family Guy" and Lifetime's "Strong Medicine." Beth can presently be seen as "the mom" in Judd Apatow's "Drillbit Taylor" with Owen Wilson, and in the Cartoon Network's first live action movie, "Ben 10: Race Against Time."

Emily Procter

For the past five seasons, Emily Procter has helped to make "C.S.I.: Miami" a top ten staple for CBS. She combines her innate talent, beauty and Southern charm into her role as Detective Calleigh Duquesne. Though investigating crimes scenes may not be as cutthroat an environment as the White House, audiences also know Procter as attorney Ainsley Hayes who she portrayed on the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning "The West Wing" for two seasons. Procter's earlier big screen credits include "Leaving Las Vegas" with Nicolas Cage, "Jerry Maguire" with Tom Cruise and, more recently, opposite Martin Lawrence in "Big Momma's House." During her recent hiatus, she also had a cameo appearance opposite Patrick Wilson in the comedy film "Barry Munday." When not filming, Procter enjoys interior decorating and working with various charities for the homeless.

About HGTV

HGTV, America's leader in home and lifestyle programming, is distributed to more than 95 million U.S. households and is one of cable's top-rated networks. HGTV's website, HGTV.com, is the nation's leading online home-and-garden destination that attracts an average of 5 million unique visitors per month. HGTV owns 33 percent of HGTV Canada and provides much of the Canadian network's daily programming. The network's branded programming also can be seen in 131 territories across all seven continents and its selected programming is available to service men and women on board Navy ships and through American Forces Radio & Television Service (AFRTS), which services more than 1,000 outlets in over 175 countries. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York and San Francisco, HGTV is wholly owned by Scripps Networks, which also operates Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living Network and Great American Country.