"THE COMEDY CENTRAL® ROAST OF JEFF FOXWORTHY"
PREMIERES ON SUNDAY, MARCH 20 AT 10:00 P.M.
Roast Masters Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy, Ron White
Talent Includes Heidi Klum, Denis Leary, Dr. Phil McGraw,
Jay Mohr, Colin Quinn, Anna Nicole Smith, Among Many More
Users Can Log On To comedycentral.com To Play The "Roast Race" Game
And View Exclusive Behind-The-Scenes Footage From The Roast
NEW YORK, March 7, 2005 Get out the lighter fluid, it's time for a Roast! COMEDY CENTRAL is serving up a feast and the main dish will be Jeff Foxworthy. The actor-comedian has tossed his hat into the pit and did he get skewered. "The COMEDY CENTRAL Roast of Jeff Foxworthy" will premiere on Sunday, March 20 at 10:00 p.m. "Blue Collar TV" stars Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White share the Roast Master hosting duties.
An encore presentation of the Roast will air immediately following the premiere at 11:30 p.m. and also on Monday, March 21 at 9:30 p.m. and midnight.
This year's Roast features Roasters Nick DiPaolo, Greg Giraldo, Lisa Lampanelli, Colin Quinn and hosts Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White as they take on Foxworthy in a 90-minute, edited version of the Blue Collar party taped on Wednesday, December 1 at The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. In addition to the Roasters that ripped Foxworthy that evening, viewers will be treated to video tributes from Gilbert Gottfried, Heidi Klum, Denis Leary, Anna Nicole Smith, Dr. Phil McGraw and Jay Mohr. Throughout the evening guests were entertained by the musical talents of GE Smith and a special performance from Bama.
On Tuesday, March 1, comedycentral.com introduces the "Roast Race" game. The player of the game is a Roaster who trying to drive his/her tricked-out car through the streets of New York to get to "The COMEDY CENTRAL Roast of Jeff Foxworthy." The player can customize the blue-collar ride with details like a fancy flame job or extra tailpipes and even the motor oil. Once the car is complete, the player then hits the streets of Chinatown, the East Village and Times Square picking up certain items along the way that may inspire material for the Roast. In order to win, the player must make it to the Roast on time. The winner's payoff is getting to roast Jeff Foxworthy and a short animation plays a joke audio clip.
With the record-breaking ratings generated by the World Premiere of "Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again," - COMEDY CENTRAL's second most watched telecast ever while leading the channel to its most watched day, weekend, and week in network history this year's Roast is expected to serve up sizzling ratings. The network is anticipating "The COMEDY CENTRAL Roast of Jeff Foxworthy" to be the most-viewed Roast of all-time on COMEDY CENTRAL.
Leading up to the premiere of this year's Roast, COMEDY CENTRAL will present special Blue Collar programming. It starts on Sunday, March 20, at 12:30 p.m. with Roast Master Ron White's stand-up special "COMEDY CENTRAL Presents Ron White." Then at 1:00 p.m., "Jeff Foxworthy: Totally Committed" will air followed by "Blue Collar TV" at 2:00 p.m. Next on the Blue Collar menu will be Roast Master Bill Engvall's special "Bill Engvall: Here's Your Sign, Live" at 2:30 p.m. Capping off the Roast Masters' specials will be the 4:00 p.m. airing of "Larry the Cable Guy: Git-R-Done."
In addition to the Blue Collar stand-up specials, COMEDY CENTRAL will air both "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" movies back-to-back. Each movie scored record-breaking ratings when they premiered on COMEDY CENTRAL.
"The COMEDY CENTRAL Roast Of Jeff Foxworthy" is sponsored by Rolling Rock and Sierra Mist.
The Roast will once again be co-produced by Denis Leary and Jim Serpico's Apostle.
Jeff Foxworthy is one of the most respected and successful comedians in the country. He is the largest selling comedy-recording artist in history, a multiple Grammy Award-nominee and best-selling author of 13 books. Widely known for his redneck jokes, his act goes well beyond that to explore the humor in everyday family interactions and human nature, a style that has been compared to Mark Twain's.
Foxworthy stars in and executive produces the television series, "Blue Collar TV," which he created for the WB network and can also be seen on COMEDY CENTRAL. The ensemble cast includes Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy from "Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie." "Blue Collar TV" came about due to the success of the film and the highly successful concert tour, which grossed more than 15 million dollars. The movie is now available on DVD/VHS and to date has sold more than 2.5 million units. Blue Collar Comedy Tour, Rides Again, the sequel to the first film, is now available on DVD and has sold more than 2 million units since its release on December 7, 2004. Both movie soundtracks are available on Warner Bros. Records and continue to top the Comedy Charts.
Apostle's Jim Serpico, Denis Leary and Tom Sellitti are the co-executive producers and Elizabeth Porter, vice president, talent and events, COMEDY CENTRAL serves as the executive in charge of "The COMEDY CENTRAL Roast of Jeff Foxworthy" for the network. Andre Allen is the director.
Apostle, based in New York City, is currently producing the half-hour animated series "Shorties Watchin' Shorties" for COMEDY CENTRAL and the critically-acclaimed one hour drama "Rescue Me" for the FX Network. Apostle has an overall film and television deal with Sony.
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.
