FX SETS OPENING DAY FOR THE LEAGUE ON OCTOBER 29TH

New Comedy About Friends in a Fantasy Football League to Run Thursdays at 10:30 PM For Six Consecutive Weeks Behind FX's Hit Series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Network Slates New Animated Comedy Archer for January Launch And New Comedy Louie for Late Q1 2010

LOS ANGELES, September 21, 2009 -- The League, FX's new ensemble comedy series set against the backdrop of a fantasy football league from producers Jeff Schaffer (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld) and Jackie Marcus Schaffer (Disturbia), will premiere on October 29 and run Thursdays at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT behind all new episodes of the hit comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia for six consecutive weeks.

The network has also set the timetable for the rollout of its two other new comedies Archer and Louie, which will debut in January and the first quarter of 2010, respectively. FX has ordered six episodes of The League, six episodes plus four additional scripts of Archer and 13 episodes of Louie, all from FX Productions.

The League is a half-hour comedy about male friendship, marriage, parenting, suburbia, and growing up � or refusing to grow up � through a circle of friends involved in a fantasy football league. The ensemble cast includes Mark Duplass, Steve Rannazzisi, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Jon Lajoie, and Katie Aselton. Jeff and Jackie Marcus Schaffer serve as executive producers. The pilot was directed by Jeff Schaffer. Production on The League began today in Los Angeles.

Created by Adam Reed (Frisky Dingo, Sealab 2021), Archer is an animated, half-hour comedy set at the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS), a spy agency where espionage and global crises are merely opportunities for its highly trained employees to confuse, undermine, betray and royally screw each other. The series features the voices of H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Walter, Aisha Tyler, George Coe, Chris Parnell and Judy Greer.

Louie, starring comedian Louis C.K., is a comedy filtered through the observational humor of Louis C.K. as a successful stand-up comedian, newly single father raising his two daughters, and his everyday life in NYC. Louis C.K. was generally regarded as the top stand-up at this year's Montreal Comedy Festival and the Emmy� nominated Showtime comedy special Chewed Up. Louis C.K. serves as executive producer, writer and director, and Dave Becky and 3Arts are executive producers. The series will be shot in New York.

The season finales for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The League will air on Thursday, December 3rd.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia stormed out of the gate with very strong ratings last Thursday night. The series' fifth season premiere episode scored 2.24 million total viewers, 1.78 million Adults 18-49 and 1.42 million Adults 18-34. Compared to its fourth season premiere, Sunny posted incredible gains of +104% among Men 18-34 (871,000 vs. 427,000), +76% among Adults 18-34 (1.42 million vs. 803,000) +57% among Adults 18-49 (1.78 million vs. 1.14 million), and +22% in total viewers (2.24 million vs. 1.73 million).

Compared with Sunny's full season four average registered gains of +90% among Adults 18-49 (1.78 million vs. 935,000), +90% among Adults 18-34 (1.42 million vs. 745,000) and +70% increases among Total Viewers over the season four average (2.24 million vs. 1.32 million).

FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable network from the Fox Networks Group. Launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in more than 95 million homes. The diverse schedule includes a growing roster of critically acclaimed and award-winning original series; an established film library with box-office hits from 20th Century Fox and other studios; and an impressive roster of acquired hit series. For more information about FX, visit our web site at www.FXnetworks.com