When All Else Fails, Move Home - COMEDY CENTRAL'S® 'Big Lake,' Starring Chris Gethard, Horatio Sanz and Chris Parnell, Debuts on Tuesday, August 17 at 10:00 P.M.*

NEW YORK, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Coming home isn't always easy, especially when you're diving back into the dysfunctional arms of your crazy family and mismatched friends.  Chris Gethard, Horatio Sanz and Chris Parnell star in COMEDY CENTRAL's "Big Lake," a new half-hour, multi-camera family sitcom about a big city banker (Gethard) who loses his job and moves home to his parents' couch in Big Lake, PA.  Produced by Gary Sanchez Productions ("The Other Guys," "Talladega Nights," "Anchorman") and distributed by Debmar-Mercury, "Big Lake" premieres on Tuesday, August 17 at 10:00 p.m. with two back-to-back episodes.  

"Big Lake" centers on Josh (Gethard, Upright Citizens Brigade), who, after losing not only his lucrative banking job in the big city, but his father's entire nest egg as well, is forced to move back home to his parents' couch in Big Lake, PA.  There, he reunites with Glenn Cordoba (Sanz, "Step Brothers"), his childhood best friend who's fresh out of minimum security prison and Mr. Chris Henkel (Parnell, "30 Rock"), his favorite high school teacher.  Josh's homecoming isn't warmly received by his lovingly dysfunctional family, as he constantly deals with his Dad (James Rebhorn, "Meet the Parents"), who's trying to kick him out of the house, his cheerfully in-denial Mom (Deborah Rush, "Strangers with Candy"), who may be taking too many diet pills and his seemingly dorky 13-year-old brother (Dylan Blue, "Deck the Halls"), who's secretly running a small criminal empire.  Josh needs a new job in order to move off the couch, but in the meantime, he and his friends are too busy with iguanas, fighting bears, Serbian death metal enthusiasts, the Hooded Beast and, of course, Lee Harvey Osworld.

In the premiere episode, "Josh Comes Home," Josh arrives on his parents' front doorstep where he vows to stay on the couch until he earns back his father's retirement fund, which he lost as a result of the financial crisis.  After reuniting with his ex-con friend Glenn and his now burned-out high school teacher Chris, Josh sets out on a money-making scheme to sell a ball signed not only by Barry Bonds, but also by Marilyn Manson.

In the second episode, "Lee Harvey Osworld," Glenn discovers evidence that Lee Harvey Oswald once lived in his family home and proposes to the mayor that they build a memorial site and amusement park called "Lee Harvey Osworld," while Josh decides to retake a history test he failed in high school.

On comedycentral.com, viewers can expect a rich online experience with a unique perspective from inside the production.  As the season progresses, the "Big Lake" Web site will host weekly episodic preview and highlight clips, as well as exclusive video pieces featuring the full cast of the show.  From in-depth interviews with stars Gethard, Sanz and Parnell to a video diary from child actor Blue, fans will get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this new sitcom. The site will also feature an episode guide, character bios and real-time tweets from cast members.

Produced by Gary Sanchez Productions, the production company led by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy, and distributed by Debmar-Mercury, "Big Lake" is executive produced by Ferrell, McKay and Henchy, written by Emmy® Award-winner Lew Morton ("Undeclared," "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story") and directed by Emmy® Award-winner Don Scardino ("30 Rock").  Lisa Leingang is the executive in charge of production for COMEDY CENTRAL.

Modeled after previous successful groundbreaking Tyler Perry sitcom ventures from Debmar-Mercury co-presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein, COMEDY CENTRAL ordered 10 episodes of "Big Lake" and will then have the option to order an additional 90 episodes upon a successful first season run.  Debmar-Mercury would retain the rights to take the series into syndication after its run on COMEDY CENTRAL.  Prior to this deal, Debmar-Mercury had partnered with COMEDY CENTRAL in 2003 to distribute the broadcast syndication rights to the Emmy® and Peabody® Award-winning series "South Park."

About Gary Sanchez Productions

Gary Sanchez Productions is a Paramount Pictures-based film production company formed by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy.  Since 2006, the company has produced "Step Brothers" and "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard," as well as discovering the cult classic "The Foot Fist Way," starring Danny McBride.  Most recently Gary Sanchez partnered with Mosaic to produce "The Other Guys," starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, which is set to release on August 6th.  The company also produces the critically acclaimed HBO comedy series "East Bound & Down," returning in September for a second season and "Big Lake," a new series for Comedy Central premiering late this summer, starring Chris Gethard, Horatio Sanz and Chris Parnell.  In July 2007, Gary Sanchez Productions, in association with Sequoia Capital and DAG Ventures, launched the video site Funnyordie.com.  One year later, Funnyordie.com joined forces with HBO to produce the hit series FUNNY OR DIE PRESENTS, which has been renewed for a second season.  In January 2009, Gary Sanchez Productions broke into the world of live theatre, producing Will Ferrell's Broadway debut, "You're Welcome America.  A Final Night with George W. Bush," which was nominated for a Tony award.  Gary Sanchez Productions is represented by Mosaic and CAA.

About Debmar-Mercury

Debmar-Mercury, a worldwide media company specializing in syndication, network, cable and ancillary markets, produces and distributes "The Wendy Williams Show;" distributes Tyler Perry's "House of Payne" and spinoff "Meet the Browns"; distributes "Big Lake," a new comedy debuting in 2010 from Gary Sanchez Productions' Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy; distributes "Are We There Yet?," a new sitcom debuting in 2010 from Revolution Studios' Joe Roth, Cube Vision's Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez, and Show-Runner Ali LeRoi; distributes strips "Family Feud," "South Park" and "True Hollywood Story," as well as the weekly "Deadliest Catch;" and a movie library featuring titles from Revolution Studios and Lionsgate.  Debmar-Mercury is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), the leading next-generation studio.

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