COMEDY CENTRAL® Greenlights Two New Series for the 2012 Season - an Untitled Sketch Comedy From Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele and "The Nick Show Kroll" Starring Nick Kroll

NEW YORK, June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The many faces of Nick Kroll and the dynamic duo of Key and Peele will be joining the COMEDY CENTRAL line-up in 2012.  The all-comedy network has given pick-up orders to two new, original series, it was announced today by Kent Alterman, head of original programming and production.  The series pick-ups include: "The Nick Show Kroll," featuring the comic brilliance of Nick Kroll ("The League," "Children's Hospital"); and an untitled sketch-comedy series starring "MADtv" alum Keegan-Michael Key ("Just Go with It," "Gary Unmarried") and Jordan Peele ("Little Fockers").

"I haven't seen either pilot yet, but I think so highly of the talent involved, I can't imagine the shows won't be great," said Alterman.

"The Nick Show Kroll" highlights Nick Kroll's incredible ability to transform himself into hilarious characters that pop off the screen while bringing many of his popular short-form favorites along for the ride.  Sketches in the pilot episode included "The PubLIZity Girls," with Kroll and Jenny Slate as publicists on the verge of a breakdown while arranging a swanky event for a client; "The Ed Hardy Boyz," featuring Kroll as Bobby Bottleservice who, along with Peter Paparazzo (Jon Daly) solve mysteries for Christian Audigier, King of the Ed Hardy fashion empire; Kroll as an inappropriate basketball ref who tries to hang out with the players after the game; "Rich Dicks," which sees Kroll as Aspen Bruckheimer, son of Jerry, who, along with his old moneyed friend Wendy (Jon Daly) are rich, on the prowl and ready to party at a moments notice -- oh yeah, they're also the biggest dicks in the world and man-on-the-street interstitials from Kroll's popular character Fabrice Fabrice.

"The Nick Show Kroll" is executive produced and written by Kroll, John Levenstein ("Arrested Development") and Jonathan Krisel ("SNL," "Portlandia"), who is also directing.  John Daly ("Happy Endings," "Nick Swardson's Pretend Time") serves as supervising producer and actor in the series.  Jim Sharp and Monika Zielinska are the executives in charge of production for COMEDY CENTRAL.  Nick Kroll's COMEDY CENTRAL original one-hour stand-up special, "Nick Kroll:  Thank You Very Cool," premiered in January and will be released on DVD by COMEDY CENTRAL Home Entertainment this September.

The untitled Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele project is a two-man sketch show emanating from of the minds of "MADtv" alum, Key and Peele.  The series features Key and Peele in front of a live studio audience bantering about a subject that is weaved between filmed shorts and sketches.  In the pilot, they discuss the issue of lying which leads into irreverent shorts of Lil' Wayne rapping from jail about how he's the baddest motherf*&ker around, but is constantly getting stabbed by the clearly much tougher inmates; an Obama sketch where Peele impersonates the President and Key plays his "anger translator" to show that Obama does loose his cool at times; and "Gideon's Kitchen" a reality cooking competition where the head chef is impossible to read.

The series is executive produced by Key, Peele, Ian Roberts and Jay Martel.  Gary Mann and Monika Zielinska are the executives in charge of production for COMEDY CENTRAL.

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.

MTV Networks, a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products.  The company's portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 400 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., TeenNick, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, SPIKE, TV Land, Atom, GameTrailers and Xfire.

SOURCE COMEDY CENTRAL Corporate Communications