Monday Nights Get Sunny On COMEDY CENTRAL It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Debuts On Monday, May 31

The gang from Paddy’s find a place on COMEDY CENTRAL as the critically-acclaimed comedy series “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” debuts on Monday, May 31 with back-to-back episodes from 9:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. ET/PT.  The series will air every Monday night in a two-hour block beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Crude, controversial, outlandish and downright hilarious, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” premiered on August 4, 2005 and has aired for five seasons on FX.  The half-hour series, starring Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson and Danny DeVito, features the cast as self-centered owners of Paddy’s Irish Pub in Philadelphia who will do just about anything, no matter how reprehensible, in an attempt to better their own situation.  Serious issues such as racism, abortion, underage drinking, molestation, gun control, cancer and death somehow weave their way into the cockeyed universe of “The Gang.”  The characters are experts on every subject but actually possess expertise in nothing at all.  They often use revisionist history to bolster their self-worth, which contrasts sharply with the true reality of their lives.

Initially shot by McElhenney, Howerton and Day on a hand-held digital camera and edited on a home computer for $200 – most of which went to pay for pizza and the cost of gasoline to drive to location shoots – FX picked up the show and re-shot the pilot (for a price significantly higher than that of the original $200).  ”It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” was created by McElhenney and is executive produced by McElhenney, Day and Howerton.  Michael Rotenberg and Nick Frenkel are also executive producers.  The series is produced by FX Productions and distributed by Twentieth Television.

COMEDY CENTRAL acquired the exclusive basic cable syndication rights to “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” in a multi-year deal with Twentieth Century Fox that allows the all-comedy channel to air the series for a special, limited summer 2010 run.  Following the summer window, the series will settle into its long-term, multi-year run in January 2011.  First-run seasons of “Sunny” will continue to air on FX.  In addition to the five seasons already produced, COMEDY CENTRAL has also acquired the rights to seasons six and seven which will premiere this fall and 2011 respectively.

COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 98 million homes nationwide.  COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of Viacom Inc.’s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks.  COMEDY CENTRAL’s Internet address is www.comedycentral.com.  For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Press Central, COMEDY CENTRAL’s press Web site, at www.comedycentral.com/press.

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