Spike TV Gives Series Order to 'Blue Mountain State' Produced by Varsity Pictures' Brian Robbins and Lionsgate

Spike TV Gives Series Order to 'Blue Mountain State' Produced by Varsity Pictures' Brian Robbins and Lionsgate

13 Episode Series To Premiere This Summer

NEW YORK, March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- It's all about football at Blue Mountain State University, but being an incoming freshman on the national championship team consists of much more than that... there's also girls, partying, hazing and of course, class. Spike TV has greenlit 13 episodes of the scripted half-hour comedy series, "Blue Mountain State," it was announced today by Kevin Kay, president, Spike TV. Produced by Varsity Pictures' Brian Robbins ("Norbit," "Varsity Blues," "Smallville") and Sharla Sumpter-Bridgett and Lionsgate (NYSE:LGF), the comedy series is scheduled to premiere this summer.

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"'Blue Mountain State' contains four key ingredients to being a guy...football, partying, women and hazing," said Kay. "We're thrilled to be working with Brian Robbins, Varsity Pictures and Lionsgate on this outrageous comedy that combines college football with 'Animal House.' And we think it's a perfect fit for Spike's young, male audience."

"It's exciting to be moving forward with our friends at Spike, who appreciate programming that doesn't play it safe," said Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate's president of television programming and production. "With the terrific creative team headed by Brian and Sharla, 'Blue Mountain State' is a show that doesn't pull any punches -- it's just all-out funny."

Executive produced by Robbins and Sumpter and co-executive produced by Chris Romano and Eric Falconer ("The Sarah Silverman Program," "Always Sunny In Philadelphia"), "Blue Mountain State" follows three incoming freshmen attending college football powerhouse, Blue Mountain St. University. Former NFL running back and veteran actor, Ed Marinaro ("Monk," "8 Simple Rules," "Hill St. Blues"), stars as the coach. "Alex," played by Darin Brooks ("Big Bounce") is a talented quarterback, content to ride the bench while partying with his best friend "Sammy," played by Romano, who aspires to be the school's mascot. "Craig," played by Sam Jones III ("Glory Road"), on the other hand, is the school's top recruit and future NFL pro whose life is already mapped out for him by his controlling girlfriend, "Denise," played by Gabrielle Dennis ("My Name is Earl"). The three must quickly adapt to college life and juggle football, girls, classes and nonstop hazing. The cast also includes "Thad," played by Alan Ritchson ("Smallville"), a senior on the football team who loves hazing incoming freshman.

Spike TV is available in 97.7 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV's Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV's press site at http://www.spike.com/press.

Lionsgate (NYSE:LGF) is the leading next generation filmed entertainment studio with a major presence in the production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment, video-on-demand, digitally delivered content and branded channel platforms. The Company has achieved more than 7% theatrical box office market share for calendar 2009 to date, propelled by such recent hits as "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail" and "My Bloody Valentine 3D." Other recent successes include "Saw V," "Religulous," Oliver Stone's "W.," "Forbidden Kingdom," "Rambo," and "The Bank Job." Lionsgate has also forged leadership positions in television and home entertainment with the production of such critically-acclaimed television series as "Weeds" and "Mad Men," the distribution of "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," "Family Feud," "South Park," "The Wendy Williams Show" and Tyler Perry's "Meet the Browns" as well as the industry's leading box office-to-DVD conversion rate and the recent hit DVD release "Transporter 3" in its home entertainment business. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 12,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate brand is synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the globe.

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Source: Spike TV

CONTACT: David Schwarz of Spike TV-NY, +1-212-767-8639,
david.schwarz@mtvstaff.com, or Jenni Runyan of Spike TV-LA, +1-310-407-4771,
jenni.runyan@mtvstaff.com

Web Site: http://www.spike.com/

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