MTV unveils slate at Upfront
MUMBAI: US media conglomerate Viacom?s channel MTV has announced premiere dates for its returning series ?Teen Wolf? and ?Awkward?, as well as the debut of the new series ?Snooki & JWOWW? at its annual Upfront Presentation at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.
In addition, the network presented a new slate of scripted and reality series, with ?Catfish?, ?Inbetweeners?, ?Underemployed?, ?Wake Brothers? and ?Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous?, along with a preview of its upcoming "storytelling without borders" initiative, ?Teen Wolf: The Hunt?, a way the network is leveraging its social footprint.
The second season of ?Teen Wolf? premieres in two-parts, with part one kicking off on 3 June, immediately following the ?2012 MTV Movie Awards?, and part two debuting the following night, on 4 June in its regularly scheduled time slot. ?Jerzdays? will continue on Thursdays, this time with a female twist. ?Snooki & JWOWW? premieres on 21 June followed by the comedy series ?Awkward?, debuting its second season on a new day beginning 28 June. Additionally, the network announced a second season of ?MTV2?s Guy Code?.
MTV presented advertisers with first looks of its upcoming series, including new docu-series ?Catfish?, inspired by the documentary film; new scripted comedy ?Inbetweeners?, based on the UK series; ?Underemployed?, from executive producer Craig Wright; reality series ?Wake Brothers?, featuring wakeboarding champs - and brothers - Phil and Bob Soven; and new scripted comedy ?Zach Stone is Gonna be Famous?, starring Internet comedian Bo Burnham.
MTV also highlighted its "storytelling without borders" strategy that looks to engage audiences across every platform as demonstrated through "Teen Wolf: The Hunt." The new "Teen Wolf" social experience will live on Facebook and other platforms and will allow fans to "friend" and interact with the show?s characters in real time within the context of a choose-your-own-adventure mystery. "Teen Wolf: The Hunt" will feature a completely original storyline, written by the "Teen Wolf" team of writers, while also serving as a complementary online experience to the television series. The multi-platform experience will launch on Monday, June 4, the night of the show?s regular time period debut. This initiative follows last month?s news that MTV is leading the industry after surpassing 100 million Facebook ?likes.?
The Upfront event also included appearances by "Jersey Shore?s" Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Jenni "JWOWW" Farley and Paul "Pauly D" Delvecchio; "Teen Wolf?s" Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed, Dylan O?Brien and Holland Roden; "Awkward?s" Beau Mirchoff and Brett Davern; Nev Schulman and Max Joseph from "Catfish;" Charlamagne Tha God from "MTV?s Hip Hop POV" and "MTV2?s Guy Code;" and rapper Fat Joe from the upcoming MTV2 series "Hip Hop Squares."
Additionally, MTV "Power of 12" correspondent Andrew Jenks was joined by Liddy Huntsman, daughter of former Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, Jr., to talk about the network?s new "Fantasy Election ?12" game, which will launch this summer. The presentation also featured special musical performances by multi-platinum recording artist Alicia Keys and fun., the upcoming "MTV Movie Awards" performer and chart-topping band.