Actor and Comedian Cedric the Entertainer to Host the Third Annual TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV

Actor and Comedian Cedric the Entertainer to Host the Third Annual TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV

90-Minute Special from the Barker Hangar Honors the Best and Brightest from the History of Television

NEW YORK, March 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Popular comedian and actor Cedric the Entertainer, currently starring in the upcoming films Be Cool and The Honeymooners, will host the third annual TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV, premiering on TV Land and simulcast on Nick at Nite on Wednesday, March 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, it was announced today by Larry W. Jones, President, TV Land and Nick at Nite. The event will be taped on Sunday, March 13 from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, CA.

The TV Land Awards is the network's third annual salute to classic TV. Several awards will be bestowed upon some of television's legendary series' and stars. Celebrated film and television producer Aaron Spelling will receive the Pioneer Award, The Carol Burnett Show will be recognized with the Legend Award, The Bob Newhart Show will receive the Icon Award and Soul Train will be honored with the Pop Culture Award. TV Land will also present awards in several other categories, including The 2004 Future Classic Award -- which TV Land unveiled in 1998 and is presented annually to the one new show from the past calendar year which best exemplifies the qualities of an emerging television classic. Last year's recipient was FOX's critically-acclaimed comedy series Arrested Development.

"We are so excited to have Cedric the Entertainer host the third annual TV Land Awards," states Larry W. Jones. "He is a comedic talent with great energy for the show."

Cedric the Entertainer first came to film audiences' attention as one of the headliners in The Original Kings of Comedy, the acclaimed documentary feature directed by Spike Lee. He has gone on to star in the box office smashes Man of the House, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Barbershop and Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Johnson Family Vacation and Intolerable Cruelty. He will also star as "Ralph Kramden" in a remake of The Honeymooners.

In fall 2002, he debuted his sketch/variety television series Cedric The Entertainer Presents ... on the FOX network, garnering a People's Choice nomination for Best New Comedy Series and nabbing the AFTRA Award of Excellence in Television Programming. His first comedy book, entitled Grown - Ass Man (Ballantine) was published in January 2002 to record sales.

Cedric has celebrated many career successes spanning television, live performances and film. Some notable accolades include a record-breaking win of four consecutive NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of the lovable "Coach Cedric Robinson" on the WB's #1-rated sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, which ran for six seasons. In 1994, he received the Richard Pryor Comic of the Year Award from Black Entertainment Television. From 1997 through 2000, he traveled across the country as one of the headliners of the super successful Kings of Comedy Tour (the top-grossing comedy tour in history, earning more than $37 million), sharing the marquee with fellow comics Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Bernie Mac; the subsequent film, The Original Kings of Comedy, is based on that tour.

Additionally, during the broadcast of the 2001 Super Bowl, a television viewing audience of more than 144 million witnessed Cedric nab the #1 commercial spot ("The Date") for Anheuser-Busch's Bud Light and USA Today dubbed him "Madison Avenue's Most Valuable Player." This commercial was the start of an ongoing presence in these popular commercials.

Other big-screen credits include 1998 comedy Ride, Big Momma's House, Kingdom Come co-starring Whoopi Goldberg and Serving Sara with Matthew Perry and Elizabeth Hurley. Cedric can be heard as the voice of a zoo bear in Eddie Murphy's Dr. Dolittle 2 and also as the voice of "Carl the Rhino" in the hit animated feature Ice Age.

Now helming his own production company, A Bird And A Bear Entertainment, Cedric will develop and produce feature films. Johnson Family Vacation was the first feature under the new company. Beyond his career success, Cedric has founded The Cedric The Entertainer Charitable Foundation, Inc., which contributes financial aid to inner city communities through scholarships and outreach programs to enhance the lives of youth and families in his hometown of St. Louis.

In addition to Revlon, other major sponsors include Novartis, Orbitz, Walgreen's, Ambien and Honda.

Michael Levitt (TV Land Awards 2003 and 2004, Billboard Music Awards) serves as Executive Producer, Emmy-award winning Glenn Weiss as Director (2003 Tony Awards, Christmas in Washington, Star Search), Greg Sills as Supervising Producer (VH1 Divas, Billboard Music Awards), Michael Dempsey as Producer (Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration, mtvICON), and Sal Maniaci and Larry W. Jones also serve as Executive Producers.

Now seen in over 85 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," "The Carol Burnett Show" and "Bonanza."

MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B), owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, mtvU, VHI, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, MTV INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 12 digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.

MEDIA RSVP & CREDENTIAL FORM

THIRD ANNUAL TV LAND AWARDS: A CELEBRATION OF CLASSIC TV TO TAPE ON SUNDAY, MARCH 13; AIRS ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16

Awards Show Honors the Best of Television

The third annual TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV, will be taped on Sunday, March 13 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, CA, and will air on TV Land on Wednesday, March 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The special recognizes shows and stars from television's rich history which have truly withstood the test of time.

Last year's homage to classic television featured unforgettable moments such as comedic actor Ben Stiller presenting the cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show with the "Groundbreaking Award" and Academy Award-winner Billy Bob Thornton presenting the cast of The Andy Griffith Show with the "Legend Award." Cast members from Gilligan's Island accepted TV Land's "Pop Culture" Award from CBS' Survivor All Stars and Emmy Award-winning actress Liza Minnelli presented Mitch Hurwitz, David Nevins and the cast of Arrested Development with the "Future Classic Award."

To request credentials to cover the show, please respond to the questionnaire below. Please complete this form and email it to sonia.norville@mtvstaff.com or fax to (310) 752-8076 by MONDAY, MARCH 7th. If you have any questions, please call Vanessa Reyes at (310) 752-8081 or Sonia Norville at (310) 752-8074.

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Source: TV Land

CONTACT: Jennifer Zaldivar of TV Land & Nick at Nite, +1-212-846-8964, or Ariana Urbont of MTV Networks, +1-310-752-8079

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