Bell Media's Entertainment Specialties Announce Acquisition of New Sensational Series for 2014/15 Lineup

Bell Media's Entertainment Specialties Announce Acquisition of New Sensational Series for 2014/15 Lineup


- Highly anticipated, Elizabeth Hurley-headlined drama, THE ROYALS,
secured for E! -

- Big buzz comedies acquired at L.A. Screenings include Steve and Nancy
Carell's ANGIE TRIBECA, BENCHED, and BUZZY'S -

- Additional pickups include dramas PROOF, COMPLICATIONS, RUSH, and
comedies YOUNGER and JENNIFER FALLS -

- Acquisitions feature big-name talent including Jennifer Beals; Eliza
Coupe; Hilary Duff; Rashida Jones; Quincy Jones; Matthew Modine; Jaime
Pressly; Ashley Tisdale; and George Wendt -



To tweet this release: http://bit.ly/1ovUEY6


"Getting excited yet? We are." BENCHED..." Huffington Post


"Think of it [RUSH] as an edgier version of USA's ROYAL PAINS, a similarly-premised show
that lives in a much sunnier world." - Philiana Ng, The Hollywood Reporter


"If you love a guilty pleasure, E!'s new TV show THE ROYALS will be right up your street."- Leanna Bayley, Glamour


TORONTO, June 5, 2014 /CNW/ - Bell Media announced today big-ticket
acquisitions made for its Entertainment Specialties at the L.A.
Screenings last month. Led by the acquisition of THE ROYALS starring Elizabeth Hurley (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me), the nine, exclusive, big-buzz series, further position the suite of
channels as must-watch destinations.



New comedy series acquired include some of the funniest that screened in
L.A.: ANGIE TRIBECA from Steve and Nancy Carell and starring Rashida Jones; courtroom comedy BENCHED; and from the creators of WILL & GRACE, BUZZY'S,set in a barbershop in a working-class suburb of Boston and starring
perennial favourite, George Wendt (CHEERS). Bell Media also secured sensational dramas PROOF, a serialized supernatural drama starring Jennifer Beals (THE L WORD) and Matthew Modine (WEEDS); medical dramas RUSH and COMPLICATIONS; comedies YOUNGER starring Sutton Foster and featuring Hilary Duff; and JENNIFER FALLS starring Jaime Pressly (RAISING HOPE).



"We are confident that the series we acquired in L.A., will continue the
tremendous growth we've seen across our entertainment specialty brands
in the last year," said Catherine MacLeod, Senior Vice-President,
Specialty Channels and Bell Media Production. "Our new dramas,
including THE ROYALS, the first original scripted drama for E!, are poised to become
water-cooler favourites this year, and our new comedies are hilarious."


**Media Note** Photography for Bell Media programming is available
online at BellMediaPR.ca


The specialty series come from an impressive pedigreed group of
production talent including; Steve and Nancy Carell; Conan O'Brien's
Conaco; BURN NOTICE creator Matt Nix; director Alex Graves (THE WEST
WING, GAME OF THRONES); ONE TREE HILL creator Mark Schwahn; producer
Mark Gordon (GREY'S ANATOMY, RAY DONOVAN); David Kohan and Max
Mutchnick (WILL & GRACE); writer and director Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies, 50/50); writer Darren Star (SEX AND THE CITY); and writer Matthew Carlson
(MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE).



Each of the new series features an impressive cast includingRashida Jones in ANGIE TRIBECA; Eliza Coupe HOUSE OF LIES, THE MILLERS and Jay Harrington in BENCHED; Emmy(®) Award nominee George Wendt and Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical) in BUZZY'S; Jennifer Beals and Golden Globe(®) and Emmy(®) Award nominee Matthew Modine in PROOF; Jason O'Mara THE GOOD WIFE, VEGAS, TERRA NOVA and Jessica Szohr (GOSSIP GIRL) in COMPLICATIONS; Tom Ellis (MIRANDA) in RUSH; Sutton Foster (BUNHEADS), Golden Globe(®) Award nominee Debi Mazar (ENTOURAGE, Goodfellas) and Hilary Duff (A Cinderella Story, GOSSIP GIRL) in YOUNGER; Jaime Pressly (MY NAME IS EARL) in JENNIFER FALLS; and Elizabeth Hurley in THE ROYALS.



Currently, Bell Media's English entertainment specialty channels reach
nearly 2 million Canadians each week, and have five of the Top 10
entertainment and specialty series. Each week, 77% of English
entertainment specialty viewers watch Bell Media brands. Success
stories include Bravo, which had its most-watched broadcast year to
date, with double-digit audience growth in Adults and Women 25-54 and
18-49; Space, a Top 10 specialty network for Adults and Women 25-54 and
18-49, and the #1 specialty network for audience growth among Women
25-54 with strong female-led programming such as BITTEN and ORPHAN
BLACK; Comedy, which remains strong, continues to be a Top 5
entertainment specialty among Adults 18-34; and Much, which saw the
largest growth of any Entertainment Specialty network among Adults
18-34 and total viewers 12-34.


Bell Media Entertainment Specialties New 2014/15 Acquired Series:

ANGIE TRIBECA (The Comedy Network, Mid-Season, 10 x :30)
Angie Tribeca, a new spoof of police procedurals, is the brainchild of Steve and
Nancy Carell. Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation, The Office) stars in
this single-camera comedy as Angie Tribeca, a 10-year veteran of the
Los Angeles Police Department. Her fellow officers in the squad are an
eccentric but brilliant group of people who investigate crime, reveal
way too much personal information about themselves and refuse to rest
until justice has been served...sort of. A spoof in the tradition of The Naked Gun and Airplane!, Angie Tribeca is executive-produced by Steve and Nancy Carell through their Carousel
Television, along with Campbell Smith and Thom Hinkle.


BENCHED (The Comedy Network, Mid-Season, 12 x :30)
BENCHED is a single-camera, half-hour, courtroom comedy that focuses on Nina
Coupe (Eliza Coupe), a dedicated, career-driven corporate attorney who
has a very public nervous breakdown after getting passed up for an
expected promotion, and finds herself working as a public defender. Her
personal and professional worlds are turned upside down when she joins
the ranks of the legal world's underdogs and very quickly realizes that
the law isn't quite as fair as she once thought. In fact, the system is
seemingly much more screwed up than her own crazy personal life. Jay
Harrington stars as Nina's new colleague, Phil, a tall, dark and
handsome, if not a little scruffy, public defender, and avid gambler.


BUZZY'S (The Comedy Network, Mid-Season, 10 x :30)

From the creators of WILL & GRACE, comes a new half-hour comedy series, BUZZY'S set in a barbershop in the small, working-class town of Charlestown,
just across the Charles River from Boston. Starring George Wendt as
Buzzy, Ashley Tisdale (HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL films) and a terrific
ensemble cast of comic actors, this is the story of a group of young
people who ran in different circles but all knew each other - either
from high school, from growing up down the block from one another, or
by reputation, as in the case of a former baseball star, because a win
on the local playing field is a win for the entire town. Now they all
work together at Buzzy's barbershop, previously owned by Buzzy, who may
no longer run the joint, but still works there and lends his style
expertise and sharp opinions (whether it's with a pair of scissors or
his wit). Like family, but with unrequited crushes, they bust each
other's chops from time to time, but hey, isn't that what families do?
Plus, they're from Charlestown, and busting chops is in their DNA. So
for now, their dreams may lie across the river in Boston, but their
work, their lives, their loves and their worries are in the town where
they grew up.


COMPLICATIONS (Bravo, Mid-Season, 10 x :60)
COMPLICATIONS centers around John Ellis (Jason O'Mara), a disillusioned suburban ER
doctor, who finds his existence transformed when he intervenes in a
drive-by shooting, saving a young boy's life and killing one of his
attackers. When he learns the boy is still marked for death, he finds
himself compelled to save him at any cost and discovers that his life,
and his outlook on medicine, may never be the same.


JENNIFER FALLS (M3, Mid-Season, 10 x :30)
JENNIFER FALLS revolves around a career woman and mother, Jennifer Doyle (Jaime
Pressly) who must move back in with her own mom after being let go from
her high-powered, six-figure salary job. With her teenage daughter in
tow, Jennifer has to face her new life and figure out what the next
steps are to rebuild.


PROOF (Bravo, Mid-Season, 10 x :60)
PROOF is a serialized supernatural drama starring Jennifer Beals, Matthew
Modine, and Joe Morton (SCANDAL, Terminator 2: Judgment Day). The series follows Dr. Carolyn Tyler (Jennifer Beals) on a journey
toward answering one of life's greatest mysteries: Is there life after
death? A highly trained surgeon, skeptic and believer in hard science,
Dr. Tyler is challenged by an eccentric and terminally ill billionaire
(Matthew Modine) to prove that there is an afterlife. After exploring
stories about hauntings, near-death experiences, past lives and more,
Dr. Tyler slowly evolves from hardline skeptic, to doubter and
ultimately, reluctant believer. Proof is executive-produced by Kyra
Sedgwick (THE CLOSER), Rob Bragin, Tom Jacobson, Jill Littman and Emmy(®)-winner Alex Graves.


THE ROYALS (E!, Mid-Season, 10 x :60)
THE ROYALS is a one-hour drama about a fictional British royal family set in
modern-day London. Produced by Lionsgate, the Royals inhabit a world of
opulence and regal tradition that caters to any and every desire, but
one that also comes with a price tag of duty, destiny and intense
public scrutiny. Set and shot in Great Britain, THE ROYALS pits public
perception of the royal family against the reality of life inside the
castle walls, from the lavish parties and high stakes political
summits, to the private family gatherings and secret romances. However
being born into this elite circle comes at a cost and the Royals' lives
are played out on a world stage, where press is 24/7, and social media
drives an insatiable appetite to follow their every move.


RUSH (Bravo, Premieres July 17 at 9 p.m. ET, 10 x :60)
RUSH is a drama series centring on Dr. William Rush (Tom Ellis), who is not
your average on-call doctor. He's not attached to any hospital and is
highly discreet no matter what the ailment, as long as the client can
pay his cash-only premium. And this doctor can party with the best of
them. He has no desire to change his life or how he lives it, until an
old flame and his conscience begin to stir things up.


YOUNGER (M3, Fall, 12 x :30)
YOUNGER follows 40-year-old Liza (Sutton Foster), a suddenly single mother who
tries to get back into the working world, only to find out it's nearly
impossible to start at the bottom at her age. When a chance encounter
with a 20-something guy at a bar convinces her she looks younger than
she is, Liza tries to pass herself off as 26, with the help of a
makeover, courtesy of her best friend Maggie (Debi Mazar). Armed with
new confidence, she lands a job as an assistant to the temperamental
Diana (Miriam Shor) and teams up with her new co-worker and fellow
20-something Kelsey (Hilary Duff) to make it in the career of her
dreams.


About Bell Media

With passion and an unrelenting commitment to excellence, Bell Media
creates content and builds brands that entertain, inform, engage, and
inspire audiences through the platforms of their choice. Bell Media is
Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television,
radio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. Bell Media owns 30
local television stations led by CTV, Canada's #1 television network;
35 specialty channels, including TSN and RDS, Canada's most-watched
specialty channels in English and French; four pay TV services,
including The Movie Network and Super Écran; and is managing
shareholder of premium pay-per-view service Viewers Choice Canada. Bell
Media is also Canada's largest radio broadcaster, with 106 licensed
radio stations in 54 markets across Canada. Bell Media owns Astral
Out-of-Home, one of Canada's most dynamic and innovative out-of-home
advertising companies with a network of more than 9,500 advertising
faces in Québec, Ontario and British Columbia. Bell Media also operates
more than 200 websites, delivers TV Everywhere with its innovative GO
video streaming services, including CTV GO, TMN GO and Bravo GO, and
owns Dome Productions Inc., a multi-platform production company. Bell
Media is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest
communications company. For more on Bell Media, please visit www.bellmedia.ca.


SOURCE Bell Media

Bell Media

CONTACT: Sara McLaren, Publicity Director, Entertainment Specialties, 416.384.6104 or sara.mclaren@bellmedia.ca


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