National Lampoon and Dice.Com Roll Out a Cast of Characters in New WebTV Series, ”National Lampoon’s The Lemmings” on maniaTV.Com
National Lampoon, Inc. (AMEX: NLN), the most widely recognized brand in comedy, and maniaTV.com, a leading provider of long and short form internet television, today announced Dice.com as the official sponsor for the new sketch comedy show, “National Lampoon’s The Lemmings”. As part of the cutting-edge branded entertainment sponsorship package, show producers have created a character that embodies Dice.com’s virtues, as the leading career website for technology and engineering professionals and the companies seeking to employ them.
The recurring character, known as Dice Man will be seamlessly integrated into comedy skits as a super-hero who saves people from taking jobs for which they are over-qualified, helps people find fulfilling employment and assists companies in search of valuable talent; all while fighting against the evil antagonist, Doctor Drudgery, and his henchmen Pink Slip and Dead End.
The debut show, which premiered Monday, May 19th, 2008 on maniaTV, featured first-of-a-kind interactive elements that take the audience on a visual journey through what is best described as adjacent spaces. Using the power, reach, and interactivity of the Internet, “National Lampoon’s The Lemmings” expands upon the use of multimedia and audience interactivity used in The Lemmings’ live sketch-show “America 2.0″, evolving sketch comedy into the digital age.
“We are excited to integrate Dice Man and the antagonists into the plot lines. It is fantastic working with a brand that gets the power of integration because it has empowered us to develop a set of characters that will maintain comedic integrity and achieve the goal of creating a lasting impression,” said maniaTV Head of Comedy, Amber J. Lawson.
“The re-imagined Lemmings and the show with maniaTV is a great showcase for National Lampoon’s digital expansion, and goes a long way towards proving out our revenue generating brand integration model,” said Zach Posner, Vice President Corporate Development for National Lampoon. “Introducing ‘The Lemmings’ to the digital generation highlights our efforts to continually seek out innovative new ways to deliver content to our fans and brand partners through the web.”
National Lampoon’s The Lemmings is executive produced by Jay Leggett (IN LIVING COLOR, WITHOUT A PADDLE), maniaTV Executive Comedy Producer Amber J. Lawson and National Lampoon editor-in-chief Scott Rubin. Jay Legget will also produce and direct the show. The cast includes Sitara Falcon, Jen Cain, Mark Gagliardi (ACCORDING TO JIM, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER), Lamont King (XM Radio), Andie Bolt (ER, HELL DATE), Melissa Van Der Schyff (TONY AWARDS nominee), Tommy O’Rourke with writers and performers Mike Rosolio, Andy Goldenberg, Susan Wrege, Jeff Galante (FOX).
“National Lampoon’s The Lemmings” marks the first of a series of branded comedy shows under the Comedy on Demand initiative recently announced by maniaTV. The show will join a line up of maniaTV web TV shows that attracted 85 million viewers in 2007, anchored by Dave Navarro’s Spread Entertainment, Tom Green Live, Arcade, 1080 Action Sports and All Access.
The National Lampoon Lemmings Comedy Troupe premiered “America 2.0″ in October 2007 in Los Angeles at the renowned Acme Theater. America 2.0 is a multi-media sketch show that skewers the madness of modern American life from left to right and from the ridiculous to the sublime. Following a successful residency at the Los Angeles Improv, a nationwide tour is currently being booked for Fall 2008 that will include colleges, theatres, casinos, and corporate events across the country.
National Lampoon’s “Lemmings,” originally formed in 1973, instantly became an off-Broadway cult sensation, launching the careers of some of the biggest names in American Comedy and a hugely popular record album, Lemmings. John Belushi, Christopher Guest, and Chevy Chase were just a few of the megastars who got their start in National Lampoon’s groundbreaking live production. Similarly to its 1970s counterpart, the reformed National Lampoon Lemmings Comedy Troupe showcases the very best young sketch comedians working today.
About National Lampoon
National Lampoon, Inc. (NLN) has been a dominant force in the US comedy world for almost 40 years, and is currently active in a broad array of media and entertainment segments. These include feature films, television programming, online and interactive entertainment, home video, audio, and book publishing. The Company also owns interests in all major National Lampoon properties, including National Lampoon’s Animal House, the National Lampoon Vacation series and National Lampoon’s Van Wilder. National Lampoon reaches nearly one in four of all 18 to 24 year old college students in America today. The Company has three core operating divisions: National Lampoon Films, which includes production along with theatrical and video distribution of feature films; College Marketing Division; and National Lampoon Networks, providing humor content through a number of platforms. These include its National Lampoon College TV network, the National Lampoon Humor Network – the most trafficked humor sites on the web, Toga TV.com – the company’s broadband channel, the Drunk University Network, and the National Lampoon Video Network, which includes channels on YouTube, AOL, Yahoo, Joost, and a number of digital video platforms across the Internet. These are all anchored by the award winning comedy website www.nationallampoon.com.
About maniaTV
The maniaTV Network launched in 2004 as the world’s first Internet TV network. The company produces, sells and distributes made for internet programming targeting the 18 to 34 year old audience while delivering innovative branded entertainment opportunities to leading brands and advertisers. With a state-of-the-art production studio in Hollywood, maniaTV produces groundbreaking, award-winning programming for 8+ million viewers each month. maniaTV’s programming slate ranges from music and comedy, to drama, video gaming, and action sports. Leading shows include Dave Navarro’s Spread Entertainment, Tom Green Live, National Lampoon’s Lemmings, Arcade, and All Access. maniaTV delivers unique brand experiences within each show and has served over 75 of Advertising Age’s Top 100. Through its visionary market leadership and focus on premium content and distribution partnerships, maniaTV is redefining television for the 21st Century. We like to call it “Television 2.0″.