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Photo: Left: Getty Images, Center: Paramount +, Right: Getty Images
Amy Schumer brings back her Emmy Award-winning and Peabody Award-winning Comedy Central sketch series Inside Amy Schumer – but not for the cable. Instead, the revival is heading to Paramount +, where it will be one of the centerpieces of a Comedy Central-branded hub on the new streaming platform. New chapters from well-known Comedy Central titles such as Workaholics, Reno 911! and The daily show, with a new Beavis and Butthead movie, are also headed to the service, according to MTV Entertainment Group president Chris McCarthy. The executive on Wednesday unveiled plans for the latest iteration of the 30-year-old cable network at a ViacomCBS investor conference outlining the company’s overall streaming strategy.
In an interview earlier this week, McCarthy told Vulture that the Comedy Central hub will “define comedy” on Paramount +. “It will serve as an anchor for the public, [telling them] that this is where all the comedic content of the service resides, both iconic franchises and new things, ”he said. That’s not to say all of the comedy on the new streamer will come from Comedy Central: Paramount + will also host half-hours at CBS Libraries (I love lucy), Paramount TV (Frasier, Taxi, The Love Boat), and even the old UPN network managed by ViacomCBS (Everyone hates Chris). But at least initially, the original comedy productions on the platform will rely heavily on refreshing franchises that debuted on Comedy Central or sister network MTV. “We wanted to do the bigger projects to relaunch the larger volumes of our iconic library,” McCarthy explained. “We want to remind the public that Paramount + is now the birthplace of this great comedy.” Among the projects announced or confirmed today:
• The original distribution of Workaholics are set to return for a film on “what it’s like to go through the pandemic,” McCarthy said. The film is made with an eye towards a sequel series to the original. “You can start to see the seeding of a next generation of actors for what a new Workaholics might look like, ”the executive added.
• The daily showof Trevor Noah will host and produce a weekly series for the tentatively dubbed streamer … The weekly show. “It’ll go a lot deeper into a topic or an interview… in a way that traditional linear spectacle doesn’t allow us to do,” McCarthy said. The streamer has ordered six episodes of the new project. Additionally, Paramount + will air episodes of The daily show hours after their debut on cable channel Comedy Central.
• Reno 911!, last seen on Quibi, will return to Paramount + for a cinematic event titled The hunt for QAnon. The title reveals the scenario.
• As previously reported, Comedy Central’s cable network is working on a weekly relaunch of the series. Beavis and Butthead. But first, the famous teens will appear in a still-untitled Paramount + feature film, which McCarthy says is intended as a bridge between the old series and the reboot, setting up the storyline for the eventual series.
• Schumer agreed to do a series of promotions under the Inside Amy Schumer banner. The initial order is for five half-hour segments, and while the project is described as a limited series, “Who knows where things might go?” McCarthy said. “She is one of the talents that has helped define the [Comedy Central] mark. ”The executive says two or three episodes of the new project will likely be released initially, with subsequent half-hours approximately every six weeks or so. Comedy Central’s cable network renewed Inside Amy Schumer for a fifth season in 2016, but as Schumer’s career exploded, she and the network postponed production of new episodes, saying at one point there were no plans to resume production anytime soon. In 2019, however, Schumer told New York Times she was once again interested in reverting to the sketch format.
McCarthy, who says the Paramount + engagement represents a “brand new deal,” has been working for months to bring back Schumer, along with other Comedy Central veterans. “We talked to all the talent we have a relationship with and said, ‘We’re doing something very special with Paramount +, and we’d love to talk about how we can help you deliver something unique. and a passionate game for you, but also helps rekindle your fan base and remind them that now is the new home [of various legacy series]”. Amy was one of the first to raise her hand and said she was really excited to create a series of specials.
While reboots of existing franchises do not represent a revolutionary strategy for streaming (two words: Disney Plus), this seems particularly important in the case of Paramount + because in many cases it does not have exclusive broadcast rights to broadcasts from his library. Indeed, in some cases, the new streamer will share shows with several streamers: Inside Amy Schumer is also available on HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video. By lighting up continuations or spinoffs green, Comedy Central on Paramount + can boast of being the best place for avid fans of a show to experience the series – and maybe prepare for a future that ViacomCBS decides in. to stop conceding its library to external platforms. Paramount + executes this strategy in areas other than comedy. There will be reboots of MTV branded franchises on the streamer, and the platform also confirmed today that the long rumored Frasier reunion will be broadcast exclusively on Paramount +.
Just as Disney didn’t completely ditch its FX cable channel when it launched FX on Hulu, McCarthy says the linear iteration of the Comedy Central brand will continue to play a key role in the company’s strategy. “The wonderful thing about streaming is that you can really step into your passion and gorge yourself on it,” on demand, he says. “Linear is a much more community experience. So we think about these prisms. On the linear platform, we’re leaning a lot more into the news space and adult animation, and we’ll be rolling out that slate towards the end of this year. As Vulture reported last summer, one big investment Comedy Central is making on the linear side is a new talk show from radio titan Charlamagne Tha God, which McCarthy says is still on track to make its mark. debut this year.
And on the streaming side, McCarthy says he expects development to accelerate significantly in the months and years to come. “There will definitely be a ton more. It really scratches the surface, ”he says. “As we take a look at all of our brands and studios, both nationally and globally, there is an incredible wealth of content. This is what we will start with. McCarthy was not talking about other shows from the past that could be resurrected for Paramount +, but during Wednesday’s presentation, of the few past shows he specifically checked that the name had a home on the streamer was the parody series. beloved of the late 90s. Strangers with Candy. Could this franchise prepare for a comeback? “We love the show and we love Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert and the whole cast, but nothing new to share today,” a McCarthy rep said Wednesday.
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