A TVNewser emailer tipped us off yesterday morning that comedian DL Hughley was going to get his own show on CNN. After several attempts to contact CNN PR yesterday for comfirmation, we got almost no response back, unless you count PR types pushing the tip off to one another. So, Variety has the story today.
Mitch Semel, who was brought in last year to create Campbell Brown’s show, only to be moved to a development job five months later, is the exec in charge of Hughley’s show.
> Update: The press release is after the jump…
CNN Announces Weekend Show Starring Comedian D.L. Hughley
CNN Adds Alternative Look at Week’s News for Saturdays and Sundays at 10 p.m.
CNN today announced that it will debut an unconventional weekend show hosted by the renowned comedian D.L. Hughley. Set to premiere on Saturday, Oct. 25, D.L. Hughley Breaks The News (working title) will feature Hughley’s comedic take on the week’s events in the news – everything from politics to entertainment, sports and pop culture, as well as one-on-one interviews with a wide range of newsmakers and the reporters who cover them.
The show will emanate from CNN’s New York studios before a live audience, taking full advantage of CNN’s worldwide newsgathering resources. It will air on Saturdays at 10 p.m. and replay on Sundays at 10 p.m. (ET)
“D.L. is a news junkie who is bursting with things to say about what is going on in the world – most of them funny, all of them thoughtful, none of them predictable,” said Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S. “When you watch as much news as our audience does, there comes a time you just want to stop and laugh – and that time will be Saturday nights at 10 on CNN.”
“I am very excited for the opportunity to work with the network that I have watched for a very long time, and that to a large extent, has shaped my comedic view,” Hughley said. “CNN offers the perfect blend of news and information on a local, national and international level. What more can a comedian ask for?”
D.L. Hughley is one of the most popular and highly recognized standup comedians on the road today and has also appeared in several feature films and television projects. Hughley recently appeared in a one-hour stand-up special for HBO titled “Unapologetic” and hosted BET’s hidden camera show S.O.B., as well as the 2008 season of HBO’s Def Comedy Jam. Hughley also starred in the Aaron Sorkin drama series for NBC, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Hughley spent four successful years starring in his own sitcom The Hughleys, and in 2005-2006, he hosted his own late night talk show for Comedy Central, Weekends at the DL. It was the mega-hit Original Kings of Comedy that launched Hughley into superstardom. The film, based on the 1999 tour featuring Hughley, Bernie Mac, Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer, garnered close to $40 million at the box office and became one of the highest selling DVDs in 2001.
Mitch Semel will serve as executive producer for CNN. Semel, who
earlier this year launched Election Center with Campbell Brown at CNN, has served in senior programming positions at NBC, Nick@Nite, TV Land, and PBS. At CBS, he served as CBS’s executive of late-night programming for The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. As the first head of programming at Comedy Central, he launched Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. At NBC, Semel was a producer for Late Night with Conan O’Brien and the executive producer of Later with Greg Kinnear. Semel has additionally hosted and produced syndicated radio programs featuring in-depth interviews with prominent politicians, entertainers, and international newsmakers.
Michael Rotenberg, Dave Becky and Hughley will serve as executive producers for 3 Arts Entertainment.
As manager, producer and co-founder of 3 Arts Entertainment, Rotenberg plays an integral role in the development and production of both television and film properties, as well as shepherding the careers of some of today’s performers, writers and directors. A multiple Emmy-Award winner, he has produced such feature films as Office Space, Head of State and Son-In-Law and such television programs as The Chris Rock Show, Weekends at the D.L. and The Hughleys. He currently executive produces the television programs King of the Hill, Everybody Hates Chris and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Becky runs 3 Arts Entertainment’s New York office and joined the company after a career of managing the Improv in Los Angeles and working as a segment producer on the syndicated Dennis Miller Show. As a manager at 3 Arts Entertainment, Becky’s credits include executive producer for Everybody Hates Chris, Weekends at the D.L., The Hughley’s and The Tracy Morgan Show and series consultant on Comedy Central’s Strangers with Candy and Upright Citizens Brigade.
CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.