John Oliver and Friends are Back! The Second Season of "John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show" Premieres Thursday, March 24 at Midnight*

NEW YORK, March 7, 2011 -- New York hearts John Oliver! COMEDY CENTRAL gives viewers a front row seat as "The Daily Show's" John Oliver invites his favorite comedian friends to his adoptive hometown for "John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show." The new season, which is hosted by the brilliant Oliver, premieres on Thursday, March 24 at midnight, after "The Colbert Report."

"John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show" features new stand-up from more of Oliver's favorite comedians. Oliver opens each of the six episodes with original material and introduces four comedians across the hour. Maria Bamford, Greg Behrendt, David Koechner, Kirk Fox, Al Madrigal and Pete Holmes close each of their episodes with super-sized stand-up sets. The complete line-up boasts new stand-up from Anthony Jeselnik, Brendon Walsh, Deon Cole, Glenn Wool, Jen Kirkman, Kumail Nanjiani, Kyle Kinane, Marina Franklin, Mike Lawrence, Moshe Kasher, Rory Albanese, Rory Scovel and Tommy Johnagin.

With his trademark British charm and New York edge, Oliver kicks off the season with a harrowing story of a flight diversion to Hanover, Germany and a thorough defense of the importance of swearing. Joining him on the premiere are Kyle Kinane, Glenn Wool and Rory Scovel. Pete Holmes returns this season with a triumphant closing set.

Leading up to the on-air premiere and throughout the new season, Jokes.com will feature preview clips and highlights from the series, as well as a special live version of the show staged at SXSW.

"John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show" is executive produced by Oliver and Avalon Television's Richard Allen-Turner, David Martin, James Taylor and Jon Thoday. Anne Harris and Elizabeth Porter are the executives in charge of production for COMEDY CENTRAL.

Oliver is a correspondent and an Emmy(R) Award-winning writer on the "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," which he joined in 2006. His first COMEDY CENTRAL stand-up special, "John Oliver: Terrifying Times," premiered in April 2008 and he currently has a recurring role on NBC's "Community." Along with Andy Zaltzman, Oliver also writes and stars in a weekly podcast, "The Bugle: Audio Newspaper for a Visual World." Oliver has been nominated for both Emmy(R) and Writers Guild Awards and won the Breakout Award for his stand-up comedy performances at the Aspen Comedy Festival in 2007.

Avalon Television is a part of the Avalon Entertainment Group. Avalon Television has production operations in London and Los Angeles specializing in prime time entertainment programming. Recent shows include: four-time BAFTA Award-winning, "Harry Hill's TV Burp" (ITV1) which is currently attracting British television audiences of 12 million; Royal Television Society Award-winning and Rose d'Or Award-winning, "Not Going Out" (BBC ONE); Russell Howard's "Good News," BBC Three's highest ever rated entertainment show; new scripted comedy "Workaholics" which launches on COMEDY CENTRAL this Spring; Garth Marenghi's "Darkplace" (Channel 4, "Adult Swim" and Syfy); double Rose d'Or Award-winning "Kombat Opera Presents�" (BBC TWO); and Austin Film Festival Award-winner and the Broadcast Award nominee, Dave Gorman in "America Unchained" (Channel 4). Avalon's internet address is www.avalonuk.com.

COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 98 million homes nationwide. COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks. COMEDY CENTRAL's Internet address is www.comedycentral.com.