VH1 Presents a Slate of All-New Series, Documentaries and Specials for Summer 2009

VH1 Presents a Slate of All-New Series, Documentaries and Specials for Summer 2009

Behind The Music, The Great Debate, Megan Wants A Millionaire, The T.O. Show, Tool Academy 2, VH1 Rock Docs: Lords Of The Revolution and VH1 Storytellers: ZZ Top

NEW YORK, May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Let the sun shine in as VH1 celebrates with all-new series and specials for upcoming summer season 2009. In true fashion, VH1 continues to "keep it real" with a new slate of "Celebreality" series and new additions to the consistently compelling VH1 Rock Doc franchise.

Premieres

The Great Debate - premieres Monday, July 6, 2009 at 10pm et/pt

Beatles or The Rolling Stones? Ginger or Mary Ann? What really happened to Tony Soprano? These are the great questions of our time -- and they're about to be answered once and for all! VH1, the world wide authority on all things pop culture is about to deliver the final word on the most intense pop culture debates and questions of all-time with their new series "The Great Debate." Over five nights, one hour a night, VH1 will settle the debates which have been going on for years. Each night will feature 20 debates which will grow in intensity from the important questions of the "CALIENTE" hour to the life or death debates of the "INFERNO" hour. So join VH1 for The Great Debate. The time has come, you've asked the questions and now we're gonna settle them... forever!

The T.O. Show - Premieres monday, july 27, 2009 at 10PM ET/PT

"The T.O. Show" follows one of the NFL's biggest and most outspoken stars, former wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys and new wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills, Terrell "T.O." Owens. In the series, T.O. will be shadowed in the off-season by his best friends / publicists Monique Jackson and Kita Williams as they battle the two sides of his large personality. Viewers will discover that behind all the braggadocio, emotional histrionics, and sculpted physique, that is the outspoken media magnet known to the world as "T.O." -- there is also a quiet, sensitive, mild-mannered guy from Alexander City, Alabama...that's Terrell.

The series is executive produced by Evan Prager and Jesse Ignjatovic for Den of Thieves. Executive producers for VH1 are Jill Holmes, Alex Demyanenko, Noah Pollack and Jeff Olde.

"Megan Wants a Millionaire" premieres Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 9pm et/pt

Blonde bombshell and "celebreality" vixen, Megan Hauserman is looking for love -- but not with any average Joe. Megan has her eye, mind and heart set on one type of man... a millionaire! Unfortunately, Megan's had her heart broken by Bret Michaels in "Rock of Love 2" and lost out on the million dollar check in "I Love Money." But now she's back with vengeance to find both love and money with the goal of becoming the ultimate trophy wife. This summer, Megan will put 18 millionaires to the test as they compete for her affection in "Megan Wants a Millionaire" premiering Sunday, August 2, 2009.

Megan's millionaire suitors will compete in challenges ranging from going head to head in a high roller Las Vegas tournament to shelling out money in a date auction. Whoever wins the challenge, will win a date with Megan. But, it won't just be any date. The millionaires will be given the chance to "upgrade" their date. How about driving Megan to dinner in an Aston Martin, instead of an Escalade? Or why not take a helicopter ride to Catalina Island instead of the ferry? One by one, Megan will eliminate the guys who can't shell out the dough, until the ultimate millionaire is left.

VH1 rock docs: Lords of the Revolution - Premieres Monday, August 10 - Friday, August 14, 2009

Beginning on Monday, August 10 - Friday, August 14, VH1 will air the five-part 1-hour series "Lords of the Revolution," a new documentary series from VH1 Rock Docs. The series celebrates the counterculture icons of the '60s and '70s -- the legends who defied the social, political and cultural mores of their time. The series is narrated by Richard Belzer.

They trafficked in sex, drugs, music, and subversive politics. They held peaceful protests and violent insurrections. They were the leaders of the most significant cultural transformation of the second half of the 20th century. From political heavyweights like the Black Panthers to cutting-edge cultural trendsetters like Andy Warhol, this documentary series profiles the nonconformist heroes and anti-heroes of the 60s and 70s, telling the dangerous, subversive stories of a cultural revolution. Edgy, colorful, visually dynamic, the docs will feature new first-hand interviews, plenty of archival photos and footage, an unconventional graphic treatment, and a hip rock soundtrack. All these things will make this series feel more like VH1 than the History Channel.

The series is executive produced for VH1 by Shelly Tatro, Brad Abramson and Stephen Mintz. Consulting producer and writer is Martin Torgoff and Ted Kim is supervising producer.

"VH1 STORYTELLERS: ZZ TOP" PREMIERES ON VH1 SATURDAY, JUNE 27 AT 10:00 PM* AND WILL AIR ON VH1 CLASSIC AND PALLADIA SATURDAY, JULY 4 AT 9:00 PM*

ZZ Top, the rock band who hold the record for lasting longest with all original members, celebrate their 40 year anniversary with an episode of VH1 STORYTELLERS filmed at Chicago's Congress Theatre.

The Texas trio answer questions from the audience, renew one couple's wedding vows, and tell the stories behind such hits as "La Grange" (about a brothel) and "Sharp Dressed Man" (during the song's video shoot a hobo started critiquing everything on the set and they went on to follow his advice). Also in the hour, guitarist Billy Gibbons talks about the band's travails as opening act for Janis Joplin and bassist Dusty Hill shows off his Walter Brennan imitation.

Returning Series:

tool academy season 2 - Premieres Sunday, August 2, 2009 at 10pm et/pt

The hit series that gave insensitive and clownish boyfriends a surprise wake up call followed by intensive relationship therapy is back for another 10 week semester. Each week, the "Tools" will get lessons designed to give them one last chance to save their faltering relationships. The Academy's resident counselor Trina Dolenz will cover topics like honesty, fidelity, maturity and communication. The guys who don't learn...will go home, but not before their girlfriends decide whether to keep them, or leave them behind to start over. The one man who shows the most improvement graduates with $100,000.

The series will be executive produced by SallyAnn Salsano for 495 Productions. Jim Ackerman, Dave Hamilton, Mike Riley and Jeff Olde will oversee the series for VH1.

Behind the music - premieres Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 10pm et/pt

VH1 is re-launching its Emmy-nominated and critically acclaimed series "BEHIND THE MUSIC," the iconic series that helped put VH1 on the map. Premiering on Thursday, August 6, 2009 with BEHIND THE MUSIC: Lil' Wayne, the series is set to re-launch with a stellar talent lineup. A few of the additional artists to be featured in the upcoming season will feature Bobby Brown, T.I., Pink and 50 Cent.

VH1 has re-imagined BEHIND THE MUSIC and will now focus on some of the top current artists of today who have had a major impact or contribution to the music scene from rock to hip-hop to pop. In addition to the dramatic storytelling that made BEHIND THE MUSIC a worldwide hit, the series will celebrate them as artists and will also feature originally shot verite footage of each artist, which will anchor each story in the present day.

The original series made its debut on the channel in August of 1997 and was originally created and produced for VH1 by Gay Rosenthal, George Moll and Jeff Gaspin who were responsible for many of the channels 200+ episodes of the series. The current series is executive produced by Shelly Tatro, Brad Abramson, Stephen Mintz and Jeff Olde for VH1. Executives in charge of music talent are Rick Krim and Leah Horwitz.

VH1 Classic:

VH1 Classic is celebrating some of America's most influential music icons from all regions of the United States this July 4th weekend. Beginning on Thursday, July 2 through Sunday, July 5 the network will "Rock Across America" and dedicate one day to each region of the country including the East, Midwest, South and West. The 4-day marathon will include some of the greatest concerts known to the rock 'n' roll world and will give an all-access look into the lives of these American music greats that helped shape the classic rock culture. Throughout the holiday weekend that celebrates America, classic rock fans across the country will be able to relive the memories with artists like ZZ Top and Creedance Clearwater to name a few.

VH1 Classic is taking a groovy step back in time with 60's week kicking off Monday, August 10th and includes the week long premiere of the Roc Doc: Lords of the Revolution. VH1 Classic will air the five-part one-hour series "Lords of the Revolution," a new documentary series from VH1 Rock Docs that is narrated by Richard Belzer. The series celebrates the counterculture icons of the '60s and '70s -- the legends who defied the social, political and cultural mores of their time; Andy Warhol, Timothy Leary, The Black Panthers, Muhammad Ali and Cheech and Chong. 60's week continues with Monterey Pop and Creedance Clearwater Revival Live all culminating in the premiere of the Roc Doc: Woodstock.

For more information on all these shows, please log onto http://www.vh1.com/.

For more information on these and other VH1 shows, full episodes, video extras, photos, blog commentary and more, go to Shows.VH1.com.

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 90 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, VH1Games and extensive broadband video on VH1.com. Connect with VH1 at VH1.com.

Launched in May 2000, VH1 Classic is a 24-hour network that present videos, concerts and music specials all day long, featuring the best of rock, soul and pop artists from the 60's, 70's and 80's, including The Beatles, The Stones, Tina Turner, Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye, The Who, Stevie Wonder, The Police and many more. Learn more at http://www.vh1classic.com/.

Launched in 1997, VH1 Soul is the 24-hour network that brings music lovers the hottest, soul, neo-soul an R&B hits from the 90s and today featuring core artists such as Alicia Keys, Jill Scott, Outkast, Mary J. Blige and Usher. VH1 Soul, the premier source for all R&B and soul music, is now seen in the Top 20 U.S. markets for African-Americans and is available in nearly 20 million U.S. households.

* All Times ET/PT

Contact:

Surayyah McCarthy Jake Slane
212-846-8433 310-752-8370
Surayyah.McCarthy@VH1Staff.comJake.Slane@VH1Staff.com

Source: VH1

CONTACT: Surayyah McCarthy, +1-212-846-8433,
Surayyah.McCarthy@VH1Staff.com, or Jake Slane, +1-310-752-8370,
Jake.Slane@VH1Staff.com, both of VH1

Web Site: http://www.vh1.com/

-------
Profile: intent