'The Hollow Men' Take Absurdity to New Heights in an All-New Sketch Comedy Series Premiering Thursday, March 10 at 10:30 P.M.* on Comedy Central(R)

'The Hollow Men' Take Absurdity to New Heights in an All-New Sketch Comedy Series Premiering Thursday, March 10 at 10:30 P.M.* on Comedy Central(R)

NEW YORK, March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- In the tradition of "Monty Python" and "The Kids In The Hall," but with their own unique voice, "The Hollow Men" take sketch comedy to absurd new places in this half-hour series premiering Thursday, March 10 at 10:30 p.m. on COMEDY CENTRAL. Packed with a minimum of 12 comedy segments per episode, "The Hollow Men" is a rapid-fire show featuring outrageous situations from a smart, unexpected point of view.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050308/NYTU191 )

The Hollow Men (a reference to a TS Eliot poem of the same name) consists of four regular guys from England: David Armand, Nick Tanner, Rupert Russell and Sam Spedding. Episodes feature a mix of location and live studio audience performances, showcasing the quartet in free-wheeling musical numbers, recurring segments with unusual characters (many in drag) and the Hollow Men's clever take on such situations as the workplace, the space program, high school reunions, dating and much, much more. Encore presentations of "The Hollow Men" will air Thursdays at 12:30 a.m.

The Hollow Men first received critical acclaim for their live sketch show at Edinburgh Festival in 2001 and 2002. They were also the recipients of the prestigious Jury Award at the 2003 US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, CO. It was there that COMEDY CENTRAL executives caught their live show, and immediately signed the foursome to a pilot deal. Soon, the group was chosen by Variety as one of the top "10 Comic Acts to Watch" in 2003 and they began performing material at COMEDY CENTRAL Stage in Los Angeles, while working on their pilot and, ultimately, six episodes of "The Hollow Men."

Specializing in sketch, character and visual comedy, The Hollow Men have been regular performers on the London circuit for five years, and have taken four shows to the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2002, they also enjoyed a sell-out run in New York, where they returned in 2004 for another successful run at the New York British/Irish Comedy Invasion. The Hollow Men have been featured on BBC 2's "Edinburgh Comedy," and have written for and appeared in various TV shows such as "Absolutely Fabulous," "My Family," "The Sketch Show," "Dead Ringers" and "Beast and Happiness."

"The Hollow Men" stars and is written by David Armand, Nick Tanner, Rupert Russell and Sam Spedding. Scott Tomlinson is executive producer. His credits include "The Andy Dick Show," "The MTV Movie Awards" and "Cedric The Entertainer Presents." Gary S. Mann serves as executive in charge of production for COMEDY CENTRAL.

COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 86 million homes nationwide. COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of MTV Networks. COMEDY CENTRAL is a registered trademark of Comedy Partners. COMEDY CENTRAL's Internet address is http://www.comedycentral.com/.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050308/NYTU191 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN8 PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: Comedy Central; MTV Networks

CONTACT: Lisa Chader of MTV Networks, +1-310-752-8799, lisa.chader@mtvstaff.com; or Steve Albani of Comedy Central, +1-212-767-8695

Web site: http://www.mtv.com/ http://www.comedycentral.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit COMEDY CENTRAL's press-only Web site at http://wwwcomedycentral.com/press

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