A Man for Four Seasons

A Man for Four Seasons

SHOWTIME'S ACCLAIMED DRAMA SERIES THE TUDORS GETS 4th SEASON PICK-UP TO END THE SAGA OF HENRY VIII

LOS ANGELES, April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of a critically lauded third season premiere of SHOWTIME's award-winning drama series THE TUDORS, the network has announced the pick-up of a fourth season of the epic-period saga starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as King Henry VIII. The final season will consist of 10, one-hour episodes and center on his tumultuous relationships with his last two wives, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr, and his final descent into madness. Season four, which will return in spring 2010, will be written by series creator and executive producer Michael Hirst, with production slated to begin this June in Dublin, Ireland. Hirst will have single-handedly written all 38 of the series one-hour episodes by the time the story is complete.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060131/SHOWTIMELOGO )

"I'm thrilled to complete the saga of Henry VIII as reconceived by Michael Hirst. He and Jonathan Rhys Meyers have breathed new life into the costume drama by making it both modern in sensibility but also faithful to history. I think we proved that even after 500 years this is a great story, "said Robert Greenblatt, President of Entertainment for SHOWTIME.

Season three of THE TUDORS premiered April 5th to both audience and critical acclaim. It garnered record ratings, making it one of SHOWTIME's most popular series. Both the series and Rhys Meyers earned Golden Globe(R) nominations for Season 1 (Rhys Meyers earned a nomination for Season 2 as well). For two consecutive seasons, Joan Bergin's costumes won Emmy(R) awards. Seasons one and two of THE TUDORS are currently two of CBS Home Entertainment's top-selling titles.

THE TUDORS is an Ireland-Canada co-production, executive produced by Morgan O'Sullivan for Octagon Films; Benjamin Silverman and Teri Weinberg for Reveille Productions; Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan for Working Title Films, and Sheila Hockin; and is created, written and executive produced by Michael Hirst. SHOWTIME presents the series in association with Peace Arch Entertainment.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME(R), THE MOVIE CHANNEL(R) and FLIX(R), as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2(TM), SHOWTIME(R) SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME(R), SHOWTIME BEYOND(R), SHOWTIME NEXT(R), SHOWTIME WOMEN(R), SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE(R) and THE MOVIE CHANNEL(R) XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD(R), THE MOVIE CHANNEL(R) HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND(R) and THE MOVIE CHANNEL(R) ON DEMAND. SNI is also an owner and manager of SUNDANCE CHANNEL(R), a venture of NBC Universal, Robert Redford and SNI. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV(R).

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060131/SHOWTIMELOGO
Source: Showtime

CONTACT: Faye Katz, +1-212-708-1406, faye.katz@showtime.net, or Morgan
Fouch, +1-310-234-5219, morgan.fouch@showtime.net, both of SHOWTIME PR

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

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