Hawkeye, Hot Lips, Radar and the Gang from the M*A*S*H 4077th Roll into TV Land's Line-Up Beginning in January

Hawkeye, Hot Lips, Radar and the Gang from the M*A*S*H 4077th Roll into TV Land's Line-Up Beginning in January

NEW YORK, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- TV Land has secured the exclusive primetime and overnight rights to all 255 episodes of Twentieth Television's M*A*S*H - one of the most successful shows ever seen on television - beginning in January 2007, it was announced today. The series, which aired for eleven years on broadcast television and garnered fourteen Emmy Awards, remains one of the most celebrated shows ever and is widely lauded for its realistic storylines and ability to embrace both comedy and drama into one show.

"M*A*S*H is truly one of the most beloved series in TV history and the perfect fit for TV Land as we continue to superserve our baby boomer audience," states Jaclyn Cohen, Senior Vice President, Programming and Acquisitions, TV Land & Nick at Nite. "M*A*S*H is a natural extension of our programming strategy of presenting hit acquired programming alongside TV Land originals to celebrate programming that is iconic to baby boomers, the first generation to grow up with television."

Steve MacDonald, Twentieth Television's executive vice president, general sales manager, basic cable, added, "We are delighted to enter this agreement with TV Land on M*A*S*H. This program's unparalleled strength and success, along with its ability to build networks, marries well with TV Land's strategy to further grow its brand in TV homes throughout the country."

According to a recent TV Land survey, M*A*S*H is THE #1 favorite show among Adults 40-59 and a Top 5 show among all adults. Additionally, baby boomers selected M*A*S*H as their all-time favorite TV show, followed by CSI, Star Trek (which joins TV Land in November), Law & Order and 24. Also, Alan Alda's Captain "Hawkeye" Pierce character ranks as a top 5 all-time favorite TV character among Adults 18-59.

M*A*S*H will join TV Land's line-up with a special week-long primetime and overnight showcase (8PM - 8AM, all times ET/PT) from January 1 through Sunday, January 7, 2007.

Throughout the week, TV Land will complement classic episodes of M*A*S*H with specials, including the shows' 20th and 30th Anniversary retrospectives, the original M*A*S*H movie, the shows' landmark series finale and other M*A*S*H themed programming. The M*A*S*H finale remains one of the most successful show installments in television history and - when broadcast in 1983 - was a major programming milestone which attracted over 105 million viewers, the largest TV audience ever.

Based on the 1970 Robert Altman film of the same name, M*A*S*H revolves around life at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, where wounded and sick soldiers are treated. The show centers around Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce (Alan Alda) and Dr. "Trapper" John McIntyre (Wayne Rogers), two brilliant surgeons often preoccupied with attractive nurses, practical jokes and merry-making, all while disregarding military decorum. Their relaxed approach is a source of consternation for other medical staff including Dr. Frank Burns (Larry Linville) and Lt. Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit), whose secret love affair is no secret. Lt. Colonel Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) is the camp commander who gives "Hawkeye" and "Trapper" free reign, further irritating Burns and "Hot Lips." Lt. Blake is aided by the nervous, yet efficient, Corporal Walter "Radar" O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff). Other show regulars include Corporal Max Klinger (Jamie Farr), a doctor's aide in the operating room who wears women's clothing in the hope of being discharged and Father Francis Mulcahy (William Christopher), who runs an orphanage and serves as the unit's chaplain.

Many cast changes occur throughout the series' run as McIntyre is discharged and is replaced by Dr. "B.J." Hunnicut (Mike Farrell), a clean cut family man. Dr. Burns is also later discharged and replaced with Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester (David Ogden Stiers), a Boston blueblood who does not get along with Pierce and Hunnicut. The most significant departure from the series comes with the exit of Henry Blake, who is replaced by Colonel Sherman Potter (Harry Morgan). Throughout the series, there is a great deal of character development as Houlihan becomes friendlier, Pierce becomes more sensitive and Klinger becomes more assuming of his authority.

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TV Land Productions was created in 2003 to develop original programming that complements the network's successful acquired programming slate. TV Land Productions has also produced The TV Land Awards Show: A Celebration of Classic TV (March 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006), the Emmy-nominated The Dick Van Dyke Show, Revisited, the network's first original special for broadcast, which premiered on CBS in May 2004, the Emmy-nominated Still Brady ... After All These Years reunion special in September 2004 and Chasing Farrah (Spring 2005), the original reality series that followed iconic Hollywood actress and sex symbol Farrah Fawcett. Over the last year, the network premiered a variety of original series and specials in 2005 including: TV Guide and TV Land Present: The 100 Most Unexpected TV Moments, Living in TV Land, TV Land Confidential and Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg. For more information about TV Land's original Wednesday night line-ups, visit www.tvland.com.

Now seen in over 87 million U.S. homes, TV Land's program mix features popular dramas, sitcoms, westerns, Retromercials and a TV-referential interstitial environment, all programmed with a specific audience in mind - the first generation of Americans to grow up watching television and features all-time Classic hits like All in the Family, I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, and Bonanza.

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About Viacom

Viacom is a leading global entertainment content company, with prominent and respected brands in focused demographics. Offering programming and content for television, motion pictures and digital platforms, Viacom's world- class brands include MTV Networks (MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, CMT: Country Music Television, Spike TV, TV Land, Logo and more than 130 networks around the world), BET Networks, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Entertainment, DreamWorks and Famous Music. More information about Viacom and its businesses is available at www.viacom.com.

About Twentieth Television

A leader in the U.S. program production and distribution arena, Twentieth Television is a unit of Fox Television and headed by Fox Television Stations' chairman Roger Ailes while CEO Jack Abernethy oversees day-to-day operations. Twentieth Television oversees the domestic sales of one of the entertainment industry's most extensive libraries of off-net programming and feature film packages to the syndication and cable marketplaces. Twentieth Television also provides a wide array of network and first-run programming to the market. First-run programs distributed by Twentieth Television include the news strip "Geraldo at Large" and court shows "Divorce Court," "Judge Alex" and "Cristina's Court." This month the company launched the primetime drama strips "Desire" and "Fashion House" on the new general entertainment broadcast television network MyNetworkTV.

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Source: TV Land

CONTACT: Jennifer Zaldivar, +1-212-846-8964, or
jennifer.zaldivar@tvland.com, or Vanessa Reyes, +1-310-752-8081, or
vanessa.reyes@tvland.com, both of TV Land & Nick at Nite; or Les Eisner,
les.eisner@fox.com, or Leslie Juarez, leslie.juarez@fox.com, both of Twentieth
Television, +1-310-369-5087

Web site: http://www.nick-at-nite.com/
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