Starz lifts curtain on original shows
Comedy roster experiments with shorter programs
Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News
Published September 23, 2006 at midnight
Starz Entertainment unveiled its first slate of original TV shows with a roster of comedies that include a Martin Lawrence-produced stand-up show and an interview show featuring two foul-mouthed puppets.
Starz, a division of John Malone's Liberty Media, last month revamped its structure following Liberty's acquisition of animation and distribution company IDT Entertainment. It will now start making its own shows rather than solely acquiring movies from studios.
Starz, which has 16 movie channels under the Starz and Encore brands with 15 million and 27 million subscribers respectively, has sat on the sidelines while premium movie channel rivals HBO and Showtime have produced their own original fare such as The Sopranos and Weeds.
The channel's slate of new shows experiments with unconventional time lengths, like five-minute episodes of the comedy Head Case and 10-minute shots of interview show The Bronx Bunny, to fit with video- on-demand viewing habits.
"Our goal with originals is to complement our movie strategy and to expand our programming offerings on all our platforms," said Stephan Shelanski, senior vice president/programming.
The three new shows, set to appear on Starz early next year, are:
• Martin Lawrence's 1st Amendment Stand-Up, hosted by comedian Doug Williams, features up-and- coming comedians. Lawrence, the star of Bad Boys and Big Momma's House, is executive producer.
• The Bronx Bunny adapts a hit British show featuring a duo of raunchy talk-show puppets who ask their guests unexpected questions. Guests already booked for the U.S. version include Howie Mandel and Nick Cannon.
• Head Case stars Alexandra Wentworth from In Living Color as a Hollywood therapist with celebrity clientele.
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