Tag: Comedy series

  • Warner Bros. Discovery sues Paramount over ‘South Park’ deal

    By Associated Press

    NEW YORK: Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is suing Paramount Global, saying its competitor aired new episodes of the popular animated comedy series “South Park” after Warner paid for exclusive rights.

    Warner says it signed a contract in 2019 paying more than $500 million for the rights to existing and new episodes of the irreverent show, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in New York State Supreme Court.

    HBO Max, Warner’s streaming platform, was scheduled to receive the first episodes of a new “South Park” season in 2020. But the company was informed the pandemic halted production, the lawsuit says.

    In spite of Warner’s exclusive rights to the show until 2025, the company alleges South Park Digital Studios, which produces the shows and is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, offered two pandemic-themed specials to Paramount, which aired them in September 2020 and March 2021.

    The lawsuit claims the pandemic specials should have been offered to Warner under the initial contract. The move, called “verbal trickery” in the lawsuit, drove the show’s fans to the competing Paramount platform. Nearly all South Park episodes premiere on Comedy Central, one of Paramount’s cable channels, the lawsuit says.

    Show creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who launched the show in 1997 and oversee the franchise, were not named in the lawsuit.

    Gaining streaming rights to “South Park” is a competitive process because of the potentially lucrative market attracting more subscribers, advertisers and a loyal fan base that Warner’s lawsuit says consists mostly of young adults.

    The 24-page court filing also cites a $900 million deal in 2021 between a Paramount subsidiary and South Park Digital Studios for exclusive content on the Paramount Plus streaming service, which launched the same year.

    Warner claims the deal was a deliberate “scheme” between Paramount, its subsidiary MTV Entertainment Studios and South Park Digital Studios to “divert as much of the new South Park content as possible to Paramount Plus in order to boost that nascent streaming platform.”

    Warner paid $1,687,500 per episode and alleges it has not yet received all episodes covered by the contract, resulting in damages of more than $200 million.

    Paramount Global did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking comment on the lawsuit.

    NEW YORK: Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is suing Paramount Global, saying its competitor aired new episodes of the popular animated comedy series “South Park” after Warner paid for exclusive rights.

    Warner says it signed a contract in 2019 paying more than $500 million for the rights to existing and new episodes of the irreverent show, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in New York State Supreme Court.

    HBO Max, Warner’s streaming platform, was scheduled to receive the first episodes of a new “South Park” season in 2020. But the company was informed the pandemic halted production, the lawsuit says.

    In spite of Warner’s exclusive rights to the show until 2025, the company alleges South Park Digital Studios, which produces the shows and is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, offered two pandemic-themed specials to Paramount, which aired them in September 2020 and March 2021.

    The lawsuit claims the pandemic specials should have been offered to Warner under the initial contract. The move, called “verbal trickery” in the lawsuit, drove the show’s fans to the competing Paramount platform. Nearly all South Park episodes premiere on Comedy Central, one of Paramount’s cable channels, the lawsuit says.

    Show creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who launched the show in 1997 and oversee the franchise, were not named in the lawsuit.

    Gaining streaming rights to “South Park” is a competitive process because of the potentially lucrative market attracting more subscribers, advertisers and a loyal fan base that Warner’s lawsuit says consists mostly of young adults.

    The 24-page court filing also cites a $900 million deal in 2021 between a Paramount subsidiary and South Park Digital Studios for exclusive content on the Paramount Plus streaming service, which launched the same year.

    Warner claims the deal was a deliberate “scheme” between Paramount, its subsidiary MTV Entertainment Studios and South Park Digital Studios to “divert as much of the new South Park content as possible to Paramount Plus in order to boost that nascent streaming platform.”

    Warner paid $1,687,500 per episode and alleges it has not yet received all episodes covered by the contract, resulting in damages of more than $200 million.

    Paramount Global did not immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking comment on the lawsuit.

  • Ricky Martin to star in Apple TV+ comedy series ‘Mrs American Pie’ 

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: Pop star-actor Ricky Martin is set to lead “Mrs American Pie”, a period comedy series from streaming platform Apple TV+.

    Martin joins previously announced cast members Kristen Wiig and Alison Janney in the series executive produced by Laura Dern. According to Deadline, the “Livin’ La Vida Loca” hitmaker will play the male lead, Robert in “Mrs American Pie”.

    Based on the novel by Juliet McDaniel, “Mrs America Pie” follows Maxine Simmons (Wiig), a woman attempting to secure her seat at America’s most exclusive table: Palm Beach high society.

    Abe Sylvia, known for the upcoming “George & Tammy” series starring Jessica Chastain, will write, executive produce and show run the series.

    The series was developed by Dern and her producing partner Jayme Lemons under their banner Jaywalker Pictures.

    Martin, who is set to perform at the American Foundation for Aids Research gala in Cannes later this week, was last seen playing Antonio D’Amico in Ryan Murphy’s critically-acclaimed FX drama “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” as part of the ‘American Crime’ story anthology.

  • Pete Davidson to play himself in new comedy series 

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: Actor-comedian Pete Davidson is set to play a fictionalised version of himself in an upcoming comedy series.

    The show hails from “Saturday Night Live” showrunner Lorne Michaels’s Broadway Video and Universal Television, reported Deadline.

    The series is tentatively titled “Bupkis” and Davidson will write it along with his frequent collaborator David Sirus and Judah Miller.

    Said to be in the same vein as Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, “Bupkis” is described as a raw, unflinching and fictionalised version of Pete Davidson’s real life.

    It will include a mixture of grounded storytelling with absurd elements depicting an unfiltered view through Davidson’s eyes.

    Davidson, Sirus and Miller will serve as executive producers along with Michaels, Andrew Singer and Erin David.

    The actor is currently on leave from “Saturday Night Live” to film Miramax’s horror thriller “The Home”.

    He also stars in “Bodies Bodies Bodies”, which is set to have its world premiere at the South By SouthWest Festival, as well as “Good Mourning with a U” with Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox, and “Meet Cute”, co-starring Kaley Cuoco.